George Catlin, Foreperson, 2012/13 Civil Grand Jury -
As you may or may not know, the Civil Grand Jury exists essentially to help the county and other designated local agencies in effectively providing all the tax funded services they seek to deliver. The basic idea is that every year eleven citizens will review local agencies and look into any complaints that are filed always with the single goal in mind of helping things run more effectively. It is as if the court appoints a group of fair-minded consultants each year whose job it is to help local agencies solve problems and run better.
This year’s panel is particularly interested in assisting offices and agencies that want their help. Our assumption is that every agency is running well and, equally true, every agency might benefit from fresh eyes and ears reviewing their operations. Judging from past jury’s performance, it seems clear that when open-minded, clear-thinking people look into an office or agency, they can usually spot, or simply hear from those working there, good next steps that should be considered. Past juries have often recommended simple internal changes to help operations run more smoothly. Occasionally they have also recommended more county support for much needed, underfunded services. So if you are involved in a county-funded agency that might benefit from such a review, we’d like to hear from your agency and see if we can help.
A second role of the Grand Jury is to investigate any formal complaints that are filed regarding practices that may be misguided, illegal or simply not in the best interest of the county. While we don’t want to encourage an avalanche of whining about things people simply don’t like, we do want it to be known that if you see things happening within our jurisdiction that simply are not right, we are here to hear and, if appropriate, pursue your concern. Complete confidentiality is essential to the workings of the Grand Jury so, when necessary, every effort is made to protect the identity of the person filing the complaint. Again, our goal is not to find fault or penalize anyone, but simply to see if we can assist in promoting better services throughout the county.
To contact the Civil Grand Jury please send us a note at P.O. Box 789, Mariposa, CA 95338 or email us at grandjury@mariposacounty.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment