Budgeting, staffing and competitive pay at Calaveras County Animal Control services and the county jail, communications at Vallecito Conservation Camp, and ballot distribution in a 2016 special election are focuses of a recent report by the 19 members of the Calaveras County Grand Jury.
The existing county animal shelter on Jeff Tuttle Drive, built in the 1950s, is small, outdated, aging and obsolete, according to the 2017-18 county grand jury’s final report. It’s been that way for 20 years, and it’s been a focus of previous county grand juries over the past two decades.
This year’s panel recommends the county Director of Environmental Health and the Board of Supervisors budget for construction of a modern facility that reduces the number of buildings, includes a secondary fence to safely contain animals and meets current recommended industry standards.
Animal control services currently has five separate buildings, three exercise pens with one dedicated for puppies, and room to house about 100 cats and kittens. The agency’s property also has three corrals for livestock holdings if needed.
‘Never intended to house animals’
Dee Dee Drake, executive director for the nonprofit Calaveras Humane Society, has worked closely with county animal control, and she said she’s seen the 2017-18 county grand jury’s final report.
“The report is extremely accurate,” Drake said Thursday in a phone interview. “That facility was never intended to house animals. From the very beginning they’ve been doing work-arounds and making compromises. They’re trying to make things work in a facility that was never intended to house animals.”
The county’s ability to enforce animal laws is impeded by the fact that county animal control officers are needed for day-to-day operations at the animal shelter, Drake said. The county agency needs more staff dedicated to animal care, and they need a new facility, with space totaling 8,000 to 10,000 square feet.
Calaveras Humane Society previously had plans to partner with Calaveras County Animal Control for a new facility in San Andreas, but the plans fell through last year. Instead now Calaveras Humane Society plans to open its own 14,000-square-foot facility in Angels Camp.
“We did an MOU (memo of understanding) and we lost faith in the county’s ability to pay their monthly share of costs,” Drake said. “That was in the fall of 2017. Shortly after that we bought our own building.”
County administrator Tim Lutz did respond to a request for comment.
County jail staffing
Staff wages at the new Calaveras County Jail, which opened in June 2016, are not industry-competitive and that contributes to high turnover, the 2017-18 county grand jury report states. Additional nursing staff is needed to meet medical requirements and requests.
Insufficient and inexperienced correctional staff, with an average of 18 months experience, contribute to safety issues and the ability to efficiently meet daily services and operational needs, according to the county grand jury. Control booths for cell clusters in the jail called pods are designed for two correctional officers, but short staffing frequently means just one correctional officer per control booth.
Calaveras County Jail serves as a training ground for better paying agencies. If this cycle continues it will cost the county more in unnecessary expenses over the years, the current grand jury report states. To retain correctional personnel, reduce overtime expenses, reduce continual new employee expenses, and improve correctional staff and inmate safety, the Board of Supervisors needs to approve increases in the county jail budget.
In addition, the $59 million, 80,000-square-foot county jail has room for 160 inmates. In September 2017, inmate occupancy was 85, just 53 percent, due to insufficient correctional staff.
Sheriff Rick DiBasilio said Thursday, “I agree with their findings, as they are basically the same as last year’s. Staffing and pay are completely in the board’s hands.”
Vallecito Conservation Camp
Problems identified by the county grand jury at the state Department of Corrections-Cal Fire Vallecito Conservation Camp include inadequate, out-of-date communications between officers and the main officer at the facility. The camp, built in 1958, is under administrative supervision of Sierra Conservation Center outside Jamestown.
The camp’s primary mission is to provide inmate firefighting crews for putting out fires and flood control in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties and elsewhere in California.
Reception for cordless phones at the camp does not extend beyond 15 feet from each phone’s base. Radios at the camp were non-operative during a December 2017 visit by county grand jury members. Officers may risk a violation if they must use their personal cell phone during emergencies. The facility is spread over a large area with no perimeter fencing. This contributes to safety issues for personnel and inmates.
The county grand jury also focused on inmates hiding contraband — “methamphetamine, other drugs, and cell phones” — in couches in the camp’s TV room. The 2016-17 grand jury recommended new couches for the TV room and the couches have not yet been replaced.
In January, the camp housed 88 inmates, with nine Department of Corrections staff and 14 Cal Fire staff. Supervisors at Vallecito Conservation Camp and Sierra Conservation Center could not be reached for comment.
Measure E Election in 2016
In response to a citizen complaint, the county grand jury investigated the county elections department’s distribution of ballots for a parcel tax increase measure put to voters in the Middle River Community Service District in November 2016.
Provisions were in place to ensure correct issuance of ballots, but seven ballots were erroneously issued and that disenfranchised seven voters, according to the 2017-2018 county grand jury.
A two-thirds supermajority vote was required for approval of Measure E. The final vote count was 25 yes votes and 24 no votes so the measure was defeated. According to elections department calculations, seven disenfranchised votes could not have changed the election outcome.
The county grand jury found the Calaveras County clerk-recorder-registrar of voters, who heads the elections department, is charged with multiple, complex duties and has limited resources. In addition, recruiting and training of poll workers are ongoing challenges, and determining the jurisdiction of ballots for special districts is complex.
Asked for perspective on Thursday, Rebecca Turner, the current clerk-recorder-registrar of voters, said the elections department will be submitting a formal response to the grand jury findings.
The 2017-18 Calaveras County Grand Jury foreperson is Vielka Escobar. Other grand jury members are Russell Murawski, Gayle Baker, Noel Oliver, Ronald Pieretti, Firman Brown, Judith Young, Gerald Bonomi, Michael McDaniel, Robert Bordner, Louise Carniglia, Daniel Gold, Faramarz Feizollahi, Becky Castiglione, Christine Gill, Hani Al-Tailji, Linda Toren, Arleen Bailey and Carolyn Stinemates.
In California, a civil grand jury's function is to inquire into and review conduct of county government and special districts.
Historians say the earliest grand juries date to Ancient Greece and the Norman conquest of England in 1066. First drafts of the U.S. Constitution did not include grand jury provisions. The Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1791, added them.
July 12, 2018
The Union Democrat
By Guy McCarthy
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