HERCULES -- The Contra Costa
County Grand Jury is calling on the directors of a West County fire district to
reopen an employment agreement with its chief after finding that they approved
it in violation of the state's government transparency law and without adequate
review.
The Rodeo-Hercules Fire
District Board of Directors signed off on the 15-month contract extension for
Chief Charles Hanley less than an hour after being handed the heavily-revised,
10-page document during a meeting last October.
The grand jury found that
revisions had been made to 12 of the contract's 20 sections and that all of the
changes -- including amendments that boosted Hanley's benefits, extended his
non-termination clause to 14 months and protected him from "undue (board)
oversight" -- favored the chief.
The changes, "restricted
the board's oversight of the chief and raised the standard of the board's
ability to terminate (him)," the grand jury wrote in a report issued last
week.
Hercules Councilman Bill Kelly
praised the grand jury for highlighting "the ridiculousness of some of
this contract."
"I have no idea what
would constitute 'undue oversight' by the board that hired him," he said.
"That the board would give up that oversight is very concerning to
me."
Fire board member Bill
Prather, who cast the lone vote against the contract, said he would support
reopening the contract but doubted the chief and a board majority would agree
to it.
"I think the public
would like to see it reopened, but I don't know what our legal standing would
be," he said.
The board's attorney, Richard
Pio Roda, of the law firm Meyers Nave, said he went over the contract revisions
with board members in closed session before they voted. The revised contract,
Pio Roda said, was submitted by Hanley and provided to him the day of the
meeting.
In a separate report also
released last week, the grand jury invoked the board's action as a prime
example of the failure of certain government agencies to abide by the Brown
Act, which protects government transparency in the state.
The district failed to make
clear in the meeting agenda that the chief's contract contained significant
changes, and record in the meeting minutes how each board member voted, the
grand jury found.
Hanley, who makes an annual
base salary of $185,952, declined an interview request. Board President Beth
Bartke declined to comment on the report, and other board members did not
return telephone calls. The board will discuss the reports at its July 8
meeting and will respond to the grand jury's recommendations, Bartke said.
Contact Matthew Artz at
510-208-6435.
Grand Jury recommendations:
The fire board should attempt
to reopen contract negotiations with the chief.
The fire board should receive
training on the Brown Act immediately upon taking office and no less than every
two years afterward.
The board should properly
identify all items on its agendas and include accurate descriptions of each
agenda item.
The board should record each
director's vote on reportable actions from closed session in the meeting
minutes of every board meeting.
The fire board should
consider maintaining a website of the district's minutes and agendas and
identify the funds to do so.
June
25, 2015
Inside
Bay Area
By Matthew
Artz
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