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Just two days after supervisors Ray Mueller and Noelia Corzo called into question her firing of a high-level officer amidst a county board investigation into her office, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus filed a formal complaint against County Executive Mike Callagy with the very same Board of Supervisors. She is accusing Callagy of “retaliation, abuse of power, sexual discrimination and bullying tactics” to undermine her authority as an elected official.
In a letter addressed to board President Warren Slocum, Corpus requested that the board initiate an independent investigation into Callagy. On Monday morning, Slocum told this news organization that he had yet to receive the letter from Corpus.
“This investigation should cover his attempts to conspire against an elected sheriff, discrimination, sexual harassment, abuse of power and persistent interference with the operations of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office,” she wrote in the letter, obtained by this news organization shortly after Corpus held a news conference on the matter Sunday evening.
The Board of Supervisors commissioned an independent investigation into her office, led by former Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell, regarding multiple complaints of abuse that had been made against personnel in the Sheriff’s Office.
Many of these complaints were instigated by the Sheriff’s unions. At a press conference on Sept. 17, Carlos Tapia, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association board, said that the Sheriff’s Office is “gripped by an atmosphere of unease and retaliation,” and that many employees fear speaking out against Corpus.
The DSA has also filed several unfair labor practice complaints against the Sheriff’s Office with the California Public Employment Relations Board. Many of the union’s complaints surround the behavior of Corpus’ chief of staff, Victor Aenlle.
In her letter to Slocum, Corpus claimed Callagy had undermined her authority as sheriff by “routinely inserting himself into the operations of the Sheriff’s Office.” She said that he had made unilateral decisions without her input, such as intervening in contract city police services negotiations, negotiating with Sheriff’s unions without her present and attempting to block the termination of Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan after Corpus fired him.
She said that Callagy’s negotiations with the Sheriff’s union have destabilized labor relations. “The burden of the current situation with the unions is directly attributed to Mr. Callagy’s inappropriate backdoor interference.”
Corpus said that Callagy’s involvement with her office is unique and has not taken place under previous sheriffs. She claims this is an abuse of Callagy’s power.
“Mr. Callagy is a nonelected county official, attempting to override decisions made by the highest law enforcement elected official in this county,” she wrote in her letter. “It’s a direct challenge to the autonomy granted to the Sheriff’s Office. … Let me be clear: the authority to manage my staff and maintain the integrity of this office rests solely with me.”
Corpus said that during her first meeting with Callagy after being elected, he “ordered” her to reveal whom she had dated within the county and when. She added that, as a woman of color who had experienced sexual harassment in the county, she was shocked and appalled by his inappropriate behavior. Corpus also said she couldn’t imagine him making such a request of her predecessors, all of whom were men.
She added that Callagy has supported and empowered the “the good ol’ boys” in the Sheriff’s Office. He has swept past claims of sexual harassment and retaliation under the rug under previously elected sheriffs, she said.
In her letter, Corpus questioned Callagy’s concern for retaliation and county liability under her administration, asking where it was when sexual harassment claims were made under the previous administration.
“Instead of independent investigations into such claims, the harassers were often protected, and victims were either silenced or paid off. Mr. Callagy’s willingness to defend certain individuals while undermining my decisions suggests a clear double standard,” she said.
If the Board of Supervisors does not act on her requests to initiate an investigation into Callagy, Corpus said she is prepared to escalate the complaint to the state level.
She has also requested “immediate funding” from the county to provide independent legal counsel to represent the Sheriff’s Office going forward, as the County Attorney’s Office has a ”clear conflict of interest” and has “failed to represent (her) in good faith.”
This news organization has contacted Callagy for comment on Corpus’ allegations but has not yet received a response.
Assistant sheriff
At the Sunday press conference, Corpus announced the promotion of Matthew Fox to acting assistant sheriff. Fox will replace Ryan Monaghan, whom she fired on Friday, Sept. 20. Corpus said Assistant Sheriff Fox aligns with her “values and vision” for the future of the Sheriff’s Office.
In statements released on Friday, Supervisors Mueller and Corzo alleged that the timing of Corpus’ termination of Monaghan suggests that retaliation may have been a possible motive for his dismissal.
Monaghan had been participating in the independent investigation into the Sheriff’s Office and had been interviewed by Cordell regarding the allegations made against the office, according to Mueller. Mueller said that the County Attorney’s Office would be reviewing Monaghan’s termination for evidence of retaliation.
Corpus told reporters at Sunday’s news conference that Monaghan’s termination was in no way connected to his participation in the investigation of her office and that she parted ways with him because they “did not share the same vision.”
In her letter to the board, Corpus indicated that Monaghan was fired due to “performance duplicity” and “failure to execute the goals of the Sheriff’s Office expeditiously.”
“My decision to separate from at-will employee Assistant Sheriff Monaghan was not only a long time coming, but something into which I put significant thought and deliberation,” she wrote. “This decision had nothing to do with retaliation. I understand that may be a visceral assumption for you, given the practices of my predecessor, but that is not in line with my philosophy.”
Corpus told reporters that she encourages all of her employees to speak with Cordell.
Additionally, Corpus accused Callagy of blocking Monaghan’s termination. She alleged that Callagy and Monaghan’s personal relationship may have influenced that decision.
“Monaghan has often referred to Mr. Callagy as a mentor,” she wrote.
At the press conference on Sunday, Corpus said that her decision to fire Monaghan stands, and that “any continued efforts to block this division will be met with legal action to protect the integrity of (her) office.”
In her letter to Slocum, Corpus also questioned the integrity of the independent investigation into her office. She said that multiple employees have told her that they have attempted to contact Cordell and the county counsel’s office to provide statements, but their requests have gone unanswered.
“It is clear that the Board of Supervisors does not have authority over the Sheriff’s Office. This third-party inquiry … is just another attempt to undermine my role,” she wrote.
This seems like a classic case of the sheriff attempting to misdirect attention from her office. The accusations against her staff are serious and now she’s trying to blame somebody else for her problems. I had High Hopes when she ran against the former Sheriff that we would get somebody good running the sheriff’s department in San Mateo County. Between my own interactions with staff as well as what I have been reading I fear that I was quite wrong. I look forward to hearing the results of the independent investigation and I hope that our Board of Supervisors takes quick and decisive action when those results are available.
While I have no direct knowledge of anything regarding this situation, I have long wondered about how and why the sexual misconduct in the sheriff’s office continued for so long (under prior sheriffs). If there were powerful people within the county leadership that looked the other way, or worse, that would certainly explain it.
This development of making things difficult for a female sheriff, her election notwithstanding, reflects a Sheriff’s Office culture that made what amounted to a fetish of men in the top job. And not just men, but men who were unenlightened, who saw themselves as deserving given their gender and their bonhomie with their brothers in blue.
Recalling a visit to the Sheriff’s Office in those days of succession to the top job by handshake or spending any time in the same room with deputies of that era was like finding yourself in a backwoods town having just eaten a pizza at a diner there.
“What kind of cheese is this?” you ask.
“Amer’can!” is the sullen response.
Who, you ask, would put individually wrapped slices of textured “cheese product” on a pizza? Who would do that???People with a mindset of misogyny.
Recalling these past San Mateo County sheriffs and their enthralled-by-alpha-maleness deputies brings to mind another descriptor: “antediluvian.*
County executive management isn’t any better. Good ole boys throughout. Throughout!
Voters need to get busy because these guys will be devious and determined in trying to safeguard their long history of unearned and undeserved privilege.
Posting in haste, I expressed myself inaccurately. I meant that mindset I referred to to “include” misogyny rather than be limited to it. There’s a lot of it going around in parts of this country.
Likewise, I inadvertently dissed backwoods communities. I meant to say “hollowed out towns in the Rust Belt in a swing state,” where I did find myself in a diner that used American cheese on pizza and the waitress did say “Amer’can” sullenly and forcefully in response to my question as to the kind of cheese. … Trump country, according to recent polls, and Trump is a misogynist, as is his running mate.
Supervisors Mueller and Corzo should consider if their unnecessary public allegations will stand up to scrutiny in court. That sort of statement along with allowing a former police officer to get involved with the Sheriff’s office administration and potential sexual harassment charges is a good way to get the County sued and waste more tax money.
“She has also requested “immediate funding” from the county to provide independent legal counsel to represent the Sheriff’s Office going forward, as the County Attorney’s Office has a ”clear conflict of interest” and has “failed to represent (her) in good faith.”
This news organization has contacted Callagy for comment on Corpus’ allegations but has not yet received a response.”
I love that she is speaking up and speaking the truth. As a prior County employee, one that’s witness HR and the County attorneys operate under and defend all sorts of illegal employment practices. I do so appreciate the Sheriff for speaking her truth and a truth for so many current and former County, not just the Sheriff department employees.
Deflection as perceived in psychology:
According to Sigmund Freud, people use 12 defense mechanisms to protect themselves from difficult, anxiety-inducing thoughts. Deflection is one of these mechanisms.
Deflecting typically appears in conflict situations, when a person is confronted with their mistakes. Instead of accepting responsibility and facing the uncomfortable situation head-on, the deflectors will try to move the focus from themselves, usually by passing the blame onto someone or something else.
Everyone resorts to deflection from time to time, especially in childhood. However, when someone uses deflection constantly and refuses to accept the consequences of their own actions, deflection can become pathological and affect not only the mental health of the deflector but also those they interact with.
A deflecting colleague, at work for example, will typically try to avoid looking bad in front of superiors and shift the focus on another employee, saying that a bad outcome is actually their fault.
The main difference between deflection as a self-defense mechanism and deflection as a manipulation technique is that narcissists lack empathy and, when they deflect the blame to the person who accused them in the first place, they try to increase their control over them. Quite often, deflection is followed by an attack because narcissists love being right all the time, and they’ll quickly start accusing individuals of things they may or may not have done. In some cases, narcissists can go beyond deflection and use gaslighting – a manipulation technique that involves questioning the other person’s experiences or reality.