San Mateo County’s special election to give temporary authority to the county Board of Supervisors to remove the county sheriff can proceed, after a legal challenge to halt it failed.
Sheriff Christina Corpus sued in January to stop the special election for Measure A, which is scheduled for March 4. Early voting is already underway.
The county Board of Supervisors called for the special election in December after an independent review by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell of Corpus’ conduct raised several allegations of misconduct, including creating a paid position for someone she was accused of having a personal relationship with, and retaliatory actions, including ordering a subordinate who was a critic to be arrested.
Corpus has not been charged with any crime by the county district attorney, nor did the 400-page report point to a specific criminal allegation. The report did suggest that she should step down based on what the retired judge said was an administration that engaged in “lies, secrecy, intimidation, retaliation, conflicts of interest, and abuses of authority.”
On Tuesday, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Nicole Healy said the election could proceed. The county said in a press release Wednesday that Corpus declined to challenge the tentative ruling, making it final.
A representative from Corpus’ legal team, Thomas Mazzucco, said in an email Wednesday that they were “disappointed” that the election was not called off and that the sheriff would continue to fight the accusations against her and the effort to remove her.
“Sheriff Christina Corpus is a fighter and has done so her entire career as a woman in law enforcement. We will continue to fight this power grab in the courts at the appropriate times and every step of the way,” he wrote.
Measure A would enact an amendment to the county charter that would give the county Board of Supervisors the power to remove the elected sheriff for cause. It would require a vote of four out of five supervisors. The authority would expire at the end of 2028.
The measure has drawn widespread endorsement from cities in the county, including the cities of Belmont, Redwood City, and South San Francisco, along with San Carlos, Millbrae, and San Mateo. Those jurisdictions’ city councils passed votes of no confidence in the sheriff, who has resisted calls to resign.
Judge Healy said in her ruling that she was not addressing the contents of the report the county requested, but was only ruling on whether the special election could go forward. Corpus has filed a separate $10 million claim of racial and gender discrimination against the county.
“The issue presently before the court is a narrow one. The court is not addressing the methodology, substance, merits, or findings of the report submitted by Judge LaDoris Cordell (ret.) to the Board, nor is the court making any findings or determinations regarding the allegations addressed therein,” Healy said in her ruling.
Mazzucco highlighted Healy’s opinion that the other legal questions raised by Corpus were not “ripe” for judicial review until the Board of Supervisors had acted to remove her, using a legal term that defines when legal action can be brought based on established facts, not hypothetical actions.
Ballots were mailed out starting Feb. 3 and should have been received by registered voters who requested them. Early mail-in voting began that day, and in-person early voting began on Feb. 22.
Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by election day and received by March 11.
Voters can vote in-person at any of the county’s voting centers.
As of Wednesday, 72,476 mail-in ballots and 192 ballots cast at voting centers had already been processed, according to the county.