San Carlos becomes 1st city in San Mateo County to call on sheriff to resign

SAN CARLOS, Calif. (KGO) -- With unanimous support, the San Carlos City Council voted Monday night for a motion of no confidence in San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, and called for her resignation.

The council's vote follows the release of an explosive report by an independent investigator.

That report says the sheriff has abused her power while in office, had an inappropriate relationship with her chief of staff and sent out racist and homophobic text messages.

"Judge Cordell's report speaks for itself. It represents nothing more than a failure of leadership," said San Carlos Mayor John Dugan.

TIMELINE: San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus investigation

Since the report emerged, Corpus has denied the allegations against her and vowed not to step down.

While the county's Board of Supervisors can't remove her, they are exploring adopting a charter amendment early next year.

That amendment would ask voters to give the board the power to fire the sheriff.

"I think the facts here speak for themselves. She's clearly lost the confidence of her organization and most of the leaders in this community. And, yes, if she requires us to go through this entire process and spend the money required - that is a selfish act," Dugan said.

EXCLUSIVE: San Mateo Co. sheriff faces false info from her own department, Board of Supervisors

San Carlos is the first city in San Mateo County to formally call on Corpus to step down.

The sheriff says she believes she's being unjustly attacked because she's trying to bring change to her department and because of her identity.

The president of the deputy's union Carlos Tapia - who was recently arrested by his own department - attended Monday's vote and denied those claims.

"She's taking away from the real victims. It's almost like she's crying wolf. And for people who do go through something as serious as that, there's no validity to her statements that she's saying it's because she's a female, that because she's Latina," Tapia said.

EXCLUSIVE: San Mateo Co. sheriff's chief of staff answers calls to resign, shares his side of story

San Carlos has relied on the Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services in the city since 2011.

And despite Monday's vote, city leaders want to reassure local residents that public safety will not be affected.

"This is a very healthy relationship but for the sheriff's current predicament," Dugan said.

Many of the sheriff's critics say they hope other cities in the county will follow San Carlos' lead and call on her to step down.