Humboldt Grand jury puts reports online

Jessie Faulkner/The Times-Standard
Posted: 04/28/2009 01:29:48 AM PDT

The Humboldt County Grand Jury has published several reports online, including a review of the offices of assessor and coroner, saying more will become available as they are completed.

Foreman Alan Jorgensen said Monday that grand jury members agreed to publish the reports as they were finished, rather than wait until the end of the year. A few more reports are in the works, he said.

Among the first reports is a multi-part review of the Humboldt County Assessor's Office, in which the jury said it found several areas in need of attention.

The grand jury raised concerns about what it described as a lack of management staff meetings and ongoing confusion about the status of some properties. Concerns were also expressed about claims the office had a tradition of unofficially preselecting and grooming an existing employee to run for the office.

The recommendations, in addition to remedying the concerns identified, include considering combining the duties of the assessor with other county offices.

”Combining offices and functions for the purposes of cost and management efficiency could be a benefit to Humboldt County,” the report stated.

County Assessor Linda Hill was not in her office Monday, but issued a statement through her staff.

”We are preparing our formal response and do not have a comment at this time,” Hill said.

The grand jury also stated that the Humboldt County Assessor's Office did not make property information and other public records available via the Internet, a common practice among other counties. In addition, some of the office's employees did not, the grand jury concluded, have the appropriate level of technical competence with seemingly no move being made toward remedying that situation. The result, the report states, is declining efficiency in the office.

Another issue raised was the timeliness of employee performance evaluations.

”Over the past two years, 18 evaluations have been completed when as many as 60 evaluations were required. The grand jury believes that this lack of evaluations is having a negative effect on employee performance and morale,” the report states.

The grand jury report also has a couple of suggestions for the Humboldt County Coroner's Office -- both dealing with the physical arrangement of the building.

The first notes that the office's driveway is too short and has led to “vehicles making contact with the building.”

The report also found that when staff is unloading bodies in the carport, they are doing so in full view of the public street and sidewalk. The recommendations to remedy this situation include extending the driveway and extending the carport to prevent public view of bodies.

The initial reports also note the need of a transportation officer in the Hoopa and Garberville sheriff's substations.

”Each substation normally has only one officer on duty at a time,” the report stated. “Therefore when it is necessary to transport an arrestee to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility in Eureka, the substation is left unstaffed.”

In its review of the Humboldt County Animal Shelter, the grand jury noted the increasing cost of employee benefits and rising utility expenses, particularly the floor heating system in the kennel areas.

The grand jury suggested the possibility of using low-risk county inmates and/or the Sheriff's Work Alternative Program -- or SWAP -- participants to reduce the impact on the county's general fund. Grant funding, the report stated, should be pursued to install a solar-assisted water heating system that would supplement the current floor heating system in the kennel areas.

All the reports will be available at http://co.humboldt.ca.us/grandjury/.

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_12243866