Council approves three-month extension of county sheriff contract while independent review proceeds

Certino — The Certino City Council voted unanimously June 16 to authorize a short-term amendment extending the city's law enforcement agreement with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office through Sept. 30, 2026, while contract cities pursue an independent review of the county's cost-allocation methodology.

The action, taken amid months of negotiations, buys time for an independent assessment that council and staff say is necessary to verify whether the county's charges to contract cities comply with government code section 51350. City staff said the county's initial proposal, received Dec. 31, 2025, would have increased Certino's annual cost by about $7.5 million — roughly a 39% jump — and that subsequent revisions reduced that amount by about $1.1 million but still left a marked increase.

"The purpose of the assessment is not to evaluate deputy performance, staffing levels or service quality. Rather, it is intended to determine whether the methodology used to allocate cost to the contract cities is consistent with the applicable law," staff said in the presentation.

Staff told the council the three contract cities (Certino, Saratoga and Los Altos Hills) have selected Vasquez & Company to perform the third-party review, which staff expects to start in late June and conclude in July or early August. The recommended extension would allow services to continue uninterrupted while the assessment and negotiations proceed.

Council members pressed staff and legal counsel on how the county is applying the state law that limits what general overhead counties may pass to contract cities. The statute cited repeatedly at the meeting was government code section 51350, which staff said requires costs passed to contract cities be directly attributable to services provided to those cities and prohibits shifting general government overhead onto cities.

Council and staff also discussed temporary service-level options, such as reducing school resource officers (SROs) during summer months, but staff said the county declined to permit service-level reductions during the proposed extension. The extension as approved would use the county's proposed rates for the extension period and was authorized with a not-to-exceed amount specified for that term in the staff report.

Public comment at the meeting focused heavily on SROs. A delegation of school leaders and the Fremont Union High School District superintendent urged the council to retain SROs and explore cost-sharing with school districts. "In an emergency, minutes and even seconds matter," said a district speaker recapping prior incidents where SRO presence was important.

The council voted to: (1) authorize the city manager to execute the short-term extension through Sept. 30, 2026, in order to preserve service continuity; (2) continue negotiations with the county on a long-term successor agreement; and (3) direct the city manager to engage Fremont Union High School District and the elementary district on potential cost-sharing arrangements for SROs.

Next steps identified by staff include completing the Vasquez & Company assessment, continuing negotiations with county staff, and returning to council with assessment results and recommendations on a longer-term agreement.

Votes at a glance: The motion to authorize the three-month extension and direction to continue negotiations passed on a unanimous roll call vote.