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Placer County Grand Jury 2015 Final Report

Kevin Knauss
Placer County Grand Jury Final Report 2014 - 2015

Placer County Grand Jury Final Report 2014 – 2015

The Final Report contains the results of the 2014 – 2015 Placer County Grand Jury’s investigations as required by law, those requested by citizens, and those internally generated by the Grand Jury. The Placer County Grand Jury undertook sixteen investigations during its one year term. The consolidated report includes the individual reports on those investigations, as well as information on the background, function and operation of the Grand Jury.

Download the full report -> [wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=680 linktext=’2014-2015 Final Report, Placer County Grand Jury’ /]

Individual Investigations and Inspections Summaries

You can download the full individual report at the end of each of the summaries.

Eureka Union School District School Lunch Program Contract Brown Act Open Meeting Concerns

The Grand Jury investigated the formation of a food services contract between the Eureka Unified School District (EUSD) and the Roseville Joint Union High School District (RJUHSD) to determine whether the EUSD Board had violated the Brown Act in approving the contract.

The Grand Jury recommends that an individual Board member not be allowed to attend more than one information meeting in a given series of meetings set up by the Superintendent. Further, the Grand Jury is recommending that EUSD Board members and executive district staff obtain additional training regarding the Ralph M. Brown Act (hereinafter, Brown Act or Act; Government Code section 54950, et seq.), so that the district can avoid any violation of the Act and any appearance of violation of the Act.

Examination of Fire Hydrant Inspection and Maintenance

The Grand Jury conducted an investigation into whether fire hydrants in Placer County are being properly inspected and maintained and determined that the current system, though not standard throughout the county, is working.

Human Trafficking

The 2014-2015 Placer County Grand Jury (GJ) conducted an investigation into the extent and pervasiveness of human trafficking in Placer County. The GJ was most interested in the resources available to law enforcement to identify and assist victims and to ascertain whether law enforcement was able to successfully utilize existing county social service programs to best facilitate assistance to the victims of human trafficking.

The GJ interviewed representatives of all entities and county officials tasked with the responsibility of identifying and assisting victims. Law enforcement agencies were interviewed as to the measures they take to identify a human trafficking situation and assist victims in obtaining the help they need. The GJ found that Placer County recognizes the problem of human trafficking and continues to utilize programs which have been in place for years. Additionally, in 2014, Placer County Children’s System of Care (CSOC) developed the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Task Force (CSEC). This task force is comprised of members of law enforcement at every level, as well as county social services entities, and has the potential to adequately assist victims. One short-coming that must be addressed is the lack of a state-wide tracking system for victims already identified by law enforcement.

Investigation of County and City Operational Policies

The Grand Jury (GJ) reviewed the operational policies of the incorporated city governments and Placer County. These included Auburn, Colfax, Lincoln, Loomis, Rocklin, and Roseville. The Grand Jury met with county and local government financial managers to understand their various individual local policies, their implementation, and their review procedures and control elements. Our intent was to determine if the policies for travel, use of government and private vehicles for official business, use of government credit cards, computers, and phones, contracting, bidding and purchasing were appropriate, up-to-date and complete.

The GJ sought to determine how such policies are updated to address changes over time and as technology evolves. The GJ also wanted to verify that the policies for travel and the use of technology applied to elected officials as well as government employees. The GJ noted minor improvements were needed in documenting policies, their timeliness and maintaining an inventory of policies. Keeping policies in line with technology changes represents a continuing challenge.

Placer County Water Agency – Enhanced Service to Placer County Residents Utilizing Reserves from Sale of Surplus Water and Electricity

The Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) was authorized by the Placer County Water Agency Act (the Act) in 1957, to manage certain water resources for the public good of Placer County residents. PCWA has emerged as a financially secure agency with Unrestricted Reserves in excess of $110 million plus a Water Systems Expansion Restricted Account balance of $40 million. PCWA has done an admirable job of managing their water and infrastructure assets for their rate payers. What has not been legislatively specified is how PCWA should manage excess cash generated from either the sale of surplus water or from net revenues derived from the sale of electricity from their hydroelectric operations on the Middle Fork of the American River.

The realities of the ongoing nature of the drought, and its effect on some Placer County communities not part of the PCWA service area, could create a situation where water availability becomes a serious health and welfare issue. PCWA has Unrestricted Reserves in excess of $110 million. They need to consider the application of some of those reserves to improve the availability and dependability of potable water to all residents of Placer County.

The Placer County Grand Jury recommends that PCWA consider expanding their vision and mission to include assistance for Placer County neighborhoods and communities not currently in their service areas. This assistance might come in the form of emergency financial aid to other water districts to develop the necessary infrastructure to connect to existing PCWA treated drinking water during extreme drought conditions.

Review of Placer County Government and Special District/Agency Websites

The California Public Records Act (CPRA) requires full disclosure of actions taken by elected officials and public access to all public records, with some limited exceptions. Although not required by CPRA, the Grand Jury (GJ) holds that the public has come to expect such records are available, or can be made available, through government and agency websites.

The GJ investigated if, and to what extent, Placer County, local cities and special districts were providing these records on their websites. A survey of county, city and special districts websites was conducted by the GJ. Websites for the following entities were included in the survey:

County & Cities Special Districts/Agency

Survey results indicated that all the agencies had functioning websites and, through them, the public has access to an extensive array of useful information. Agendas, records of public meetings, budgets, access to governmental functions, and general information on services, taxes, contact information, helpful links and more were found to be available to varying degrees on the websites.

The GJ commends all the entities surveyed for their efforts to make records easily available to the public through their websites. However, as good as the websites are, the GJ found several areas for improvement.

The GJ found that a lack of consistency in websites makes locating similar information on different websites difficult and time consuming. It is recommended that a Placer county interagency

committee should be convened to establish a best practices guide for city and county websites. Some of the websites contain outdated information of questionable value to the public. It is recommended that all documents and information on government and special district websites be subject to an annual review to assure all information is still current and pertinent.

The GJ found that none of the surveyed websites posted operating policies covering employee travel and use of entity owned assets, such as vehicles, credit cards, cell phones and computers. The GJ recommends that these policies be available on the websites. In addition, many of the websites should improve in presenting information on opportunities to bid on government contracts and in displaying the results of such bids.

It was found that some websites included links to make CPRA public documents requests. The GJ recommends that all the websites include this capability.

Temporary Emergency Homeless Shelter

The homeless situation in Placer County has been under review since 2004 by the Board of Supervisors (BOS). In 2004 the Placer Consortium on Homeless and Affordable Housing Committee presented to the BOS a ten-year plan to end homelessness in Placer County. As of December of 2014, there was no temporary emergency homeless shelter in Auburn. Faced with the prospect of people living out in the open during a cold and wet winter, immediate action for a shelter, even if temporary, appeared in order. A number of citizens stepped forward with offers of resources and a proposal to repurpose two buildings on the DeWitt Center Campus as a temporary shelter. These buildings, which had recently been used to house minimum-security prisoners, appeared to be a ready solution to provide temporary shelter for the homeless.

When the issue appeared to stall before the BOS in December 2014, the Grand Jury decided to investigate. During the course of the investigation, the BOS held a special meeting in which they requested an expedited review and analysis by County staff. At the time of this writing, the BOS has given approval for a temporary shelter at the DeWitt Center with a conditional use permit for ninety (90) days. The need for a permanent solution remains.

A Five-Year Plan for Meeting the Needs of a Growing Senior Population in Placer County

This report is a continuation of a recommendation from the 2013-2014 Grand Jury Report on the DeWitt Center Costco Lease and its impact on seniors.

Finding 4 of last year’s Grand Jury Report identified the need for the county to develop a fiveyear plan that will address the needs of its predicted growing senior and disabled populations. The Board of Supervisors (BOS) response to that finding appears to be incomplete.

Recommendation 2 of last year’s report suggested that the county create a five-year plan for the creation of an umbrella organization that will bring together all governmental and not-for-profit organizations providing supportive services to disabled and senior populations. The purpose was to link all stakeholders that provide needed and supportive senior and disabled services under one entity. The County Director of Health and Human Services (HHS) would coordinate this effort.

The BOS response to this recommendation was that “this recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future”. This response is lacking in specificity and could be considered a violation of Penal Code section 933.05, subdivision (b)(2), as it lacks a time frame for implementation.

Anti-Bullying Policies in Middle and High Schools: Are They Effective?

The Grand Jury reviewed the Placer County schools responses to the 2013-2014 Grand Jury’s recommendations on anti-bullying policies. In particular, the Grand jury was interested in determining if the school districts are able to gauge the effectiveness of their policies.

There are nineteen school districts within Placer County. Each district has demographic differences in geographical size, number of students, and types of policies covering bullying. School administrators recognize the bullying problem and have implemented anti-bullying policies and programs to conform to state law. Not all schools have a mechanism for the anonymous reporting of bullying. While there are data gathering systems available, e.g. Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) discussed below, to track behavior changes, these systems are not fully utilized throughout the county. Most of the districts that have data collection systems have not had sufficient time to develop statistically valid data to gauge the effectiveness of their programs.

The Grand Jury recommends that the districts continue developing reporting mechanisms and collecting data to measure the effectiveness of their programs. All schools should have a plan for anonymous reporting.

Placer County Meals on Wheels

This report is a response to and a continuation of a recommendation from the 2013-2014 Grand Jury Report on the “Placer County Meals on Wheels: A Failure to Communicate”.

The 2013-2014 Grand Jury recommended that the Board of Supervisors (BOS) should establish a system of communication between the BOS and its appointees to Boards and Commissions. The BOS responded that it agreed with the recommendation; however, it gave no time frame for implementation. California Penal Code Section 933.05(b)(2) specifies that when a respondent replies that a recommendation will be implemented in the future, it needs to give a time frame for implementation.

As a part of this follow up, the Grand Jury (GJ) asked that a member of the BOS be interviewed to discuss the implementation of the BOS response. The BOS member who was contacted by the GJ to be interviewed contacted County Counsel. County Counsel (who acts as counsel for both GJ and the BOS) called the GJ and suggested the BOS member not be interviewed.

In the course of this follow up, the GJ determined that there appears to be an issue regarding BOS cooperation with the work of the GJ.

Transfer of Dewitt Center Enterprise Funds and Its Impact on Citizens

This report traces the paper trail that culminated in the transfer of the reserves in the DeWitt Enterprise Funds into a new Placer County Government Center Internal Services Fund (PCGCISF). It also asks the county executives to consider using this new fund as a potential source of the funding of the mandated relocation costs of the non-profit corporation, Seniors First, from the DeWitt Center to a new location in North Auburn. The report also questions the designation of this new fund for the exclusive use of the county for the needs of the DeWitt Government campus.

Auburn Police Department and Holding Facility Annual Inspection

This Grand Jury Report details the annual inspection conducted at the City of Auburn Police Department (APD), 1215 Lincoln Way, on September 2, 2014. The APD has a temporary holding area which consists of a bench and restraints. The Grand Jury finds that generally the operations are satisfactory with the exception of some health and cleanliness issues. The Grand Jury recommends that funds be allocated to procure an epi-pen and defibrillator. It is also recommends that staff more closely monitor cleanliness of the facility.

Placer County Jails and Holding Facilities: A Consolidated Report Annual Inspections

This report summarizes thorough inspections conducted at the six Placer County jails and holding facilities:

On the whole, the jurors found these facilities to be clean, secure, and well-managed, with relatively few problems.

The main challenge facing Placer County correctional facilities has been overcrowding, primarily due to public safety realignment as the result of State legislation (AB109), which in April 2011, sought to reduce state prison overcrowding by:

Placer County, like most counties, is dealing with many issues that have arisen as a result of realignment. While many overcrowding issues will be alleviated by the recent opening of the new South Placer Main Jail, other issues associated with housing more sophisticated prisoners for longer periods of time are still being addressed. In the past, county jails have not had to deal with critical long-term health issues or rehabilitation needs of inmates.

In addition, State Proposition 47, which went into effect after the November 2014 election, has added a new burden to jail staff. Because it reduces penalties for drug and other nonviolent crimes, many county inmates have petitioned to have their convictions reclassified from felonies to misdemeanors, and sentences reduced or erased. An estimated 40,000 inmates in California are eligible. This creates a huge need for more jail and court personnel to facilitate this complicated process.

Placer County Juvenile Detention Facility – Annual Inspection

The 2014 – 2015 Placer County Grand Jury conducted its annual inspection of the County Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) on October 15, 2014, followed by an interview with the JDF Superintendent on October 30, 2015. The facility is located at 11260 B Avenue, Auburn.

On the date of inspection, the JDF appeared to be clean and well-maintained; the staff is knowledgeable about pertinent legal requirements and genuinely dedicated to reducing the rate of return/repeat offenders. However the facility offers short-term counseling and self-help programs that are not ideally suited for detainees who are held at the JDF for extended periods of time. Similarly lacking is availability of outdoor recreation geared toward longer-termed detainees. Activities primarily consist of a concrete sports court with a few barred openings in the walls and a small open-air skylight. Although the facility has a large grassy area, it is rarely used due to limited security and staffing issues.

Finally, the JDF has incorporated a program which has been favorably received by the detainees. Positive Behavioral Intervention Support (PBIS) is a program wherein detainees can earn privileges and/or small luxury items through a merit system, based on good behavior and following the rules of the JDF. As reported by staff, PBIS has led to a decrease in poor behavioral incidents at the facility.

The Grand Jury added three additional areas of interest to its inspection agenda:

 

Rocklin City Jail – Annual Inspection

This Grand Jury Report details the annual inspection conducted at the City of Rocklin Police Department (RPD), located at 4080 Rocklin Road, on October 27, 2014. This facility includes six holding cells. The Grand Jury found this facility to be a well-managed and well-maintained jail. There are no recommendations at this time, and the jurors would like to commend the Rocklin Police Department for its upkeep of this facility.

Roseville Police Department and Holding Facility Annual Inspection

This report summarizes the Grand Jury inspection of the City of Roseville Police Department on October 14, 2014, to include ten two-person housing cells for 20 people, four multi-purpose sobering cells for 15 people, and four multi-purpose holding cells for 14 people. This facility is located at 1051 Junction Boulevard in Roseville.

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