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Following persistent demands from the community for increased oversight of the Sheriff's Office, the County's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the formation of a civilian advisory commission last week.
The board made the decision at its Tuesday, Dec. 12 meeting. Still, activist Nancy Goodban, Fixin' San Mateo County executive director, said the resolution lacks two critical factors: a full-time inspector general and the ability to ask questions and obtain answers.
"Companies always have people auditing them; they hire an outside auditor to ensure they are doing things correctly, and that's what this is for the Sheriff's Office; that means they can be proactive and help improve and make recommendations, that would be proactive. Instead, this is reactive," Goodban said.
The civilian advisory commission won't be responsible for investigative and prosecutorial functions. Nor will it participate in disciplinary matters, refer to cases under active investigation, or issue subpoenas.
The commission will comprise seven voting members, five of whom will be appointed by each board member representing their respective county district. Two members will be at large, one appointed collectively by the board and one by Sheriff Christina Corpus. The board will appoint two alternate members if one cannot serve.
Together, the commission will make recommendations to the board of supervisors and develop and implement an annual work plan approved by the County's Executive Office. It will also be in charge of holding public meetings facilitating community engagement, according to a report.
The Sheriff's Community Advisors for Responsible Engagement (CARE) and a member of the Youth Commission will serve as non-voting liaisons. The Board of Supervisors will hold a county public safety meeting annually to discuss related issues. Two board members will also need to be on a sub-committee to facilitate the progress of the commission and relay information to the board.
Supervisor Noelia Corzo volunteered to be on the sub-committee, and the other supervisors hesitated to take on the additional responsibility.
While the board's decision to approve the commission was reasonably ministerial, Corzo felt more feedback was needed from her colleagues on how the commission would function, noting that she thought it would be essential to address the need for a full-time inspector general.
Corzo added she's excited to help law enforcement look at rehabilitation and diversion programming, which the county needs to invest in so the officers are not overburdened.
However, Supervisor Ray Mueller said he wanted to start the committee to begin the process.
"I want to start the work, get it in place. Government works, it moves forward, it progresses, if it's not working, it will become evident pretty quickly, but I'd rather in this circumstance start the work and improve it over time," Mueller said.
Goodban said the county should look closer at Santa Clara County's oversight program because it has a full-time inspector general who works on changing policies and increasing training.
"They don't look at criminal things, and to discipline anybody, that's the district attorney's job," Goodban said.
After Chinedu Okobi died from cardiac arrest after being Tasered multiple times by San Mateo County sheriff's deputies in 2018, Goodban felt it was time to talk to the authorities about the dangers of Tasers. In 2020, Assembly Bill 1185 passed, allowing for the creation of oversight committees through the board of supervisors or voted in by the community.
By 2021, Goodban and a group of volunteers started Fixin' San Mateo to nudge the community and officials to create a civilian oversight board to help the Sheriff's Office with policies.
Still, Goodban thinks the community and the Sheriff's Office would benefit from hiring a full-time inspector general instead of calling for one during an incident.
Corpus did not respond to requests for comment.
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