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Though much happened in San Mateo County in 2024, including an election, environmental progress and large fires, one story dominated county headlines: the unfolding chaos in the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s Office
Though the uproar in the Sheriff’s Office primarily erupted in the fall of 2024, there were inklings of unrest earlier in the year. A former sheriff’s deputy filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Christina Corpus, alleging that she retaliated against him, in March. In the lawsuit, he also named Corpus Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle. In June, there was a leadership shakeup after Undersheriff Chris Hsiung suddenly announced his departure from the office.
The mayhem really began in ernest after the sheriff’s unions took a vote of no confidence against Aenlle in September, with 96% of the members approving of the vote. The unions also filed a complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board against Corpus, Aenlle and the rest of her administration. Supervisors announced that they had initiated an investigation into her office.
Soon after, Corpus fired her Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan just three days after he spoke to independent investigator LaDoris Cordell, who had been hired to look into the Sheriff’s Office.
In early November, Corpus arrested union president Carlos Tapia for alleged felony time card fraud, just hours before the county released the report from Cordell’s investigation to the public. Captain Brian Philips resigned rather than arrest Tapia, and filed a claim against the county alleging that he had been retaliated against after refusing to serve an internal affairs notice that he believed to be illegal. Following an investigation by the District Attorney’s Office, DA Steve Wagstaffe said that there was no evidence for Tapia’s arrest, and that he “should not have been arrested.”
Following the release of Cordell’s report, the board of supervisors formally called on Corpus to resign. Their calls were echoed by congressional and state officials, the San Carlos city council, and this news organization.
The Board of Supervisors voted in early December to approve a special election to decide the fate of Sheriff Corpus. San Mateo County will vote on Measure A, which would give supervisors the power to remove Sheriff Corpus, on March 4, 2025.
In addition to the chaos, the Sheriff’s Office made other advancements this year. The office moved into its new headquarters at 330 Bradford St. in June, expanded its therapy dog program and expanded its anonymous firework buyback program. Supervisors also approved the inaugural members of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s advisory commission in June.
Election
In San Mateo County, the supervisor seats for districts 1 and 4 were up for grabs in the Nov. 5 election. Former U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier beat out Millbrae City Council member Ann Schneider in the race to represent District 1, replacing Supervisor Dave Pine who termed out.
East Palo Alto council member Lisa Gauthier beat out East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López in the race to replace Warren Slocum’s District 4 seat. Gauthier had taken an early lead in the March five-way primary for the seat. Gauthier raised about $300,000 for the race, while López raised about $190,000.
Environment
The year started off in San Mateo County with sweeping power outages and tree damage after a large storm with 50 mph winds hit the county in early February. Following the wet winter, several birds throughout the county tested positive for West Nile virus. This news organization took an inside look at the tiny mosquitofish that the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District uses to combat the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.
In other pest news, the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture announced in November that the highly invasive shothole borer beetle had been found in the Redwood Shores community. This is the first time the tree-killing pest has been seen in San Mateo County.
An environmental group was prompted to launch a petition urging the county to institute a total ban on herbicide spraying after an alleged incident of “broadcast spraying” of herbicides at the Corporation Yard in La Honda.
In early December, a tsunami warning that was issued following a 7.0 quake off the coast of Humboldt County tested San Mateo County’s emergency alert system. Luckily, no actual tsunami struck.
In good environmental news, a new San Mateo County park will soon be opening at Tunitas Creek Beach, and the Board of Supervisors voted to name it after late supervisor and County Sheriff Don Horsley to honor his contribution to the protection of that stretch of public beach.
Fire
There were several notable fires that took place in San Mateo County this year. The most dangerous was an eight-alarm fire that resulted in the “total loss” of an affordable housing project in North Fair Oaks. A very windy day made the fire hard to fight, but officials praised the quick actions of firefighters, which resulted in no injuries to bystanders or emergency responders, and prevented the large blaze from spreading to nearby buildings.
A large fire at the Sims Metal recycling plant in Redwood City caused air quality problems throughout the area. The fire began while employees were loading a shredder with burning pieces of metal, and resulted in a large plume of smoke that could be seen for miles.
Technology
This year, the Board of Supervisors addressed artificial intelligence head on, and in January, passed a resolution pledging that the county will not replace employees with AI. Supervisors also passed a resolution urging Congress to require health warnings on social media, aimed at addressing mental health concerns linked to social media.
In August, autonomous vehicle service from Waymo began rolling into Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, marking the first time that the robot cars were allowed to carry people in the county. Nuro, another autonomous vehicle company, expanded its autonomous delivery services in Menlo Park and Atherton in the same month.
Technology is now even more accessible at San Mateo County libraries, as the library system launched a collection of video games that are available for county residents to borrow.
In 2023, AT&T applied to end its carrier of last resort obligations, which would mean that the company would no longer be required to offer landline services in remote areas, including the remote areas of San Mateo County. In early 2024, county supervisors came out swinging against the communications company’s proposal, and urged the California Public Utilities Commissions to deny AT&T’s proposal. In June, the CPUC denied AT&T’s request, ensuring that remote county residents could keep their landline service.
The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative expanded access to its community space, allowing more community organizations to use its facilities for events and meetings.
Courts
In July, the county debuted its Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment courts for people suffering from psychotic disorders. The goal of the new CARE court is to connect people with schizophrenia and other serious mental health disorders with mental health care, housing and other services rather than sending them through the usual court system.
To help reduce failure-to-appear rates, the county court launched text reminders for misdemeanor cases.
The county also selected a new executive officer for the court system; Chad Peace, who comes from Harris County, åTexas, was selected to replace Neal Taniguchi as the San Mateo County Superior Court’s executive officer. The county’s probate court also moved from Redwood City to San Mateo in July.
Housing and real estate
As always, housing, real estate and the cost of living were hot topics in San Mateo County. In February, San Mateo became the only county in the United States where the average homebuyer needs to earn more than $500,000 yearly to afford a median-priced home.
Though housing is in high demand, the office vacancy rates in the county in 2024 remained 3x higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, a report from commercial real estate firm Kidder Matthews found.
The county launched an Accessory Dwelling Unit resource center, a portal that provides information, resources and tools to make it easier to build ADUs throughout the county, in hopes that it will help alleviate some housing pressure.
Following a 25% monthly rent hike, a food bank and church in North Fair Oaks is facing an uncertain future. Other food distribution services in San Mateo County struggled throughout the year due to the exceedingly high demand from residents, which matched the levels of need the organizations saw during the pandemic.
Dear Editor,
I am shocked you did not mention the efforts of Fixin San Mateo County’s proposal to persuade the BOS to use AB 1185 and install a civilian oversight board and inspector general’s office for our San Mateo County Sheriff’s office. Just think: Had they not “kicked the can down the road,” we would not have the current turmoil in the Sheriff’s Office and its threat to public safety!