[Mendocino County] The Willits News Editorials: Grand Jury Reports

When the process works well, Grand Jury investigations can help a Board of Supervisors focus special attention on problems within county government. But, when it works like it does in Mendocino County, the Board of Supervisors typically circles the wagons and begin lobbing nasty comments the moment the Grand Jury identifies even the faint hint of problems in the county.

Last year, this reached absurd proportions with the Grand Jury’s report on county skimming of library funds. The Board seemed to abdicate its responsibility for the county budget, blaming others and saying the Grand Jury failed to provide sufficient evidence of wrong doing.

The Board, on its own initiative, could have and should have requested a full accounting of the library funding practices and verified that they, perhaps unwittingly, have endorsed skimming money improperly from the library for many years. This systemic money drain likely contributed to the need for Measure A, the library sales tax. The number one concern voiced by voters in that campaign was that the county would find a way to steal the money, and they were right. The skimming began to ramp up, nearly immediately after the measure passed, as stated in the 2014 Grand Jury report.

Last year the supervisors swore to the public that they didn’t do it, alternating between it didn’t happen or someone else in county government was responsible.

By doing this the Board, rather than fixing it, shifted blame and pretty much continued along the same course, with the CEO sucking in more and more of the library management and forcing the libraries to use county services even if it cost more. There was even a gag order on our local librarian, telling TWN all questions touching the Grand Jury report were to be addressed to the CEO

A year later, the issue remains, and the Board of Supervisors can continue ripping off the libraries or they can provide leadership and set the library funding on a proper course. The library sales tax will eventually expire and if this mess continues, voters may not choose to renew it.

Now we come to the Grand Jury report on Child Protective Services. The Board of Supervisors has the opportunity to step in and fix it, or, they can put their head in the sand and say it isn’t so.

Let’s see some leadership going forward

June 17, 2015

Willits News