A special election to remove troubled Sheriff Christina Corpus, who has been under pressure to step down due to several accusations of wrongdoing, was scheduled for Tuesday’s vote by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.
The board unanimously passed a constitutional amendment last month that would give supervisors the authority to dismiss an elected sheriff for cause—a power it does not presently possess.
The board was supposed to vote on the issue a second time on Tuesday. The charter change would be put on the ballot for a special election scheduled for March 4, 2025, if it were adopted. At 10 a.m., supervisors were supposed to convene.
A recall, according to Corpus, is what her detractors should aim for, and an amendment is a “blatant attempt to go around the voters.” Although voters might start a recall campaign, the board estimates 45,000 signatures would be needed.
Corpus is accused of misbehavior in an independent assessment by retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell, including racist slurs and bullying, conflicts of interest, and having a personal relationship with her head of staff.
When Corpus addressed the board last month, she criticized the supervisors’ resignation calls and described the investigation into her as “politically motivated and one-sided.” She has also stated that she intends to advance her office with a leadership team that has been reorganized.
In a statement released last week, Corpus stated, “Resigning from my position or relinquishing the independence of this Office is not the answer.” “Such actions would set a dangerous precedent, jeopardizing the progress we’ve made and the meaningful change our voters entrusted me to deliver.”
Corpus made the announcement a day after the San Carlos City Council approved a no-confidence vote, joining mounting calls for her resignation. The vote was almost two weeks after Corpus was the target of a similar no-confidence vote by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.
The decision to put the charter amendment on the ballot has been described by Corpus as “anti-democratic.”
“It is a mean-spirited political scheme,” Corpus declared last month in a prepared text. “This constitutional amendment is an attempt to circumvent the voters in an attempt to overthrow me, and it contains sunset wording that solely applies to me. I’ll do everything in my power to defeat it. I’m not leaving.”
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