Chico Enterprise-Record
Posted: 07/03/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT
Our view: The Butte County Grand Jury report is one of many over the years that questions department leadership.
Though grand juries are as old as the 49ers (the gold miners, not the football team), many people still don't understand what a grand jury does.
A grand jury is a public watchdog. Citizens serve a one-year term and study local governments, then produce a year-end report in addition to less-frequent interim reports.
A letter writer this week lamented the Butte County Grand Jury for not doing more to stem the problems it identified in the county's Behavioral Health Department. The fact is, the Grand Jury can't do anything. All it can do is recommend changes. It's up to elected or appointed government officials — from politicians to judges — to make the changes.
The most jarring report in the year-end tome released last week was about the Behavioral Health Department. Members of the 19-person Grand Jury questioned department employees and researched financial documents. The Grand Jury said the department staff suffered from "low morale, mistrust and fear of losing their jobs." Most of the blame for the problems, the Grand Jury said, was attributed to former Director Brad Luz, who left in March 2008.
The Grand Jury scolded the Board of Supervisors as "surprisingly uninformed and uninvolved" in addressing the problems. That may be true, but ultimately the responsibility rests with the county's chief administrative officer, who is hired by the supervisors. We don't think supervisors should be involved in micromanaging the appointed department heads. That's the CAO's job. If supervisors hear of problems in a department, they should be working with the CAO to fix them.
Luz is gone and his replacement, Ed Walker, has received much better reviews. Hopefully, the Behavioral Health problems are in the past.
Still, there's a bigger problem that must be fixed. This year's Grand Jury report is one of many over the years where employees of various departments are obviously unhappy with their leadership but afraid to speak up. Every year, it seems, there's a different department.
Perhaps the Grand Jury's rules of engagement make complaining too easy. Any employee (or citizen) can request an investigation, and when employees are interviewed they are promised anonymity. They can say anything without fear of reprisal. Want to torpedo a boss you don't like? The Grand Jury process invites it.
Still, there have been too many complaints about poorly run departments in recent years, and employees who are afraid to speak out, that perhaps the county needs a sort of ombudsman for employees. Generally, that would fall to the human resources director, but perhaps supervisors need to consider an independent investigator in whom employees could confide — sort of like the state auditor or the internal affairs arm of a police department.
It's obvious from years of observation that some county employees are afraid to complain about ineffective leadership. There should be an official avenue that allows them to do so. Lacking that, the county at least needs a culture of leadership at the top that says employees will be heard.
http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/ci_12746572
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