Editor,
In March 2025, San Mateo County voters were asked to make a difficult choice. To resolve a leadership crisis in the Sheriff’s Office, we passed Measure A, granting the Board of Supervisors a temporary power to remove an elected official. Crucially, that power came with an expiration date: Dec. 31, 2028.
Now, less than a year later, there are moves to make this authority permanent. This is a classic “bait-and-switch” that threatens the independence of our local government.
The sunset clause was the primary reason many voters, myself included, felt comfortable granting this extraordinary authority. It was a surgical tool for a specific emergency. By seeking to strip that safeguard today, the board is signaling that the “emergency” was merely a convenient excuse to permanently expand its own jurisdiction.
The sheriff is dually elected by the people. If the board can fire the sheriff at will, the office no longer answers to the public; it answers to five politicians. This erosion of the separation of powers creates a dangerous precedent where any future sheriff might be pressured to prioritize the board’s political whims over impartial law enforcement.
Trust is the currency of democracy. If the Board of Supervisors wants to maintain the trust of the residents they represent, they must honor the “spirit” of the measure we actually voted for. Keep the 2028 sunset clause. If the power is still needed then, let the voters decide, again.
Dennis McBride
Redwood City
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