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Stop the Scandal, a group of high school-aged interns within the public safety watchdog organization Fixin’ San Mateo County, delivered a petition to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors calling for the county to establish an independent inspector general for stronger oversight of the Sheriff’s Office.
The Stop the Scandal interns hosted a small rally before the meeting Tuesday morning, talking about the community benefits of an independent inspector general. Advocates for public safety oversight and reform have redoubled their efforts pushing for independent oversight of the county Sheriff’s office following a string of scandals, including the historic removal of former Sheriff Christina Corpus in 2025.
A handful of students spoke at the rally, including Carlmont High School senior Jiya Venkatesh, who said they’ve seen interest from the community in an independent oversight mechanism. They say an inspector general would have greater ability to investigate complaints about the Sheriff’s Office, including subpoena powers.
“If there’s abuse happening, there needs to be someone it can be reported to,” Venkatesh told this news organization. Venkatesh also sits on the county’s Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Commission.
The group gathered more than 550 signatures ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, when they spoke about the proposal during public comment and delivered the petition to the board.
The county’s Independent Civilian Advisory Commission to the Sheriff’s Office recommended the county create a permanent independent inspector general in April 2025. Multiple neighboring counties have had long-standing independent oversight bodies, including Santa Clara County and the City and County of San Francisco.
San Mateo County posted a job listing for an “ombudsperson” to work with the Sheriff’s Corrections Division, which operates two jails. According to the listing’s LinkedIn post, which closed on Aug. 11, this person will act as a bridge between incarcerated people, their families, the community at large and the Sheriff’s office. Venkatesh and fellow Carlmont High School senior Anoushka Swaminathan both said the ombudsperson does not have enough power, purview or independence from the Sheriff’s Office to provide actual oversight of the department.
Momentum for independent oversight has been strong across the state, according to Fixin’ San Mateo County executive director and founder Nancy Goodban, who noted Monterey County’s Board of Supervisors reviewed a proposal to create an Office of the Inspector General on the same day.
“It’s time for us to get on the bandwagon,” Goodban said.
Alongside the broad political will, Goodban said the group has seen more interest from younger residents. She said they had a handful of students from Sequoia High School working with the organization last year, and this summer were able to bring in 10 high school interns, mostly from Carlmont High School.
Venkatesh said she’s been following Fixin’ San Mateo’s advocacy work ever since she was a freshman. Although she agreed with many of their ideas, she saw the need for more momentum. As an intern, she developed a mobilization strategy that involved creating the petition, talking to partner organizations and ramping up the group’s outreach.
She says she’s seen more people become interested in the topic and generally in what’s happening in their local government.
“We all know about our national issues, we know about our state issues to an extent, but our local issues often go unknown,” Venkatesh told this publication.
