San Mateo County officials put out a statement this week in response to a government claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — by embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus, a claim which, they say, is riddled with "incorrect and misspelled names" and "is largely devoid of any alleged facts supporting its conclusions."
San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, with the help of a Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney, filed a $10 million government claim earlier this week against the county, alleging discrimination, defamation, and harassment by county leaders.
As her attorney, Brad Gage, told ABC 7, "She's being treated differently than other employees that are male and not Hispanic, specifically having her individual records released to the media and the public is treating her differently than others."
Now, as Bay Area News Group reports, the county has responded, somewhat witheringly, to the claim, which likely precedes the filing of a lawsuit, saying "The assertions in Corpus’ claim — that she has been discriminated against, harassed, and defamed, particularly because she is both a woman and a Latinx person — are completely baseless and a distraction from the issues that give rise to the present circumstances."
They add the kicker that the claim, as presumably composed by Gage, "includes incorrect and misspelled names — including that of the sheriff herself and Supervisor Noelia Corzo — [and] is largely devoid of any alleged facts supporting its conclusions and egregiously accuses retired Judge LaDoris Cordell of partaking in what the claim calls an 'evil scheme.'"
There is also a a contention made in the claim that the county nefariously omitted from its report on Corpus 29 pages of a transcript of an interview with her alleged boyfriend and chief of staff, Victor Aenlle.
And the county responds that there was "nothing nefarious" about this, and "Twenty-nine pages of the transcript were not included in the exhibit because they were not cited by Cordell nor were they material to the report."
Corpus's claim further suggests something untoward about the fee to paid to Judge Cordell for her work on the report, which the county says is perfectly legitimate in her role as independent auditor.
All of this back-and-forth stems from the independent audit made public by the county in November which detailed multiple allegations against Corpus, including her hiring of Aenlle, her romantic partner, at a salary of $246,000 per year, approving pay raises for him, and conducting an inappropriate workplace relationship. The report also contends that Corpus used slurs in communication with colleagues, including the n-word, and a homophobic slur about a lesbian city council member. And it suggests conflicts of interest for Aenlle in holding the job at all, while he moonlighted as a real estate agent.
Corpus and Aenlle have vehemently denied all the claims in the report.
The drama seemed to have begun last September when Corpus held a strange Sunday news conference in which she lodged complaints of inappropriate behavior, harassment, and abuse of power by County Executive Mike Callagy. And when the report was then released two months later, San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff’s Association president Carlos Tapia was suddenly arrested on grand theft charges, which were then tossed by the district attorney last month.
The county board of supervisors has already taken a vote of no confidence against Corpus, but they lack the legal authority to fire her and Corpus has remained defiant about staying in the job. Voters in San Mateo County will now be asked in a March 4 special election to approve a charter amendment that allows the board of supervisors to remove the sheriff.
