Notes, quotes and dust motes

The Notice of Intent will not be public, but it takes little reporting to speculate with some effectiveness on what is in it. Indeed, as a general notion, it all has been laid out for several months. For openers, she fired her assistant sheriff right after he cooperated with the investigation conducted by former Judge LaDoris Cordell; without due process, she ordered the arrest of Deputy Carlos Tapia, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association, for timecard fraud, a charge summarily tossed out by District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe; she has allegedly engaged in abuse of internal affairs and transfer authority; she has relied exclusively and inexplicably, on the good doctor, Victor Aenlle; and so on. What we would all like to see, in addition to a merciful end to this hoo-ha, are the details that undoubtedly will result in the ongoing investigation and prosecution of the allegations against the sheriff. Not yet.

It has been two months since the official certification and acceptance of the results of the election March 4, authorizing the board to fire Corpus. Given the complications, this does not seem like such a long time.

When are we going to find out how much this fiasco is costing county taxpayers? I have asked, but am told the information is trapped behind attorney-client privilege. Meanwhile, I keep hearing that legal fees for Corpus already have run into the tens of millions of dollars. The newly proposed county budget includes no specific set-aside for legal fees and eventual lawsuit payouts.

I JUST CAN’T STAND IT: A modest-sized newspaper based in San Francisco reported this week that Redwood City has the highest risk of flooding due to sea-level rise of any city in California. The newspaper called Redwood City a “Silicon Valley city” and felt the need to point out to its readers that the city is in San Mateo County. It is, as colleague Holly Rusch put it, patronizing. Not to mention ill-informed, inexperienced or just plain dumb. I guess we are just a remote outpost to the city at the northern tip of the Peninsula.

WAITING: In the seemingly unending wave of news releases gushing out of state Sen. Josh Becker’s office, one of them touted his bill requiring local communities to take specific steps to “bring all unsheltered people indoors.” I emailed Becker’s undoubtedly overworked media contact to ask if the bill included funds for these requirements. I have yet to hear back, but I am not afraid to guess.

ANOTHER NAIL: Becker also signed on to the bill advancing a regional transit ballot measure. The bill allows San Mateo County to opt out of the measure, which seems like a good idea, but looks increasingly like one more pathway for the rest of the region to weaken San Mateo County’s role in Caltrain.

MY HOW TIME FLIES: One of the true gifts of social media is hearing from longtime, sometimes long-lost, friends. So, I really do appreciate all the texts I am getting via LinkedIn congratulating me on my, um, 21-year work anniversary at the San Mateo Daily Journal. As Editor-in-Chief Jon Mays noted in his own column just last week, I started writing for the DJ (happily so) in September of 2019.

Now, math has never been my strength, but I am pretty sure that is six years, not 21. Indeed, 21 years ago is when I left the newspaper business to go to work at SamTrans (upper-case T) and Caltrain (lower-case t). Somewhere along the line my career became confusing to LinkedIn. Since it is relying on information I provided, I am convinced this is a technical issue and most assuredly not my fault. Anyway, thanks for the messages and here’s to 21 more.

BY THE WAY: In his generous overview of the DJ columnists last week, Jon characteristically gave himself short shrift. Jon’s own column is thoughtful and reflective of his deep commitment to and love of the communities the DJ serves. He also is remarkably fair in a job that can be very tricky. We are lucky to have him around.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He co-hosts a podcast/videocast that can be found at TheGamePeninsula.com, and he can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.