Blog note: a few media articles this year have reported on people and organizations calling for grand jury investigations. This is the latest that we have seen. Grand juries, of course, don’t publicly respond to such requests.
Advocates of a "no-kill" animal shelter filed citizens complaint on Sept. 17 with the L.A. County Civil Grand Jury requesting "an investigation by the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury into whether Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia attempted to place unconstitutional restrictions on members of the public as to their First Amendment rights to free speech and to petition their government for a redress of grievances." In their filing, they stated:
Mayor Garcia appears to have hidden 56 social media comments by 25 people who expressed opinions that differ from his Administration's positions on issues affecting municipal services; specifically, the need to reform the Long Beach Animal Care Services animal shelter. If that is the case, we believe the Mayor is engaging in viewpoint discrimination in violation of both the First Amendment and federal law, 42 U.S. Code Sec. 1983. We believe this falls under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury, which, according to the Grand Jury Citizen Complaint Form, includes "[c]onsideration of evidence of misconduct against public officials within Los Angeles County.
In seven pages of text, accompanied by over 130 pages of documenting attachments, the filing concludes: "We believe that Mayor Garcia may continue to engage in viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment by hiding or blocking people's comments on his social media pages. We are therefore requesting that the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury investigate this matter."
The comments allegedly hidden remained visible to the commenting person and his/her Facebook "friends" but weren't visible to the general public.
The Civil Grand Jury filing was submitted by Leslie Shapiro, Kristie Mamelli and Tracy Smith and Jeanne Morales. Ms. Mamelli webposted its text online on her Facebook page.
Ms. Shapiro publicly referred to the Civil Grand Jury filing in testimony during the Council's Sept. 18 period for public comments on non-agendized issues.
The LB residents' filing parallels materials submitted in August by the Oakland-based non-profit No Kill Advocacy Center to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, which declined to pursue an investigation stating (without taking a position on the allegations) that with only a few non-applicable exceptions the D.A.'s office handles criminal prosecutions of state law. [Scroll down for further.]
The Civil Grand Jury filing reiterates the grounds alleged in an August 2018 letter to the L.A. County District Attorney's office. Mr. Winograd and the complainants have since publicly acknowledged that after the No Kill Advocacy Center's letter to the D.A. became public, the critical comments are no longer "hidden."
The Civil Grand Jury filing is consistent with a Sept. 7 Facebook posting by Mr. Winograd, in which he stated that "the next step...is to ask the county grand jury to investigate, since their mandate is broader. And failing that, there is also the possibility of filing a lawsuit alleging deprivation of constitutional rights..."
And in her comments at the Sept. 18 Council meeting, Ms. Shapiro also publicly raised the possibility of litigation.
During public comments at the Sept.18 LB City Council meeting, for the second week in a row several animal advocates criticized aspects of LB animal shelter practices and urged the Mayor and Council to take actions in response.
One speaker recommended that city management hire an incoming shelter manager experienced in animal practices. Another questioned the city's relationship with SPCA-LA (currently handling adoptions adjacent to the LB shelter), arguing the city's contract with SPCA-LA shouldn't prevent the city from doing its own adoptions. Ms. Shapiro called for agendizing the City Auditor's two reports (Dec. 2017, August 2018) on current shelter practices. And for the second week in a row, Jacqueline Case -- a member of Mayor Garcia's "animal care visioning task force" -- urged the Mayor/Council to stop killings at the shelter until the [advisory] task force could address the issue.
Unlike a week earlier (Sept. 11), Mayor Garcia didn't respond to the criticism and simply moved on to the next speakers and next Council items. No Councilmembers commented publicly.
The website for the L.A. County Grand jury says the body consists of 23 members plus a designated number of alternates, whose "main function...is to investigate county, city, and joint-power agencies. They act in a "watch-dog" capacity, by examining the operations of various government agencies within Los Angeles County." The Civil Grand Jury is also "charged with investigating individual complaints from citizens."
[L.A. County Civil Grand Jury website text] The civil or watchdog, responsibilities of the grand jury encompass the examination of all aspects of the county government, including special districts, to ensure that the county is being governed honestly and efficiently and that county monies are being handled appropriately...
Functions of the Civil Grand Jury include the general business meetings and the committee meetings of the Grand Jury to inquire into and possibly investigate the operation of city and county government and special districts of local government. Valuable information is obtained by meeting with county officials, visiting county facilities and conducting independent research by using the services of an outside auditor. Conclusions of the auditor's findings are developed into recommendations on how to improve county government and public services and ways to save taxpayers' dollars and presented to the Board of Supervisors. At the end of its term of service, the Civil Grand Jury is required by law to submit a final report to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court.
September 20, 2018
LBReport.com
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