THE SAN MATEO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS raised concerns over spending in the Sheriff’s Office, though Sheriff Christina Corpus did not attend the meeting to discuss her request for millions to cover the purchase of new radios.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Board was set to vote on approving the allocation of $4.2 million dollars to the Sheriff’s Office for covering the one-time cost of updating and replacing outdated radio equipment.
The agenda item was unrelated to potential proceedings by the Board to possibly remove Corpus from her role as sheriff. Last month, voters passed Measure A, granting the Board temporary power to oust the sheriff after the release of a scathing, 400-page investigation into alleged misconduct of Corpus.
What was supposed to be a routine approval in the consent agenda with no required discussion became an argument that put Corpus and her office in yet another contentious situation. The discussion revealed an attempt by the department to buy 10 massage chairs with county money.
Supervisor Jackie Speier requested that the decision to appropriate funds to the Sheriff’s Office be moved off the consent calendar and onto the regular agenda because she wanted to discuss it further, directly, with Corpus.
A few hours later when the item was up for discussion, Corpus was not present to address the Board’s questions. Instead, Undersheriff Dan Perea came as a representative of the Sheriff’s Office, saying that Corpus was busy at another meeting.
Speier openly chastised Corpus for her absence.
“We expect department heads to appear when they have issues before the Board of Supervisors,” Speier told Perea sternly. “Moving forward, please alert her that if she has an item on the agenda that she should be prepared to come to the Board meeting.”
The Sheriff’s Office has already purchased the 425 radios at $10,000 apiece, but allocating money from the county’s Public Safety Augmentation Fund to the Sheriff’s Office State Aid Public Safety budget to cover the cost needed approval from the Board.
While large purchases from county departments are sometimes able to move forward without Board approval, the $4.2 million expenditure raised concerns for Speier, who is actively working on a resolution to bring more Board oversight to spending in county departments, she said.
“Departments do have the authority to make goods purchases, sometimes through the procurement department, without coming to the Board,” said County Attorney John Nibbelin during the meeting.
But Speier pointed out to Perea that her concern also stems from other attempts by the Sheriff’s office to make significant purchases, some of which may be considered unnecessary.
“I’ve been made aware that there have been 10 massage chairs that were requested through procurement,” Speier said, adding that the Office of Procurement had “thankfully” declined the request.
Perea said he was aware of the attempted purchase but could not provide details on how the idea arose to buy massage chairs with county funding. He said he didn’t believe he was involved in the approval and could not answer if Corpus approved it.
“It was part of ‘officer wellness,’ as I understand it,” Perea said. “I don’t think I’m the best person, the most informed person right now to speak about that.”
The Board ended up unanimously authorizing the appropriation of funds to cover the cost of the new radios. But the lack of clarity about how the Sheriff’s Office approves purchases, such as the 10 massage chairs, led the Board to request that Corpus appear at a future meeting to discuss the department’s procurement process.
“The whole procurement process is something that I think we need to have a better understanding of,” Speier said.