[Monterey County] Grand Jury finds alerts "inadequate" during Camp Fire

The city of Monterey is countering a grand jury report critical of a program that funds neighborhood improvement projects, asserting that the jury is confused about the semantics of the word “citywide.”

City Manager Hans Uslar said Friday that the city’s response to the jury report is still being crafted ahead of an August deadline, but that it will point out a discrepancy in the language used by the Monterey County civil grand jury in its report  “A Review of the City of Monterey’s Neighborhood Improvement Program.”

At issue is a city initiative launched in 1985 called the Neighborhood Improvement Program. In 1988 voters approved Measure B, which is now incorporated into the Monterey City Charter, a document akin to a municipality’s constitution.

Under Measure B, at least 16% of the transient occupancy tax charged to hotel visitors is to be set aside for improvements to the residential neighborhoods of Monterey, At present that amount exceeds $4 million.

There are 10 individual neighborhoods named under the program plus one earmarked as “Citywide.” Over the 10 years ending in 2018, the Citywide category received 30.8% of the neighborhood improvement budget. During the same timespan, the next highest was the neighborhood of New Monterey with 15.7%, then Monterey Vista with 11%. The rest of the neighborhoods were all under 7% of the budget.

The grand jury claims that “Citywide” is not a neighborhood and consequently should be funded by the city’s general fund, not the Neighborhood Improvement Program budget.

“The grand jury is saying citywide projects are not allowed, they are overlooking that the charter allows communitywide projects, funded by (the Neighborhood Improvement Program),” Uslar said. “I honestly think the grand jury confused ‘citywide’ with ‘communitywide.’ ”

The report indicated that the information the jury used was obtained from the Neighborhood Improvement Policies and Procedures Manual, interviews conducted by the grand jury, review of the city’s public documents, documents provided by the city, members of the neighborhood program’s committee and Monterey residents.

While the jury found the neighborhood program as having a positive effect in Monterey, the investigation was launched by a resident’s complaint.

“The (Neighborhood Improvement Program) has accomplished many beneficial projects in the years since it was established and is generally seen in a positive light by the residents of the city of Monterey,” the report states. “This investigation began as a result of a citizen’s concern that the (Neighborhood Improvement Program) wasn’t adequately serving the neighborhoods.”

The jury raised other concerns, albeit minor ones, while also complimenting the city by stating that Monterey followed the original intention of the voters with Measure B.

The report also found that:

• The city or the program committee “failed to diligently review and update the Policies and Procedures Manual to currently reflect changes within the operations and structure of the program.”

• The city or the program committee failed to provide adequate public notices for publicly held committee meetings.

The grand jury breaks down the two definitions this way: Communitywide projects benefit the residents within the neighborhoods. Citywide projects benefit the residents of the entire city.

“We’ll just switch from citywide to communitywide,” Uslar said.

July 15, 2019

Monterey Herald

By Dennis L. Taylor