Santa Clara County sheriff candidates retired Capt. Kevin Jensen and former Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen traded accusations of corruption over the weekend, with Jensen accusing Jonsen of receiving support from retiring Sheriff Laurie Smith. Jonsen accused Jensen of offering a “quid pro quo” to former candidate Christine Nagaye.
Smith announced in March her plan to retire at the end of her current term. Under her watch, the embattled 24-year sheriff faced civil grand jury charges of corruption, a vote of no-confidence from the County Board of Supervisors, pay-to-play allegations regarding the granting of gun permits and accusations of mismanaging the county jail system. She is currently on trial in civil court, accused of public corruption.
Jonsen and Jensen, the top two vote-getters, respectively, in the June primary, face off in the Nov. 8 election. Donation records, endorsements and the candidates themselves tell two diverging stories of the race.
Donations and endorsements
Jensen, who left the Sheriff’s Office in 2013 after falling out with Smith, is currently leading the donations arms race. He has raised a total of $314,146 since January 2021, after officially launching his campaign in
September of last year. In addition, Jensen has received substantial support from various law
enforcement organizations, including the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association PAC, which donated $150,000 to his campaign this year, and the Santa Clara County Correctional Peace Officers Association, which contributed $188,000, bringing his donation total in the range of $700,000.
Jonsen, who launched his campaign in February, has raised a total of $110,249.
Both in donations and endorsements, the two candidates’ campaign supporters appear generally divided, with elected officials supporting Jonsen and unions and law enforcement professionals backing Jensen.
On top of his organizational support, Jensen’s coffers include personal donations from PG&E vice president Teresa Alvarado and a handful of current Sheriff’s Office employees. Jensen is endorsed by the Los Altos Peace Officers Association (POA) and the Gilroy and San Jose Police Officers’ Associations. Former Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton also supports Jensen.
The Town Crier reached out to the Los Altos POA for comment but received no response.
Jonsen secured an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, as well as a donation and endorsement from County Supervisor Joe Simitian and a donation from Valley Water Board of Directors chairman Gary Kremen. Los Altos Vice Mayor Sally Meadows and all five Los Altos Hills City Council members have endorsed Jonsen.
Simitian told the Town Crier, "The sheriff's department is in need of serious reform and I think Chief Jonsen is the best equipped to deliver that reform."
"We really can't afford four more years of business as usual," Simitian said.
With Smith’s corruption trial underway, the new sheriff will have to rebuild morale inside a short-staffed, scandal-plagued department.
Jonsen frames the race as a contest between an insider, his opponent Jensen, and an outsider, himself.
“I think all you have to do is look at some of the forums we’ve had,” Jonsen told the Town Crier. “Voters are going to have to decide which direction the organization is going to have to go. I think my experience has positioned me well … to bring a fresh paradigm on policing.”
Jensen disagreed with his opponent’s assertion.
“I think people are starting to understand that the narrative of outsider versus insider is very funny,” Jensen told the Town Crier, “because I fought against corruption (inside the department) for at least 12 years.”
Jensen faced negative press coverage last week, when the Palo Alto Daily Post published text messages suggesting that he offered former opponent Nagaye a position in his administration in exchange for an endorsement. The Post received screenshots of the messages from Jonsen, and both Jensen and Nagaye independently confirmed the messages’ authenticity.
Jensen said his text did not offer a promotion or money, but rather a way to find common ground with his former opponent.
“My intent was clear. I am not going to be quid pro quo,” he said. “I was reaching out as a teammate.”
Jensen said he has received information from inside the Sheriff’s Office that Smith is backing his oppnent. He said of the corruption trial so far, “that’s the tip of the iceberg of what she did in our department.”
Jonsen told the Town Crier that he did not seek out Smith’s support, but he would like to speak with her about transitioning into office if elected.
“I think she would support anybody other than Kevin Jensen,” Jonsen said.
Alongside Smith’s corruption allegations, county jail conditions garnered scrutiny after the death of Michael Tyree while in custody.
County officials are currently considering a nearly $750 million project to build a new jail, drawing attention from local activists.
After more than 10 years in the planning stages, the County Board of Supervisors voted to scrap the current design and head back to the drawing board in August.
Jonsen said he supports the pause for a redesign, though he thinks the jail should be built.
Jensen said the delay fails to take into account the overcrowded facilities inmates currently face.
“What’s happening to the people that are there now that are suffering in this facility?” Jensen asked. “I’m a balanced person who says if not lock them all up or let them all out, but we need to take a reasonable approach to not incarcerating our way out of the problem, but to lowering the jail population and providing mental health treatment.”
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