[Monterey County] Grand jury releases report on Carmel governance

CARMEL >> The Monterey County civil grand jury has released its investigation into Carmel-by-the-Sea, spreading blame among several parties for the city’s problems during the tenure of former city administrator Jason Stilwell.

Released Friday, the report concluded:

•The mayor and city council appeared to place more importance on avoiding public criticism, unfavorable media exposure and the threat of litigation than on conscientious oversight and governance;

•That the city council and residents did not fully understand the “City Manager” form of government and rules governing how the mayor, city council and administrators may interact;

•Local media coverage, particularly by the Carmel Pine Cone, heightened or escalated concerns by echoing the one-sided viewpoints of terminated employees since, the city was prohibited by law from disclosing its reasons for terminations;

•The city had outdated systems and processes that aggravated the city’s problems, and efforts to bring the city into compliance and mitigate legal exposure encountered pushback from city employees and residents.

In November, Mayor Jason Burnett formally requested that the civil grand jury investigate city operations during Stilwell’s employment. Before the request, a loose knit group of Carmel residents also had been in contact with the grand jury to inquire about a possible investigation.

The grand jury was asked to look into complaints of cronyism, unfair treatment and termination of city employees, lack of transparency and non-responsiveness to Public Records Act requests; loss of institutional memory and deterioration of city services; and fiscal responsibility regarding legal exposure and expenses.

During the probe, the grand jury requested several personnel files. When the city declined citing privacy rights, the grand jury issued a subpoena.

City Attorney Don Freeman then filed a motion to quash the subpoena. Monterey County Superior Court Judge Lydia Villarreal asked the grand jury to show cause why the files were necessary. She later ruled that the grand jury could review the files for its investigation as a watchdog agency.

The files requested were those of Margi Perotti, Leslie Fenton, John Hanson, Art Black, Tim Meroney, Susan Paul and the late Steve McInchak.

While the report being non-binding, Carmel has already taken steps to fix problems that have plagued local politics. Last fall it hired Doug Schmitz, a former Carmel city administrator, to be the new city administrator, reinstated three fired city employees, improved its response to Public Records Act requests, launched an investigation into overpayments of city contracts, and this week settled a lawsuit filed by former city IT director Steve McInchak for $275,000.

McInchak, 63, died of an apparent heart attack in November while on paid administrative leave. His family was allowed to proceed with the lawsuit.

June 19, 2015

Monterey Herald

By Thomas Leyde