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Sheriff Carlos G. Bolanos will retain his position as head of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, a position he has held since July 2016, when he was appointed by a 3-2 vote of the Board of Supervisors after his predecessor announced plans to retire.

Unofficial results from the June 5 primary election reported at 10 p.m. show 59 percent of voters choosing Bolanos over his two challengers: Deputy Mark. D. Melville, who has received 41 percent of the votes so far, and write-in candidate Deputy Heinz Puschendorf, whose vote tally won’t be immediately available.

As of 10 p.m., 65,660 ballots had been received by the county elections office; those that had been counted showed Bolanos with 31,180 votes and Melville, 21,595 votes.

This election is the first since at least 1998 in which the incumbent or second-in-command to a retiring sheriff has shared the ballot with a challenger, according to county voting archives. And it’s looking like the first election over those two decades in which the winner did not take office with at least 98 percent of the vote.

One factor that likely contributed to the unusually good showing of a candidate facing an incumbent in the race for San Mateo County sheriff is the 2007 incident in which Bolanos and then-sheriff Greg Munks were detained by Las Vegas police in connection with an FBI sting operation involving illegal brothels.

Police found Munks inside an illegal brothel. Although Bolanos was reported to be on the premises, he told The Almanac that he did not enter the brothel. Both men were detained, but neither was charged with a crime. Bolanos was serving as undersheriff at the time.

Details of the incident remain murky 11 years afterwards, but the matter has surfaced in the public arena regularly during the election season.

For more on this year’s candidates, check The Almanac’s voters guide.

Click here for county Elections Office information on candidate fundraising.

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce

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37 Comments

  1. The public will continue its fight to get the full and complete records on Operation Dollhouse from the Las Vegas PD and FBI. Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper filed a lawsuit against the Las Vegas PD for failure to honor public records requests pertaining to their sex trafficking and prostitution cases. The truth will come out.

    Great job, Mark Melville. The fact that you got so many votes with far less money is impressive. You should be very proud

  3. Thank You Mark Melville for giving average resident a choice in this election. It’s up to the non political residents to take back their County.

    You should be very proud.

  4. This result was expected,

    Santa Clara County residents woke up and recalled Hon. Judge Aaron Persky yesterday.

    The Almanac knows the Heinz Puschendorf has stated he will lead the Recall of Carlos Bolanos if elected.

    Candidate for Supervisor District 3 Dan Stegink stated ” Even if Mr. Bolanos gets elected it is unlikely he will fulfill the 4 year term.”

    I have stated I wouldn’t be surprised if Carlos Bolanos was indicted.
    Former Deputy Juan P. Lopez case tomorrow 9:00AM Concerned Citizens come join me. Watch the Justice System in San Mateo County. Juan has already had 8 felony charges dismissed for Prosecutorial Misconduct, the remaining 6 tomorrow for SMCSO Misconduct. Lying to the Judge to obtain a Search Warrant to get Juan’s cell phone.

  5. Thank you Mark for running. The number of votes you got tells a huge story. The people of this county are starting to wake up to the corruption here. And they know Carlos Bolanos is a man totally lacking in integrity.

    That said, please watch your back. The corruptocrats of SMC have already demonstrated what happens when someone dares to take them on. I hope nothing happens to you.

  6. Way to go Melville! Clearly the county is ready for a change…
    -He took nearly 41% of the votes
    -He’s a total newcomer
    -He was at a major financial disadvantage
    -His opponent started campaigning in 2015 before Munks even stepped down
    -His opponent also sealed endorsements prior to there ever being a challenger
    -Historically the sheriff has got the win with 98%.

    Melville still taking 41% is extremely telling about how the people feel about the need for change!

  7. The fact that Melville got 41% of the votes, for a smaller, shorter-term, underfunded campaign against an incumbent is a huge slap in the face to Bolanos. A lot of us voters are wondering what Bolanos is hiding – he won’t even answer questions about the Las Vegas brothel FBI sting. He and Munks used fake IDs? Other deputies were there and protected him and were then promoted? The public deserves to know the full story.

  8. Elections are money and name recognition contests. Bolanos had a HUGE war chest and outspent Melville 10/1 + he had endorsements from the entire county status quo.

    I received three mailers from Bolanos and none from Melville. Yet the facts remain: 1/3 of the voters rejected Bolanos, which means he still has TRUST & TRANSPARENCY issues! Bolanos is going to have to work hard to EARN the people’s trust!

  9. “Bolanos is going to have to work hard to EARN the people’s trust!”

    He doesn’t care. He won. He’s laughing at his challengers and planning what he can do to them. More promotions to come for his supporters.

  10. I almost voted for Melville but I didn’t because I didn’t want to replace someone with a new person whose sole reason for running is you can’t trust the other guy campaign. I tried to give Melville a fare shake by going to his website to learn what he stood for and his agenda but I was disappointed to see more details about the Las Vegas incident than details about why I should elect him. I was also swayed by the endorsement of many others whose leadership and judgement I trust. Even with little money Melville could’ve invested more time and energy into his website and articulating his platform in more than general concepts and buzzwords to smear Sheriff Bolanos. I would have respected his run with my vote if the slander were not on his campaign website.

  11. Lexi:

    it is not “slander”. Bolanos was caught in a whore house. That’s a fact. It would be slander if it weren’t true.

  12. Lexi: “Slander” is when something is false. Bolanos was in fact detained at an illegal brothel in an FBI sting. Reported by press. Jackie Speier asked Supervisors to investigate.

    I went on the Melville site and saw plenty of info about his issues. Are you SURE you were actually considering voting for Melville? Anyway, Operation Dollhouse is an automatic disqualified, in my opinion.

    Menlo Voter: pretty good showing for Melville, despite his not having a big campaign chest, huh?

  13. San Mateo County Residents should also thank good and concerned citizens Mark De Paula and John Ullom for investing close to 3 years requesting information from the FBI and Las Vegas Metro Police Department only concerning the night of April 21, 2007. Both agencies was not responsive.
    The Las Vegas Review just filed this lawsuit. John and Mark thank you for going after the truth.

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/sex-crimes/review-journal-goes-to-court-for-las-vegas-sex-trafficking-records/

  14. Get over it and move on. He is the right man for the job. Maybe you can claim the Russians hacked the election…#(pound)metoo is such an inappropriate name anyways

  15. I’m so disappointed that Bolanos won – As a mother to daughters, I find this completely unacceptable and scary. Anyone in law enforcement should avoid even the appearance of evil, but the facts are there and the then “explanations” and denials are not at all believable. It’s time for the good ol’ boys network to end. There were trafficked MINORS in that house of Human Trafficking that our Sherriff did, indeed, visit with his cop buddies.

  16. There’s a reason a lot of really smart people contributed money to Bolanos; he was clearly the best candidate. People close to the race don’t buy the garbage Stogner and his fellow patients have been peddling for years. The recall of Bolanos will work as well as Stogner’s last recall effort. Time for you all to turn off your computers, go outside for some fresh air then you can start working on who killed JFK.7vd

  17. Menlo Voter:

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but it was my understanding that Bolanos did not enter the house, but that he waited outside in the car while Munks went in.

    pearl

  18. Pearl:

    That is not correct. Bolanos was inside. He tried to spin it that way at first, but the truth came out. He was INSIDE.

  19. Pearl: you are wrong. Bolanos was not in the car. FBI do not put customers in a lineup as it did with Bolanos if they were in a car. Bolanos has told different stories as to where he was. Which is we we need the full unrdedaced FBI report

  22. Over the past several decades, Sheriff Bolanos has proven to be a man of integrity and high moral character. His career in law enforcement boasts a breadth of knowledge and community involvement not shared by his opposition. Moreover, his campaign focused on what he plans to accomplish and how the department as a whole can build upon the hard work of his predecessor, Sheriff Munks, and the entire San Mateo County Sheriffs Department. Not once did he stoop to mudslinging or personal attacks against the family of his opponents. Neither he nor Greg Munks were charged with any crime related to the FBI raids, and to imply they are part of some “good ole boys club” is grossly far-fetched. The county is lucky to have a leader like Sheriff Bolanos in office to ensure the safety of our citizens and the wellbeing of our county as a whole. Congratulations Sheriff Bolanos.

  23. Ha!! The Bolanos campaign sent out texts with flat out lies about Melville. There was a chart from the campaign that made up stuff, and was ugly, about Melville.

    If Bolanos is so smart, how come he thought he was going to a “legitimate place for a massage” that had 20,000 tablets of ecstasy, thousands of condoms on the floor, dirty mattresses, young trafficked women, skeezy johns coming and going at all hours of the night- at a place where even the neighbors knew illegal activity was going on?

    He wasn’t smart enough not to get caught.

  24. Informed Citizen:

    none of the johns were charged. It doesn’t matter. He was in a brothel featuring trafficked women and at least one under age girl. A brothel that would have been obvious to any one in law enforcement that was minimally competent. Yet, Bolanos “didn’t know”? BS!

    Bolanos has never manned up and admitted he was detained. He’s never manned up and apologized to the citizens of this county. And he never faced any discipline because, yes, there is a “good ol’ boys club” in this county whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. If a lowly deputy had been caught in the same circumstances I assure you he would have been disciplined. In Bolanos’ and Munks’ case they didn’t face any discipline because as Wagstaffe put it, to “those that matter” it didn’t matter.

    For being an “informed citizen” it’s hard to believe you don’t know these things.

  25. Las Vegas police took care of their own when they found out Munks and Bolanos were sheriffs/law enforcement. LV police got them out of that house and helped with what would be the coverup. It’s the brotherhood. I can almost hear them “hey, we’re cops can we talk about this”. A case of Boloney and Muck.

  26. Informed Citizen’s comments are laughable. Our family has had fun making fun of Munks & Bolanos for their “mistaking” an illegal brothel for a legit massage therapy center. Gosh, they could’ve had legit massages at their hotel, or legal prostitution encounters in a neighboring county, How stupid, arrogant and lazy of them 🙂 Add in the cover up of the Bolanos kid’s contretemps at The Pioneer and that definitely adds to the ick factor both sheriffs’ reign of error.

  27. Wow! Is “Informed Citizen” a Bolanos alias or pal? How anyone can consider this man “to be a man of integrity and high moral character” gave me the best laugh I’ve had in a week.

    The brotherhood has united to protect Munks & Bolanos & has worked for years to alter the facts.I have zero respect for this person who varied his lies periodically. He’s never admitted his participation & changes his alibis/excuses. This inconsistency alone should ring alarm bells.

    Never, never will I vote for Mr. Bolanos or respect (or vote for) anyone who supports him. I feel sorry for the minority of department members who actually do have integrity but have had to work in a place headed by either Bolanos or his predecessor. This includes Wagstaffe & 3 of 5 SMC supes & Ray Sardinia-Thiele.

  28. Has the Almanac reported how many votes have not been tallied yet. If it is close to 70,000 the Sheriff Race is not over yet.

    The idea that the residents have been misinformed for 11 years and many were just learning for the first time about some important issues, It likely the last 3 days of voters are more for Melville than Bolanos.

    County Elections Office is keeping that information from the public.

  30. Gee. Do any of you have the “ facts” I think not
    Sheriff Bolanos is the best person for the job of keeping San Mateo County residents safe
    Please move on
    Conspiracy my A..
    he has more integrity than all of his distractors put together

  33. So only a person of importance- significance and a friend of the sheriff could say such naive commentary- obviously they have no moral standards just like the Sheriff and now HIS Department- I would take my Office back and eliminate the Corruption- but any person can now see what I’ve already known- birds of a feather flock together: and will use any/al devices to KEEp control/ – BUT the SKELETONS are out of the closet- and As I’ve said – I I know the truth – JUST like Carlos and his syndicate- but time will tell-

  35. Believe it or not: yet another Ayres prosecutor was sent a warning letter in 2017. in 2013 the Board of Supervisors forced Wagstaffe to add prosecutor Peter Lynch to the Ayres case after Mckowan was disciplined by the State Bar the first time. Bar sent Lynch a warning letter after he made false statements at a parole hearing in December 2013 after an inmate disclosed to the Parole Board that Dr Ayres mokested him when he was a juvenile. Lynch – who failed to disclose that he had been a prosecutor on the Ayres case then told the Parole Board that the inmate was lying about having been molested in the 1970s because Ayres didn’t molest boys before 1980. This was false. The DA’s office used victims from the 60s and 70s for the search warrant on Ayres’ home and also for the trial and sentencing. Lynch also falsely claimed there was a court order against a victims ‘advocate because the advocate had gotten men to make up allegations against Ayres and suggestsed the advocate got the inmate to make up allegations.

    For all this: Lynch got a warning.

    To recap the Bar disciinary action in Ayres case alone

    1) Wagstaffe: admonishment , 2018
    2) Mckowan: private discipline 2013
    3) Mckowan public discipline 2017
    4) Mckowan : admonishment 2018
    5) Peter Lynch: warning , 2017

  36. Wow.. Never fails: When the Bolanos thread falls down on the list, comments on the Town Forum fall off dramatically. As soon as it goes to the top, suddenly a flurry of comments appear on heretofore mostly ignored stories to push the Bolanos story off its top perch..

  37. San Mateo County Elections Office might have just set a record, They counted 21,856 ballots in 5 Days. That’s 4371 per day. They don’t know how many ballots were returned or if they do they are not publishing that information on the website. Wild guess is at least 40,000 remain to be tallied.

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