Not with a bang, but ...

After more than a year, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously, and finally, to send Sheriff Christina Corpus on her way to her next job opportunity, whatever that might be.

Corpus’ legal team, large and expensive, has several pending court challenges asserting that she has been denied innumerable civil and legal rights. Given their creativity, and in the absence of any assertions that she, in fact, was innocent of misconduct, we must assume they will find ways to drag this out.

The good news is that Corpus is no longer is employed by the county, which means any legal fees she incurs will be hers alone.

Then there is the “retirement” Corpus announced somewhere in the media ether. It is a classic workplace fantasy: “You can’t fire me! I quit!”

Various TV news outlets quoted Corpus saying she retired to protect her health care benefits, but that she can unretire within some unclear timeframe.

Corpus has shown she can whip out a press release with the best of them. Not this time, interestingly.

All we know for sure is the county is without a sheriff.

The board has 30 days to appoint a new sheriff or call a special election. It has no less than 102 days and no more than 131 days to set the election date, unless it aligns it with the statewide primary election on June 2, which is 229 days away.

Given the pressure from key advocacy groups that an appointment process be public and inclusive, and, by implication, inherently political, the betting is on a special election, as soon as possible. It will be more expensive than waiting until next June, but, really, who wants to wait?

This negates much of the speculation here last week about potential appointees, but there you go. The list of possible candidates I recounted a week ago is still alive.

Board President David Canepa, who should be credited with shepherding the board through this complicated process, has told numerous media outlets he wants to set the special election as soon as possible. Since the board president sets the meeting agenda, the issue of appointment or special election could be taken up as soon as next Tuesday’s regularly scheduled session.

And while we are doling out credit, Supervisor Ray Mueller was the one who conceived of the process the board followed to fire Corpus. It may have been prolonged and messy, but it afforded Corpus numerous and extensive opportunities to make her case and defend herself, either directly or through her attorneys. And it worked, at least so far.

Also, Supervisor Noelia Corzo stuck her neck out, with Mueller, to call out Corpus’ misconduct and to assert she had to go. For Corzo, it meant turning on a political ally and a friend and potentially alienating her own base of supporters.

When Corpus was elected in 2022, voters thought they ushered in a new era for a Sheriff’s Office in need of reform and modernization. In post-vote comments by Canepa and Supervisor Jackie Speier, they appeared to think that this is unfinished business. Some of their comments echoed what Corpus has been saying about how screwed up the office is, beyond her own contributions, of course.

The next sheriff is going to be on a very tight oversight leash.

In the end, Tuesday’s final board vote, and the discussion that preceded it, was one last round of arguments that have played out for weeks. Corpus asserted she had done nothing wrong and she and her attorneys said she was a victim of a corrupt network of insiders and a power establishment entrenched in the status quo.

There also were references by her and one of her attorneys to Corpus’ newfound faith and even a recent baptism. Samuel Johnson said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” In this modern era, I think you could add religion.

My favorite argument is that of the 18 allegations made against her by the county, only three were upheld; the other 15 were not; therefore, she should keep her job. This is like robbing a bank and arguing that you stole only some of the money.

Get fired. Then retire. Even on her way out, Corpus spawns continuing confusion.

It is starting to feel like a hostage crisis. It brings to mind the classic song by Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks: “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away.”