Stanislaus County’s Board of
Supervisors won’t take action to correct management and oversight problems
cited in a June grand jury report on the East Side Mosquito Abatement District.
A civil grand jury
investigation found widespread personnel management problems at the special
district and concluded it needed stronger oversight from its board.
The watchdog panel also recommended
that the county prepare a study on merging East Side with the Turlock Mosquito
Abatement District.
Supervisors could approve
formal responses Tuesday to the 2014-15 grand jury final report.
The proposed response says
county leaders have no knowledge of management practices at East Side, but they
agree employees should have a work environment free of intimidation, malice and
discrimination. A complaint to the grand jury said employees felt intimidated
by a foreman and said the district’s human resources policies were woefully
outdated.
The county’s process for
seeking applicants for board vacancies complies with state law, the response
says. Special district board vacancies are posted online and on a bulletin
board at Tenth Street Place in downtown Modesto. “Sometimes it is difficult to
fill appointments to district boards. Board appointments require a strong
personal commitment of time and energy that many individuals are not willing to
invest,” the response says.
As for consolidating the
county’s two mosquito abatement districts, the proposed response says the Local
Agency Formation Commission governs special district boundaries and does a
five-year review on how well districts deliver public services. Previous
discussions have concluded nothing would be gained from merging East Side with
Turlock.
Board of Supervisors Chairman
Terry Withrow said East Side officials have the authority to correct the
problems. “We looked to the district to take care of this,” Withrow said. “They
have a board. They control their district.”
Following the grand jury
investigation, East Side board members hired an outside firm to investigate
employee complaints and update human resource policies and procedures.
In response to another grand
jury report, the county agrees that a consolidation of transit services should
be studied.
The grand jury concluded the
four transit authorities in the county have different policies, operating
procedures and ridership needs, which creates problems that have a negative
effect on ridership. It also found the transportation services do not provide
enough technology services such as automated fare boxes, GPS tracking and phone
app schedules.
Supervisors agreed they should
direct the Stanislaus Council of Governments to hire experts to study an “all-inclusive
consolidation of transit services.”
In the proposed response,
county leaders also agreed Proposition 47 could result in more property crimes
and some unintended consequences. Drug Court could be crippled and there could
be gaps in the statewide law enforcement DNA database.
Approved by California voters
in November 2014, Proposition 47 reduced many nonviolent drug and property
crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
Supervisors agree with the
grand jury’s recommendation that the county restore budgets and expand law
enforcement services.
August 31, 2015
The
Modesto Bee
By Ken
Carlson
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