San Mateo supervisors question dismissal of assistant sheriff during outside investigation

A statement issued Friday on behalf of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors said Sheriff Christina Corpus may have dismissed Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan as retaliation for participating in an outside investigation of the Sheriff’s Office.

Corpus responded that the board “is completely out of line” and called the allegation “pure speculation.” The dueling statements are the result of a dispute between the county Sheriff’s Office and its rank-and-file deputies. The union has complained that the Sheriff’s Office changed its minimum staffing level policy without union input and refused to meet about an expiring overtime policy.

The dispute captured the attention of the Board of Supervisors, which has expressed support for the union and hired an outside investigator, retired California superior court Judge LaDoris Cordell, to look into the discord.