Tehama County to respond to Grand Jury

By GEOFF JOHNSON -DN Staff Writer
Posted: 09/22/2009 08:14:37 AM PDT
Updated: 09/22/2009 09:38:07 AM PDT

The Tehama County Board of Supervisors is slated this morning to consider its response to the findings of the 2008-2009 Tehama County Grand Jury Report.

Among the findings in the report were recommendations asking for the county to implement a flat-bed scanner and to refer draft measures and ordinances requiring impartial analysis to an outside office.

In the county's draft response, it says it will evaluate the cost of the former but states clearly the Board of Supervisors believes County Counsel is qualified to perform impartial analysis of county ordinances.

The disagreement arises from the grand jury's reading of 2008 Measure B, which would have tasked a grand jury with determining salaries for the Tehama County Board of Supervisors, but was voted down by the public.

The 2008-2009 grand jury did not take issue with the measure itself, but said it did not make it clear that future salary changes could be made by a grand jury, without an additional ballot measure. It also recommended taking away the authorship of measures or ordinances requiring County Counsel.

The board's response states that nearly every measure and ordinance could be subject to referendum, and by stating that County Counsels are asked not to take a position for or against the actions of the county, but simply to advise on the legality of the county's actions.

The grand jury also introduced a series of recommendations asking the county to take
more measures to protect its records, including blueprints. The report cites the loss of as-built blueprints to the Juvenile Hall, which increased the cost and difficulty of installing a new system of security cameras.

Actions the county may undertake if the board approves the response include evaluating the cost of purchasing a large flat-screen scanner and printer to preserve county documents; institute a policy prohibiting the use of county computers, county e-mail and county work time for personal business; and evaluate the cost of providing fire and waterproof filing cabinets.

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