THE MERCURY NEWS: Supervisors propose no-confidence vote for Santa Clara County sheriff

Joe Simitian and Susan Ellenberg introduce resolution admonishing Laurie Smith over jail management and corruption cases

Two Santa Clara County supervisors have proposed that the board issue a no-confidence vote for Sheriff Laurie Smith over her running of the South Bay’s jails and general management of the agency — failures they assert have cost taxpayers millions in legal settlements and mired her office in high-profile corruption scandals.

In a Board of Supervisors memo and accompanying resolution made public Wednesday, supervisors Joe Simitian and Susan Ellenberg called for an Aug. 31 vote, citing ongoing scrutiny of high-figure jail-abuse and neglect settlements, and a series of criminal indictments that have ensnared Smith associates both in her command staff and political inner circle.