The Lake County Superior Court released the 293-page report to the public last Friday.
Grand jurors for the 2009-10 year included Foreman Fred Christensen of Lakeport; Kathleen Bisaccio, sergeant-at-arms, Lakeport; Rose Marie Blackwell, Clearlake Oaks; Rudy Brunner, Lakeport; Kevin Byrnes, Lower Lake; Venoma Gill, Clearlake; Larry Heine, foreman pro tem, Lower Lake; Dave Johnson, Clearlake; Marilyn Johnson, Lakeport; Judith Steele Lanfranco, Lakeport; Gerald Morehouse, Lucerne; Phillip Myers, Lakeport; Jack Scialabba, Clearlake; Diane Trudeau, secretary, Cobb; Carol Vedder, Lakeport; and Sunol Westergren, Glenhaven.
Christensen's introductory letter said the grand jury's committees conducted interviews, gathered data and took sworn testimony, and the resulting reports were presented to the entire panel for comments.
“Grand jury members were diligent in the conduct of their duties,” he wrote. “The citizens of the county of Lake can receive the following report with confidence from the 2009-10 Civil Grand Jury and their peers.”
The report examines local government agencies and also takes up a number of citizen complaints.
One primary complaint – which led to one of the longest sections in the report – deals with the local cable access station, PEG TV8, which ran into controversy earlier this year over changes in programming that some community members alleged amounted to censorship.
The grand jury looked at the station's contracts, supporting documents and manuals, and operations in significant detail, and made numerous recommendations, including updates to the station bylaws and policies.
The grand jury also suggested the station needed a paid station manager and a new advisory committee, that outside audits should take place and that legal counsel should be brought in that is familiar with public access stations, with any “major changes limiting public access” being reviewed with that legal counsel.
The document suggests the Board of Supervisors should require an in-depth report from the station every six months and the incoming grand jury should provide oversight of the station “to ensure the operation of PEG TV8 is proper.”
The document includes oversight reports on a variety of county departments – from the District Attorney's Office to information technology, mental and environmental health, Alcohol and Other Drug Services, parks, the transit authority and human resources.
In considering the County Administrative Office, the report admonished that office and the Board of Supervisors to “avoid misleading statements that paint a rosier picture” in budget documents.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said he had spoken to the jury about the 2009-10 budget, and that was the document they were referring to regarding “misleading statements.”
The grand jury reported that the final budget book stated that no general fund employees were to be subject to layoff, which the grand jury contended “tends to mislead the public,” which might not understand the term “general fund.”
“I appreciate their comments and I'll keep that in mind” in preparing future recommendations, said Cox.
Cox said county staff is used to talking in terms of the general fund, the largest portion of money in the budget.
He added, “There certainly is no intention of misleading anybody.”
Cox said there always will be elimination of some positions due to funding, and eliminating positions doesn't always mean layoffs, as the county tries to find other placement for employees in existing positions, he said.
“The fact is, there were a few people who were laid of last year in nongeneral fund programs,” he said.
The grand jury also was concerned about the costs for the Megabyte accounting software, which Cox said is used by the county tax collector – who feels that it's working well – along with the assessor and auditor.
Cox said he also has strong feelings about the high costs of the software, and when the Board of Supervisors renewed the annual maintenance contract this year they discussed looking at other options.
The tax collector will take the lead on looking into other solutions; the grand jury suggested the tax collector shouldn't be involved in that process.
“That's impossible,” Cox said. “It's the tax collector's system. The tax collector obviously needs to be involved.”
In examining the county's Mental Health Department, the grand jury reported complaints from employees about cramped and unsafe working conditions, tires being slashed and little or no support from management staff.
In addition, the grand jury faulted the department's administration for failing to take any employee disciplinary action due to a “$4 million accounting mistake over several years.” The grand jury suggested that the lack of discipline set a bad example for other employees.
The report's section on the public defender program oversight looks extensively into operations and suggests recruiting new members to the Public Defender Oversight Committee, rotating the Board of Supervisors' appointment to the group, including written reports of the contractor's performance with the committee's annual report and exploring the feasibility of creating a public defender's office.
Grand jury considers local cities, takes on complaints
The jury also conducted oversight examinations of the Lakeport and Clearlake city councils, and published questionnaires it submitted to the five county supervisors.
In looking at the city of Lakeport, the grand jury specifically considered Measure I, the city's half-cent sales tax measure passed in 2004, and the advisory Measure J, which also passed and asked voters if the sales tax measure's proceeds should be used to fund “repair and maintenance of city streets, park and community service facilities, and expand public services and programs.”
The use of the money has been a source of some disagreement between current Lakeport City Council members, with some members emphasizing that it should be used for roads and streets alone, as Lake County News has reported.
“The grand jury concludes that the Measure I money is a general tax,” the report stated. “It is obvious the taxpayers were and still are confused and may have thought it was just for roads and streets. It was clearly not limited to that use. Thus using it as a general source of revenue is correct.”
Nevertheless, the jury suggested that the city should make improving roads and streets a priority.
In the city of Clearlake, the grand jury looked into a complaint about garbage collection and recommended that such services be mandated by the city, which it further suggested should consider shrinking its limits by legal means and should generate a map of the streets it will maintain.
Other findings included a statement that Lake County Vector Control's lab was at the end of its usable life. In addition the grand jury reviewed the city of Clearlake's due diligence in consider the Lowe's shopping center project, noting that the city's initial study was more intensive than previous studies done on similar businesses in the county.
For the first time the grand jury conducted oversight of the county's redevelopment agency, offering recommendations to continue gathering public input and preparing for the 2012-17 plan. It also suggested the agency continue to manage the proposed developments in a fiscally responsible manner, continue creating public awareness and a proposal for the grand jury to visit with the agency next year.
There also were several complaints against county departments or other local agencies, some of which could not be substantiated, such as an alleged misconduct complaint about Lake County Code Enforcement.
In another complaint, an individual claimed an elected public official told him if he ran against him, “I will destroy you.” The official in question denied the allegation and the grand jury – which received the complaint at the end of its term – ruled it inconclusive and suggested that the next grand jury further review the allegations.
In a complaint alleging the Clearlake Police Department's loss of property, the agency was found to have made “minimal effort” in contacting the complainant, who it found didn't get proper police assistance and with whom there was miscommunication.
While the department's policies and procedures in the field were followed, “there clearly needed to be more follow-up” the report said.
The grand jury also considered complaints about the jail, including one former inmate's allegation that, as a vegetarian, he was served cheese sandwiches for 277 days straight – which the grand jury couldn't validate – and another inmate's complaints about not receiving medical care, periodicals or prescription glasses. The grand jury found that while the inmate wasn't satisfied, state and county requirements were fulfilled.
In another situation, they investigated the circumstances surrounding a jail suicide, with a woman alleging that her relative wasn't given appropriate aid.
“The Grand Jury found the simple but sad answers: her relative died despite staff intervention because he apparently chose to take his own life,” the report noted.
The 2009-10 report hasn't yet been posted to the grand jury's page on the county Web site; however, when it is, it will be available at www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Grand_Jury/Final_Report.htm.
Grand jury complaint forms can be found online at www.co.lake.ca.us/Residents/Law/complaints.htm.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at