The Sheriff’s Office has a retention problem.
The Grand Jury found the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office
(CCSO) to be understaffed and underfunded, leading to a low rate of employee
retention.
It was recommended that the Board of Supervisors increase the
department’s budget to raise staffing levels at the jail and on patrol, as well
as to provide more competitive salaries for correctional officers and
technicians.
It was also recommended that the Calaveras County Jail rent out
beds to other counties as an additional revenue source.
Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio agreed with the majority
of the jury’s findings and confirmed that efforts to fill vacant positions are
already underway, and that two correctional technician positions have been
filled since the jury’s report was published. He stated that the CCSO is
collaborating with Human Resources and an external recruitment vendor to expand
outreach and increase retention by advertising “the benefits of living and
working in Calaveras County.”
However, regarding the jury’s initiative that CCSO develop a
written employee retention program by Dec. 31, 2019, DiBasilio cited
limitations due to a lack of funding.
“An employee retention program is contingent on lowering the
extent of the disparity in pay for all jail employee positions compared to
surrounding counties of like size and similar correctional officer positions
with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” he wrote. “CCSO
continues to alert the Board of Supervisors to the pay inequities that need to
be addressed during employee bargaining unit negotiations. The Sheriff’s Office
will discuss the retention plan with the County Administrative Office and Human
Resources as noted above.”
In response to the jury’s recommendation on renting empty jail
beds, DiBasilio stated that the CCSO already has a profitable contract with
Amador County, and that options are being explored with the California State
Department of Hospitals to house mentally ill inmates who have pending criminal
charges or are awaiting trial.
With the exception of one additional patrol deputy position that
was approved in the 2019-20 budget, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors
rejected most of the jury’s recommendations to increase CCSO funding.
The board, represented by Chairman Jack Garamendi in its
response, stated that Calaveras County Public Safety Employees Association
members’ salaries were already increased in a recent round of negotiations and
that additional increases for corrections officers and technicians “needs
further analysis, as salaries and benefits are a mandatory subject of
bargaining and will be considered in the next round of collective bargaining.”
Audit and finance updates
The Grand Jury identified some shortfalls in the county’s
purchasing protocols.
“A countywide standardized Purchasing Policy and Procedure
manual does not exist, resulting in each department handling all purchasing at
the discretion of the department head, thus eliminating appropriate checks and
balances,” the jury stated in its report.
The Board of Supervisors partially agreed with that finding and
assured that a purchasing manual “will be completed by Dec. 31, 2019, and will
be fully implemented for the next fiscal year.”
The jury also found that a lack of grant-writing policy has led
to a potential loss of funds within county departments. It was recommended that
County Administrative Officer (CAO) Albert Alt develop grant application and
administration policies no later than Oct. 1, 2019, and that the Board of
Supervisors and CAO should form a grant-writing committee consisting of
cross-departmental representation no later than July 1, 2020.
The board rejected both initiatives, stating that they were not
“warranted or reasonable.”
“The County Administrative Office will work in collaboration
with county departments on a case-by-case basis specific to grant
requirements,” the board stated.
Code Compliance won’t get its own budget
Calaveras County Code Compliance developed a policy and
procedure manual in response to the Grand Jury’s recommendation. However, an
initiative to authorize Code Compliance with its own budget will not be
implemented by the Board of Supervisors.
“The current reporting structure of Code Compliance does not
compromise the department’s funding or stability,” the board stated in
response.
The jury’s recommendation that Code Compliance “avoid writing
municipal codes and fee schedules which create financial and physical
hardships” was in need of further analysis, according to the board.
“Any fees contemplated by Code Compliance at the time of the
master fee schedule revision, will be established by the Board of Supervisors
in a noticed public hearing, as required by Government Code §66016. The amount
of any such fee will be determined pursuant to the analysis required by Article
XIII C of the California Constitution and Government Code §53750 et seq.,” the
board stated. “State law prohibits the imposition of any fee that exceeds the
reasonable costs of providing services, performing inspections, issuing
permits, administrative enforcement or appeals of enforcement action or staff
decisions.”
January 17, 2020
Calaveras Enterprise
By Dakota Morlan
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