Virginia Chang Kiraly hates waste. As the forewoman of the San Mateo Civil Grand Jury, she has investigated wasteful spending in the county for the past two years and has weighed in on many other issues.
As the civil grand jury releases its last report of the year today, Chang Kiraly hopes its recommendations will be acted upon.
The civil grand jury, a volunteer group, released 16 reports and one advisory letter this year on topics ranging from garbage contracts, county lands and agriculture, field use at schools, fire alarms and election reform.
Responses to its reports are beginning to return, but it is the grand jury’s report and advice on election reform, however, that Chang Kiraly, 45, hopes will have the biggest county impact.
On June 24, the civil grand jury released a report urging the Board of Supervisors to hold special elections rather than appoint a replacement as it did after Jerry Hill left the board to pursue 19th District state Assembly seat.
The civil grand jury recommended the board allow voters a choice on whether to amend the County Charter so elections will be held to fill a vacated supervisor’s seat if the term remaining is one year or more.
The civil grand jury came to that conclusion after investigating the appointment of Carole Groom, a former San Mateo councilwoman.
People who fill vacancies have the possibility of extended term limits and every incumbent seeking re-election to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has been re-elected 100 percent of the time since 1980, the civil grand jury reported.
A week later, the civil grand jury released an advisory letter urging the Board of Supervisors to allow voters to decide whether the county should change the way it elects its supervisors.
The civil grand jury is recommending the county elect its supervisors by district election. San Mateo County is the only county in the state that does not elect its supervisors by district election.
Currently, a supervisor candidate in San Mateo County must live in the district he or she represents but must compete across the county for votes.
“This allows a supervisor to be elected to the board when in fact the candidate didn’t even win in his own district,” Chang Kiraly said.
The Board of Supervisors has five seats and two of them have been appointed — Carole Groom in 2008 and Rose Jacobs Gibson in 1999.
“That represents 40 percent of the board,” Chang Kiraly said. “Once appointed, they are almost guaranteed 14 years of service on the board and they have an advantage over other candidates when they actually run for the office for the first time because they can call themselves an incumbent.”
Too many people make important decisions on who to vote for based on name recognition, she said.
“Districtwide elections would create thoughtful debate in the community. Something lacking in the county,” Chang Kiraly said.
The county opted not to hold a special election after Hill vacated his supervisor’s seat. The board cited the high price of an election as a reason for the appointment.
But the civil grand jury stated that price should not impede the democratic process.
“There were 11 people who applied for the job. But the public didn’t get a chance to hear from any one of them. The public should be able to decide who its leaders should be,” she said.
Chang Kiraly just finished up her second term on the civil grand jury. Jurors are compensated about $15 a day and meet twice a month.
The civil grand jury typically has 19 members and must have at least 12 members approve a report before it is released to the public.
Chang Kiraly lives in unincorporated Menlo Park with her husband and two children. She is a University of Texas graduate and has a background in finance and economics.
She ran unsuccessfully for state Assembly in 2006 and intends on running for a school board seat in the Sequoia Union High School District this year.
She was also appointed to the California Commission on Economic Development by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=113093
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