MARIN COUNTY'S grand jury is a valuable institution

by Dick Spotswood, Marin Independent Journal -

MARIN COUNTY'S grand jury is a valuable institution. It's both the county's ombudsperson and its public conscience, exposing error and waste while expressing approval when a public job is well done. It's occasionally a thorn in the side to those in power, but that's the whole idea.

Woodacre's Alex Easton-Brown, a former Assembly candidate, comes up with a fine suggestion.

California needs a statewide independent grand jury. It could give the annual once-over to the state's legislature, governor and permanent bureaucracy.

There are many hurdles toward making this happen, but if Marin-Sonoma Democratic Assemblyman Marc Levine wants suggestions pursuant to his "Make the Golden State Shine" invitation for new legislative ideas, then creation of a California grand jury should be on his list.