August
27, 2014
Willits
News
By
Adam Randall
The Mendocino County Board of
Supervisors reviewed and approved its responses
to the 2013/2014 grand jury reports Tuesday, which have to be submitted within
90 days after issuance of each report.
The grand
jury requested responses from the supervisors on eight of the reports
including, "County Delivery of Animal Control Services; County Delivery of
Animal Care Services; Crosswalks: Are you as safe as you think?; County
Treasury Investment Pool; Mendocino County Free Library; Appearance of Conflict
of Interest; Privatization of Mental Health Delivery Services and Impact of Public
Safety and Realignment Act of Mendocino County." The reports regarding the
Mendocino County Board of Education didn't require a response from the Board of
Supervisors.
Some of the
supervisors spoke in general of the accuracy of the reports, which has been a
frequent criticism by many county officials in departments affected, who
concluded that most of the findings and recommendations were not warranted.
"Some
of these reports have personalized characterizations in them, and not just
facts," said 2nd District Supervisor John McCowen.
Among the
grand jury's research, the "County Free Library," and "Animal
Control Services" appeared to create some buzz around the county. The
grand jury alleged the library's funding and general operation was being
mishandled by the county. In the case of the animal control services, the grand
jury outlined the facilities, including the County Animal Shelter, which it
claimed to be overcrowded and dirty.
"It
makes me wonder what the grand jury is up to in some of these areas," said
5th District Supervisor Dan Hamburg, during the reading of the responses
regarding the County Free Library.
(Some of the
listed responses are from the Board of Supervisors meeting agenda which was
posted prior to the start):
Mendocino
County Free Library
Findings:
F10- The
Board of Supervisors is not following state law regarding County Free Libraries
"The
Board of Supervisors disagrees wholly with this finding. It is difficult to
respond to such a broad statement. However, the Board of Supervisors is comfortable
saying that it is following all applicable state laws in operating the County's
Free Library system. It is clear that the County's Free Library System is a
'county free library' and was enacted under Ed. Code Section 1900 et.
seq."
Recommendations:
R2- The
Board of Supervisors immediately begin to recruit a county librarian
"This
recommendation will not be implemented, because it is not warranted. The
appointment of the county librarian is done by the Board of Supervisors which
has currently appointed an acting county librarian to manage the day-to-day
operations of the county library. The Board of Supervisors is not obligated to
follow any precise process in making a permanent appointment, and can, if it so
decides, simply appoint a person to the position that it feels is best
qualified, without conducting a recruitment."
R19- The
County Librarian's salary be paid from the general fund as required by state
law.
"This
recommendation will not be implemented as it is not deemed reasonable. Section
19147 of the Education Code states that 'The salary of the county librarians
shall be paid by each of the counties in equal monthly installments, at the
same time, and in the same manner and out of the same fund as the salaries of
other county officers are paid.' This section does not state nor require that
the County Librarian's salary be paid out of the general fund.
"All
Mendocino County Department Heads are paid in the same manner and out of the
fund in which they work. As stated before, if the legislature had wanted the
county librarian to be paid from the general fund, they could easily have
stated that in Section 19147."
Animal Care
Services
Findings:
F5- The
overcrowding has a very serious effect on staff morale and is severely
detrimental to the well-being of animals.
"The
Board of Supervisors disagrees wholly with this finding. The Board of
Supervisors agrees with and adopts the response of the Health and Human
Services Agency director (yet to be posted) to this finding."
All of the
grand jury reports and responses can be viewed in their entirety at http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/grandjury/13-14/index.htm,
with the exception of the BOS responses, which will be posted sometime after
the submittal date.
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