BY DAVID CASTELLON • dcastell@visalia.gannett.com • July 9, 2010
Tulare County Planning Commission members are late to meetings and have a habit of talking on cell phones during the proceedings, according to a Tulare County Grand Jury report.
While attendance at the meetings has improved, the report states, commission members should face penalties for being repeatedly late. The final report, issued Saturday, also is critical of the county policy of appointing an alternate at-large commissioner to fill in when one of the seven regular members is absent.
That policy costs the county at least $2,400 a year, not including mileage, travel for training and other expenses, according to the report.
"The appointment of an alternate commissioner was unnecessary and fiscally irresponsible," the report states.
The Grand Jury, appointed annually, investigates how county agencies operate and makes recommendations.
Three previous panels — dating back to the 2002-03 fiscal year — cited attendance and punctuality as problems for the Planning Commission. The latest investigation stemmed from concerns over canceled meetings, insufficient numbers of commission members in attendance and public complaints that items were not processed in a timely manner.
Based on the minutes of Planning Commission meetings between July 11, 2008, and July 22, 2009, no meetings were canceled because of lack of a quorum, the report states. But the Grand Jury made these findings:
# Six of the commissioners attended between 21 and 26 of the 28 meetings over the course of the year.
# Two commissioners, Nancy Pitigliano and Wayne Millies, were late twice for meetings over the years, while Dis-trict 3 Commissioner Bill Whitlatch was late 14 times. Whitlatch, who has served since 1998, was between three and 57 minutes late each time, according to the report, which identified him by district rather than by name.
"In the case of one commissioner that arrives late, there is never a reason or an apology given for being late," states the report, which does not identify the commissioner being referred to. "This overall attitude, coupled with a clear disinterest in the business at hand, is unprofessional."
A commissioner not named in the report was seen using a cellular phone during several meetings.
"The use of a cellular phone during meetings appears to be the norm rather than the exception and has been observed to be an accepted practice," the Grand Jury states in its report.
The report recommends: banning cell-phone use during Planning Commission meetings, consideration of term limits for commission members, better adherence to meeting schedules and agendas, and implementing an attendance-review policy.
"After a commissioner has been late and/or missed a given number of meetings," the report states as an example, "replace that commissioner."
Speaking on behalf of county Resource Management Agency Director Jake Raper, Ben Kimball, one of the agency's chief planners, said a response to the Grand Jury report was being prepared. No comment on the claims and recommendations was made Thursday.
The practice of assigning alternate at-large members of the Planning Commission began in December. The idea was to ensure that business could be conducted and that a qualified replacement would be available if a post became vacant, said Jed Chernabaeff, a board spokesman.
The Grand Jury report states that several qualified people would apply to join the Planning Commission if they were notified of vacancies. It suggests advertising for candidates in the newspaper, on the county's website and through notices placed around the county.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100709/NEWS01/7090329
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