Grand jury focuses on practices of sheriff and D.A.’s offices
Bob Cuddy - bcuddy@thetribunenews.com
San Luis Obispo County allows 132 employees to take home government cars at night at an annual cost the civil grand jury estimated at more than $1 million, according to a grand jury report released Friday afternoon. Most of those vehicles, which the grand jury says are “parked at employees’ homes” after normal working hours, are assigned to the District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s, Public Works and Mental Health departments.
The grand jury recommended that the county annually “provide a more detailed cost-benefit analysis for vehicles taken home by their staff.”
The report did not provide details about auto allowances or gassing up at the county pumps with a county gasoline card.
The grand jury did not say how it came up with the $1 million figure. It said 72 take-home vehicles assigned to the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department had a $500,000 “total cost.” The Tribune reported a year ago that the two departments spent about $500,000 annually at that time to gas up and maintain 65 take-home vehicles.
In its report, the grand jury focused mostly on the sheriff and district attorney, whose justifications for the use of take-home vehicles jurors deemed “minimal” and “insufficient.”
The Sheriff’s Department has 59 of the vehicles, including one each for the sheriff, undersheriff, seven school resource officers, several commanders and division commanders and a process server, according to a chart released with the grand jury report.
All 13 of the district attorney’s vehicles are used under the general heading “on call 24 hours/undercover investigations.”
The Mental Health Department did not provide information to the jury on how it apportions its vehicles. The Social Services Department uses three take-home cars in its fraud unit and another to transport crime-scene victims and witnesses, according to the chart, and public works assigns one to a surveillance officer employee and three to supervisors.
Little additional information was provided, and the grand jury said the county must be more accountable for how it uses its take-home vehicles.
In fact, the $1 million figure was an educated guess. “The actual cost of the additional take-home commute miles is unknown,” the jury wrote.
Grand jurors said they were unable to determine whether the various uses were justified.
For example, they said, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has 19 take-home cars, compared with 13 for San Luis Obispo County.
Does that mean the local district attorney is assigning too many take-home vehicles? The grand jury says it can’t tell, given what it considers a paucity of supporting information from the various departments.
“The grand jury cannot determine if the number of take home vehicle assignments is reasonable or excessive,” they wrote, adding that they are “concerned that the justifications … are minimal and insufficient.”
The jury said it received a memo from District Attorney Gerald Shea on May 18 saying that his office had developed written criteria for “home garaged” vehicles and his employees were meeting them.
Nonetheless, grand jurors wrote, the process of assigning take-home vehicles lacks a checks-and-balances review process “beyond the department.”
“Although the District Attorney argues strongly to preserve his independence in these decisions, there is potential for lax oversight.”
The jury said it “recognizes the importance of rapid response after normal working hours” but found that one-line justifications in county documents provided no evidence of cost-benefit analysis.
“The grand jury looked for but did not find information indicating there is satisfactory monitoring of take-home vehicle use,” the report noted. The Board of Supervisors should work to insert accountability in its procedures for letting vehicles go home with workers, and submit its plan to public review, the jury wrote.
The grand jury’s recommendations are not binding.
Other points in the report:
• The county has a fleet of 777 licensed vehicles.
• Total fleet miles for the 2007-08 fiscal year were 7,571,689 at a cost to taxpayers of $3,859,770. The number does not take into account depreciation.
There is additional liability exposure with take-home vehicles, the report noted.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/742626.html
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