[Contra Costa County] The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the allegations against Gus Kramer

The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the allegations against Gus Kramer

Blog note: This article refers to a Contra Costa grand jury accusation filed against Kramer

 MARTINEZ — Although he apparently lost this week’s election for a supervisor’s seat, Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer at least may keep his current job after a judge on Friday declared a mistrial in the misconduct case against him.

Superior Court Judge John Cope’s action came after a jury said it couldn’t unanimously decide whether Kramer was guilty of making sexual comments to his employees and uttering an ethnic slur to a worker, thus creating a hostile work environment.

The trial stemmed from the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury’s conclusion that Kramer should be removed from office for “willful or corrupt” misconduct and creating a hostile work environment.

The complaint it had investigated alleged that from 2013 through 2019, Kramer made sexual comments multiple times to women who worked in his office and uttered an ethnic slur to a male employee.

But after a trial during which Kramer’s attorneys portrayed him as the victim of a smear campaign by ambitious women and a disgraced employee, the jury couldn’t all agree whether the allegations constituted workplace harassment under state law or whether he should be booted from office.

The only thing jurors could agree on was that Kramer did not create a hostile work environment for a young former employee who testified he had told her she looked “hot” in a wedding dress photo and that he once squatted next to her and asked her to print out some documents from the computer.

While the attorneys did not poll jurors, Cope declared a mistrial because they couldn’t reach a unanimous conclusion on the allegations by three other witnesses. That’s what would have been required to remove him from office.

The process of removing municipal or county elected officials from office through a grand jury accusation alleging “corrupt or willful misconduct” is rarely used, although permitted by a 1943 state law. The civil case was prosecuted like a criminal proceeding, although a guilty verdict would have led to removal from office instead of jail time.

“We are disappointed in the verdict,” said Scott Alonso, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors are weighing whether to retry the case, he added.

A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17 to determine next steps.

Kramer’s attorney, Michael Rains, said in an interview Friday that the experience has served as a reminder for Kramer of how comments can be interpreted in a workplace and to be more careful.

“He’s taken it not only as a learning device — but something that he has incorporated or has tried to incorporate in his office,” Rains said.

However, he added, “things that may make people uncomfortable still — in the law — do not rise to the level of hostile work environment as defined by the courts or by the law itself.”

Kramer, who was re-elected to the assessor seat in 2018, has two more years left in his term. He ran against Supervisor Federal Glover for the District 5 Board of Supervisors seat in Tuesday’s election, but early returns indicate he will lose that contest.

During the trial, witnesses testified that Kramer bragged to employees of his “conquests” with women, made sexual comments about women’s bodies and sent inappropriate text messages to one employee who had texted him on his vacation.

Kramer told two employees in the assessor’s office that he gave a female relative a vibrator as a Christmas present, they testified. Another employee said Kramer had told a graphic story or joke about people having anal sex and had made racist comments to another employee, including using an offensive ethnic slur when speaking to an employee and saying to him that “white men would never vote for a f****** Mexican.”

Kramer did not take the stand during the trial, but Rains disputed those allegations in court, saying that two of the employees had basically resolved their issues with Kramer in 2015 when their concerns over some comments he made were brought to an assistant assessor. After the assistant assessor relayed the complaint, Kramer said he would no longer talk to the employees about anything other than business, Rains said.

Kramer upheld that agreement and had almost no contact with the women, Rains said, adding that some of the allegations were either exaggerated or fabricated. He brought witnesses to the stand to testify about some of the perceived motivations of the employees who made allegations against Kramer, calling one of the accusers “manipulative.”

Kramer, who was first elected to the non-partisan assessor’s position in 1994, also has an ongoing civil lawsuit against the county related in part to the misconduct allegations.

In 2018, when a county investigation found “it was more likely than not” Kramer made “inappropriate” comments to two employees, the board of supervisors voted to censure Kramer and referred the issue to the civil grand jury.

Kramer then sued the county, claiming it failed to turn over documents about the censure vote and violated open meeting laws by discussing the matter in closed session. The lawsuit remains open.

Kramer declined to comment for this story, deferring to Rains.

Mercury News
East Bay Times
By ANNIE SCIACCA
November 6, 2020

Marin Voice: [Marin County] Civil Grand Jury gives supervisors a call for climate action

 The Marin Civil Grand Jury did a great service for our county, and potentially our planet, when it issued its recent call to action for Marin’s governments to come together to address the climate crisis more forcefully.

The report, dated Sept. 11, dramatizes the dire threat posed by climate change, locally and globally.

The Grand Jury’s main recommendation is that the Board of Supervisors convene a countywide task force targeting ways to reduce climate impacts like the sea-level rise, flooding, drought, wildfire, heat and “Armageddon orange” air pollution that we’re now experiencing at growing frequency and scale. The board is scheduled to respond at the Dec. 8 meeting.

Already, the cities of San Rafael and Novato have responded that they would like to look more closely at ways to achieve greater collaboration. The countywide agencies with the most climate responsibilities have also expressed interest — MCE Clean Energy, Transportation Authority of Marin and Marin Municipal Water District. But the greatest enthusiasm seems to be coming from Marin’s smaller towns, led by those with citizen Sustainability Commissions or Climate Action Committees like Corte Madera, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Sausalito.

Marin Climate Action Network, a countywide citizens coalition, is urging all jurisdictions to embrace the Grand Jury report as an opportunity to move climate change to the front tier of government concerns, just as the new administration in Washington is doing. Our core belief is that we must work together to meet the immense challenge of climate change, bringing to bear the powers of the public sector, the innovation of businesses and the commitment of the whole community.

We further believe that to deal effectively with the impacts of climate change, we must also deal with its root causes. Without curing the causes of climate chaos, attempts at “adaptation” will amount to applying ever more expensive band-aids to a terminal condition.

Bringing down the Earth’s climate fever means dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy. At the same time, we need to capture or “draw down” much of the pollution already emitted by healing natural systems and aligning agricultural practices with nature’s wisdom.

That’s why it’s critical for the Board of Supervisors to wholeheartedly endorse two other items on its Dec. 8 agenda. The “Drawdown Marin” strategic plan lays out a roadmap and practical steps to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions here by 2045, in line with California and United Nations benchmarks for what’s needed globally. Not doing so risks climate tipping points, beyond which adaptive measures are unlikely to provide meaningful protection from multiplying disasters.

Drawdown Marin, which embodies the work of more than 150 people over two years, models the kind of comprehensive, collaborative, public-private partnership that’s needed to help guide Marin to climate solutions and resilience countywide. The new initiative merits the supervisors’ strong and ongoing support as an effective forum for reducing climate pollution, at the same time as the county takes on greater leadership in addressing climate impacts.

The supervisors can also act to ensure that the county’s revised 2030 climate action plan incorporates the ambitious goals of Drawdown Marin into policies and programs that can be replicated throughout the county.

But plans and reports are only paper. To translate them to the work that must be done will take resources — dedicated dollars and dedicated people — in greater amounts than Marin has yet marshaled to meet the challenge of climate change. Some resources already exist, from the ratepayer dollars supporting MCE’s efforts to electrify Marin’s homes and vehicles with fossil-free energy, to the tax dollars at work making roads more resilient.

As San Rafael officials noted in their response to the Grand Jury, recent countywide measures like this year’s funding of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority have targeted specific climate threats.

The task now is to ensure that all such future funding is comprehensive, providing resources to all Marin jurisdictions to address the wide range of climate threats and to reduce the greenhouse gases driving those impacts as rapidly as possible.

Marin Independent Journal
by Bill Carney, president of Sustainable San Rafael and a member of Marin Climate Action Network.
November 15, 2020

‘Bizarro Beach’ or state park? What it’s like living next to California’s off-roading mecca

Blog note: This article refers to a San Luis Obispo County 2020 grand jury report.

Oceano Dunes, three miles south of Pismo, is the only California state park where vehicles can be driven on the beach.

 Tucked into an otherwise quiet bend south of Pismo Beach, Oceano Dunes may be California’s most dangerous state park. Towns near the park, which draws more than a million trucks and dirt bikes a year, are besieged with air pollution, crime and accidents — even a mass shooting last year.

Dave Congalton always turns right at the beach.

The local radio host, who has lived near Oceano Dunes for 33 years, leads an informal group of hikers and beach walkers. His pack usually heads north, away from the tumult of off-road vehicles that descend on the state park.

One morning a few years ago, Congalton and his group paused at their usual starting place and decided to take a chance: They turned left.

“We lasted 10 minutes,” Congalton said.  “We turned around and left. It was noisy and congested and the smell was overwhelming. We called it Bizarro Beach.”

In March, the cacophony at Oceano Dunes was put on mute when twin orders spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and protection of rare nesting shorebirds closed the state park to off-roaders for seven months.

Congalton saw an opportunity to explore a stretch of his local beach that had always been so unwelcoming: crossing the park’s Sand Highway, which funnels racing off-roaders into the dunes, was like walking through  a demolition derby.

“Once the ban kicked in, I was there two mornings a week,” he said. “It was a beach again. We’d take morning walks, there were no crowds… I’m hearing the waves, I’m hearing the birds. I’m hearing the quiet.”

Anywhere else, it might have been just another day at the beach. But the peaceful scene this summer was anything but typical at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

The conflict over the state park has cleaved communities in an otherwise bucolic part of the Central Coast known as the Five Cities, where people are entrenched on opposite sides of not just a recreational divide, but also their visions of the future of the region’s poorest communities.

Oceano Dunes is one of only nine state parks in California established expressly for motorized recreation. During normal operations, the park is visited by about 1.5 million visitors a year, with thousands of all-terrain vehicles a day motoring across 3,600 acres of sand. Its beach is more the province of dune buggies and monster trucks than a haven for sun and surf worshippers.

The towns that are gateways to Oceano Dunes may get some economic benefit but they also bear the brunt of everything else the park’s off-roaders generate: choking dust and air pollution, violent crimes, thousands of emergency calls and hundreds of accidents every year.

Tucked into an otherwise quiet bend south of Pismo Beach, Oceano Dunes may be the most dangerous state park in California. Last year alone, there was a mass shooting at the park, six deaths from accidents and hundreds of injuries. Park rangers made 49 felony arrests, including some for gang-related activity, assault and rape, in 2018.

While the vast majority of off-roaders are law abiding and courteous while visiting the park, powerful engines, vacation enthusiasm and alcohol sometimes combust to create a potent brew. 

The calm before and after the storm

Biologists have long contemplated what the delicate dune system would look like if the vehicles vanished. They found out this summer during the shutdown: Nature caught its breath, birds and other wildlife reclaimed their habitat and local residents rediscovered the recreational gem at their doorstep.

Even Central Coast natives who had previously only entered the park from behind the wheel of a souped-up vehicle are reveling in the transformation.

“It’s been a pleasant surprise for me,” said Jeanette Trompeter, who grew up riding off-road vehicles in the dunes.

On a recent summer day Trompeter rode bikes with friends on the broad, nearly-empty beach.

“I have been here, but always in a truck. I’ve never walked the dunes. It’s like I’m seeing it for the first time. What an amazing place.”

The brief experiment is now over. The park began a phased reopening on Oct. 30, starting with access for 1,000 vehicles daily during restricted hours. 

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it like it was,” Congalton said, “but I’m sad because I saw what it could be like.”

During the closure, there was no cease fire between the two sister state agencies that remain locked in a battle over the park’s future.

The Coastal Commission says off-road recreation is incompatible with state law and harmful to the health and safety of nearby communities and wildlife. After decades of no resolution, the commission in June issued a cease and desist order ordering the parks agency to stop harming imperiled birds because it violates the Coastal Act. In contrast, park officials have signaled they not only intend to continue to allow motorized recreation, but to expand riding into new areas of the park.

Playground or battleground?

Forty years of acrimony has left a hard crust on the town of Oceano, which is right next to the park. Often called the gateway to the dunes, some residents say the town is more of a doormat, a place visitors roar through on their way to the sand.

“We get the trash, we get the noise and we get the traffic, and we don’t get the use of the beach,” said Bonnie Ernst, an activist with the Oceano Beach Community Association.

Oceano residents have to cope with the vehicle accidents and crime in the park, and whatever misbehavior seeps into town. Through county taxes, they fund some emergency response within the park. They pay for daily removal of tons of sand banked against their curbs or blown into their homes through a breach carved into the dunes to allow vehicles to access the beach. And they breathe in the clouds of dust, which on some days cloak the area in the nation’s worst particle pollution.

Oceano is an unincorporated coastal community of about 7,800 people, mostly Latino, and about one in five of its residents lives below the federal poverty line. The town, less affluent than its neighbors and with lower property values, has no pricey beachfront hotels or trendy restaurants. Off-roaders sometimes patronize local businesses — equipment rental companies and tow truck operators that line Pier Avenue, a bleak asphalt path to the park gates.

The park’s economic benefit to San Luis Obispo County has been estimated at $243 million a year, although that study, funded by the state parks agency, has been criticized by an academic researcher for overstating the impact.

The battle over the public land has at times turned nasty. Some off-roaders have lashed out on social media, calling the town a “ghetto,” making lurid comments about anti-off-road activists and even sending death threats. Some off-road groups have flown Confederate flags during rallies.

“I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are 60% Latino. We are working class people who barely have any free time,” said Allene Villa, who lives in Oceano. “We have one small little community park, this beach could be our recreational area, but we can’t use it safely. It’s like a freeway.”

But the vitriol has flowed both ways. Lovers of motorized recreation have been demeaned as rednecks, thugs and, in what they consider the ultimate California put-down, “white trash from the Central Valley.” Off-roading has been derided alternatively as a low-class pastime or the province of entitled out-of-towners whose idea of camping is bedding down in a $100,000 fifth-wheel outfitted with a flat screen TV and full kitchen with granite countertops.

It’s an age-old battle to claim the virtuous recreational high ground: Hikers versus mountain bikers, sailboats versus motorboats, cross-country skiers versus snowmobilers. Exploring a beach under human power versus astride a motorized machine.

This has little to do with the dunes and more to do with the form of recreation,” said Amy Granat, managing director of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association.

“We don’t close down I-5 because some people speed. We allow for idiots and give out tickets. We understand that there is going to be a (reckless) component. The reality is that every form of recreation has an impact on the ground.”

Living with plumes of dust

When Linda Adams and her husband were looking for somewhere to retire in 2008, their number one priority was to live in a community with clean air. They scoured the internet to gauge its air quality the way some prospective home buyers check out school districts.

Adams, 72, a lifelong asthmatic, had vacationed along the Central Coast and enjoyed the fresh sea breezes. The couple bought a house in Nipomo and settled into what looked to be a perfect planned community. They golfed and enjoyed walking their three dogs.

Then the spring winds came, dust plumes coming off Oceano Dunes barreled toward their subdivision, at least a dozen miles away. Adams grew short of breath and her chest was tight. Her usual medications weren’t enough; she had to reach for a “rescue inhaler.”

The couple adapted. They bought an expensive air conditioning system with HEPA filters. She checked online air quality monitors before planning her days, especially in the summer, which is high season for off-roading.

“I know people in our community who have never had problems before are now having them. We’ve had quite a few friends who moved because of this,” she said.

Adams, a retired psychologist, is familiar with the common retort from off-roaders: If you don’t like it here, why don’t you move?

“To that I say, ‘Respiration before recreation.’  It’s more important to breathe than to ride dune buggies.”

A San Luis Obispo grand jury concluded that the dust kicked up by more than a million annual visitors at the dunes poses a significant health risk to local residents.

Local air-quality officials say Adams and other townspeople are breathing air that violates federal health standards in part because of the off-roading.

The region sometimes records the nation’s worst air quality for PM10, coarse particles linked to asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, according to the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District. Its air violates state health standards dozens of times a year, said Karl Tupper, a senior air quality scientist with the district.

For instance, airborne particles in Nipomo — where Adams lives — exceeded the health limits 51 times in 2019 and 91 times the year before that, he said. That means they breathe unhealthful air an average of once or twice every week.

After years of missed deadlines to clear the air, the air district issued a dust-abatement order to the state parks department in 2017. It was the first step in a stipulated order to reduce dust emissions from the park by 50% by 2023. In October, the agency authorized the park to figure out dust-control measures, such as fencing, and install them on 90 acres of dunes by next spring. 

The conflict over the dust touched off a scientific arms race. The park spent nearly a half-million dollars to study whether marine algae, not off-roading, is the culprit.

Also, researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, commissioned by the parks department, analyzed air samples collected in April and May, when the park was closed to vehicles. They found, in part, that the particles are more likely from natural sources than dune riding. Local air regulators questioned the results.

To some, the argument that there’s lots of sand and dust at the beach is silly, like complaining about leaves falling in a forest.

“It’s windy. It’s sandy. We live on sand,” said Lyndi Love-Haning, who moved to Nipomo in part to enjoy off-roading at Oceano Dunes. “If you already have pulmonary issues and you move to a sandy coastal environment, it’s probably not a good idea in the first place.”

Vitriol and violence

Cynthia Replogle moved to Oceano three years ago, feeling lucky to be able to afford a home so close to the ocean. But the first time she took her dog for a walk on the beach she was taken aback by the streams of vehicles on the sand.

“I had no idea that was even a thing,” she said.

Replogle was elected to the board of the unincorporated town’s Community Services District and joined a local group concerned about the damage to the dunes, the wildlife and the safety of Oceano.

Cynthia Replogle moved to the area three years ago and quickly become a target after becoming involved in local efforts to protect the dunes. Photo by Brittany App for CalMatters

Cynthia Replogle moved to the area three years ago and quickly become a target after becoming involved in local efforts to protect the dunes. Photo by Brittany App for CalMatters

Clear about her progressive views, Replogle quickly became a target in the area’s culture wars. Her home address was published online. Some threatened to hack her accounts. She was attacked on social media by local and even national off-road enthusiasts. Some threatened to run her over, kill her and rape her.

Replogle, 55, used to jog along an isolated stretch of a creek. Now she doesn’t feel comfortable doing so, and she’s beefed up her home security system.

The park’s rowdiness is well-documented.

The county grand jury investigated the impact on the county from providing services to the park, estimating that there were 5,800 emergency calls each year. In 2018 park rangers issued 1,000 citations, according to park officials. Last year, 237 vehicle accidents occurred in the park, including 44 that caused severe injuries.

And crime numbers are trending up, according to the grand jury report.

Last year was especially deadly: Six people were killed in vehicle accidents at the park. A gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon, injuring five people at an unpermitted beach concert in May of 2019 attended by about 1,000 people.

“Obviously, we want the state parks experience to be as safe for everyone as possible,” said Mark Gold, executive director of the California Ocean Protection Council, who is trying to negotiate a truce between the two state agencies.

“I don’t think you are going to find anywhere (else in the state park system) where there’s six deaths a year,” he said. “We have to do better. It’s a priority.”

Granat, with the state off-roading association, said the parks department needs to beef up its enforcement of Oceano’s safety rules.

“The rules are only as good as the enforcement,” said Granat, who helped create the off-road regulations. “The (riding) community wants increased rangers, increased education and increased accountability at the park. We want a return to the family atmosphere that used to exist at the park.”

A cash cow for the state?

The parks department’s unwavering fidelity to off-roading may be traced to its unique source of funding. Unlike California’s nearly 300 other parks, the nine set aside for vehicles are funded almost entirely by off-road receipts: license fees from the vehicles, entrance fees from the parks and a portion of gas taxes that everyone pays at the pump.

That money is deposited in the state’s Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund, which provides off-road areas with much more operational funding than other parks even though they have fewer visitors.

For example, Oceano Dunes had about a third of the visitors as the state’s most popular park and five times the budget in 2017-18. California’s most-visited state park in that period was Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, with more than 4 million visitors and annual expenditures of $1,274,284. By comparison, Oceano Dunes, with 1.3 million visitors, was, by far, the best-funded of the top ten parks, with $6,373,326 in annual expenditures.

California’s Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot is adamant that the fund “is not a cash cow for the department.”

But the specificity of the source of funding gives off-roaders a sense of ownership. Kitten Chapman, a recreational riding advocate, scolded the Coastal Commission recently: “Off-roaders continue to pay for this land and you continue to take it away from us.”

A line in the sand

Bits of California history have traipsed across these dunes. The Northern Chumash Tribe settled here. Then the 20th Century ushered in a free-for-all on the beach: Cars and motorcycles raced around. In the 1920s, a ragtag group of mystics, hermits and artists settled in the area. Calling themselves the Dunites, the group sought to create a utopia and erected a community of ramshackle cabins.

A Don’t Tread on Me attitude lingers in the region. Jennifer Andrade, testifying at a recent Coastal Commission hearing, spoke for many who say they will not accept limits to motorized recreation at Oceano, foreshadowing a potential standoff in the sand.

“We the people are ready to storm our beaches, set up shop and claim back the land in protest,” she told the Commission. “Are you ready to arrest thousands of us?”

Granat disavowed threats of violence, but acknowledged the “visceral hate” emanating from all sides. Even as she seeks to lower the temperature, Granat vowed to fight any attempt to limit or end dune riding at the park.

“Will we look at legal options? Absolutely. Will we take advantage of anything available to us to fight for the rights of off roaders? Absolutely,” she said.

Love-Haning said it’s not too late for the community to heal.

“We can find common ground,” she said. “What that means for the future of the park, I’m not sure.”

Armando Quintero, who was appointed director of the state parks agency in August, isn’t sure, either. He said some of that bitterness has been directed his way: He has an email folder packed with more than 4,000 missives on the topic from both sides.

“It’s taken so long to fester,” Quintero said, “it’s going to take a long time to reconcile.”

 

Cal Matters
BY JULIE CART
NOVEMBER 24, 2020

Tulare Public Cemetery District responds to [Tulare County] grand jury report

 During its November 20 special meeting the Tulare Public Cemetery District (TPCD) approved sending a formal response to the Tulare County Grand Jury investigation. The response is due by December 9.

But before the trustees dove into a debate over the grand jury investigation they passed “Rules of Decorum and Trustee Conduct.”

Because past meetings have devolved into interrupting trustees, insults, yelling, and foul language, with the last meeting resulting in the police being called twice, Chair Steve Presant introduced a one-page list of rules for trustees and members of the audience to follow. The policy passed 3-2, with Trustees Vicki Gilson and Alberto Aguilar voting no because Aguilar stated that the policy was already in the by-laws.

Grand Jury Findings

Regardless if the policy was already in the by-laws, the newly passed rules were successful in producing a more respectable and calm discussion over the grand jury findings than usual or expected.

Though the trustees did not all agree on the final TPCD letter, out of the six Grand Jury “findings” a majority of the trustees voted to approve all of them.

The two most contentious findings were F1, concerning the district’s financial irregularities, and F3, the grand jury’s conclusion that Caring Cause is an organization disruptive during meetings.

Regarding F1, the trustees came close to fully agreeing with the grand jury’s finding that the district was guilty of inaccuracies in calculating the payroll, and that the endowment fund was handled improperly. In the end the trustees voted 3-2 to “Disagree Partially” with the grand jury’s findings on their finances.

Trustees Xavier Avila, Jim Pennington and Presant felt that payroll had been done accurately and that none of the employees had been short-changed on their pay, thus justifying their not agreeing completely with the grand jury.

Regarding the finding on Caring Cause, people in the audience and Trustee Gilson explained that Caring Cause is a facebook page and not a formal organization. They explained that those people who had disrupted meetings were doing so of their own accord, and that some were not followers of Caring Cause. Trustees Presant, Avila and Pennington disagreed and voted to agree with the grand jury’s finding that it was, in fact, Caring Cause that precipitated the need for a new district conduct policy.

Grand Jury Recommendations

As a result of its investigation, the grand jury gave the TPCD four recommendations, all of which the TPCD plans on implementing or has already implemented.

The Trustees did amend the grand jury’s first recommendation for a forensic audit covering the last five years. Some trustees felt there was no evidence of financial improprieties to justify the expense of an audit.

Aguilar, on the other hand, presented evidence documenting the lies, possible embezzlement, stolen documents, and inappropriate compensation committed by former TPCD office manager Marilyn Correia and her husband, former grounds supervisor Steve Cunningham. Aguilar sent his documentation to the Tulare County District Attorney and requested an investigation, but the DA said there was not enough evidence.

Avila countered that all of the accusations against Correia and Cunningham were hearsay and that former Chair Philip Deal also asked the DA for an investigation. Avila said that in a private conversation the DA told Deal that no crimes had been committed by the couple and that the Valley Voice should retract any of the paper’s accusations against Correia and Cunningham.

Avila did acknowledge some financial irregularities described in the grand jury report which lead to his suggesting the district conduct an audit for the calendar year of 2017.

2017 was a challenging year for the cemetery. The entire board of trustees, and then two newly appointed trustees late in the year, one by one resigned. Correia, Cunningham, and head grounds person, Jerry Ramos, secretly quit a few weeks before the September 20, 2017 general meeting, leaving the district with a skeleton crew and barely a quorum with which to make decisions.

Correia used her personal laptop to conduct cemetery business, which was never made available to the trustees, and two thumb drives left in the office were scrubbed clean. Approximately six months later, current cemetery manager Leonor Castaneda found a thumb drive in the same office desk that did contain the cemetery’s financial information, but, according to audit committee member Linda Maloy, April and May of 2017 were missing.

“Saying the cemetery district was left in chaos would be an understatement,” said Deal.

The environment at TCPD was so charged that on the morning of the September 20 meeting Deal had to call the police when he and Gilson were prevented from entering the district office by a grounds person. Half of the agenda had to be tabled because of the missing documents and information.

The trustees voted 3-2 to approve that, “the Tulare Public Cemetery Board is exploring options about a forensic audit for calendar year 2017.”

Presant and Aguilar voted no.

By exploring options, the trustees meant that they intended to research the cost of an audit for 2017. Based on that information the trustees would decide at a later date on whether or not to proceed with an audit.

Gilson reported that the forensic audit of the Visalia Public Cemetery cost $60,000, only $6000 of which was paid for by the district. Insurance paid for the majority of the cost because a crime was uncovered. TPCD would be liable to pay for the entire cost if no crime was uncovered in the audit.

Valley Voice
by Catherine Doe
November 24, 2020

Upland council can’t agree on investigator to examine [San Bernardino] grand jury findings

Panel said financial reports were mishandled by city staff

With a grand jury report alleging mishandling of financial reports hanging like a dark cloud, the Upland City Council Monday night, Nov. 23, failed to agree on hiring an investigator to probe the underlying basis for the findings, leaving next steps in doubt.

While Counilman Bill Velto, who is poised to become the city’s next mayor, pushed to hire Redlands-based The Titan Group, he could not get enough votes as the four-person council split 2-2, with he and Councilwoman Janice Elliott voting in favor, and Mayor Debbie Stone and Councilman Rudy Zuniga voting against.

In a Nov. 2 report, the San Bernardino County Civil Grand Jury concluded the city acted improperly by covering over handwritten notations from then-City Treasurer Larry Kinley about unfunded pension liabilities on five treasury reports from January 2019 to June 2019, and not telling the City Council. Once those actions were discovered, the report said the city took no disciplinary actions.

Also, the report said the city administration denied Kinley’s request for a deputy treasurer’s position, something that is permitted by state government code, and that members of the city’s Finance Committee were “confused” about the role of the city treasurer.

On Nov. 9, the council agreed to launch an investigation into the matter. The vote Monday, however, cast that decision into doubt.

 “If we conduct an investigation, we might be able to get some answers,” Velto said. If the city does not do its own investigation, he said, it “looks like once again, we will move forward without finding out what really happened.”

Whether to authorize a third-party investigation and who will conduct it will come before the council again on Dec. 14. At that time, Velto is expected to take over as mayor, Shannan Maust is expected to take the District 1 seat and Carlos Garcia is expected to step into the empty District 3 seat. Stone would be off the council, if current results from the Nov. 3 election hold.

The issue remains up in the air with new members of the City Council coming in. Also, City Manager Rosemary Hoerning will present additional possible vendors from outside San Bernardino County, since Zuniga and Stone said they did not want to hire The Titan Group because they have done work with the Upland Police Department and could not be impartial.

“You need to get someone that is out of the area. You need someone that is independent,” Stone said.

Joie Grimmett, general counsel and senior investigator with the firm, said she and her team could investigate the city’s financial dealings and the 17 grand jury findings without taking sides.

The investigation would cost the city at least $50,000, Hoerning said.

“We are neutral. We have no dog in the fight,” Grimmett told the City Council. But when it was revealed her firm worked on background investigations with Upland police, Zuniga and Stone reacted negatively.

“I’d rather have someone (investigate) who doesn’t know anybody in the city at all, that is not attached to the city in any way,” Zuniga said.

Stone said Velto should allow Hoerning and interim City Attorney Steven Flower to prepare a report and explain what happened before the city spends $50,000 on an investigation. Hoerning said she did nothing wrong.

Lois Sicking Dieter, who ran for mayor was third in the vote tally, said she doesn’t support hiring an investigator.

Former Upland City Treasurer Larry Kinley, during the oath of office ceremony at the Upland City Council meeting, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016. Kinley resigned in August 2020, setting off a grand jury investigation into the role of treasurer and city transparency. (Eric Reed/For The Bulletin/SCNG)

“What authorization do you have to use taxpayer money to conduct another independent analysis? The grand jury has already provided findings and recommendations. It is what it is,” she said Monday night.

In a letter sent to this newspaper dated Nov. 20, Kinley, who resigned over the issue in August, wrote the City Council and city manager “are in denial about the Grand Jury investigation.” He objected to the idea of the city conducting its own investigation, calling it “absurd.”

“I and the residents of Upland can only hope that our District Attorney follows up on the potential criminal activity associated with these actions and files charges against those involved,” Kinley concluded.

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
By STEVE SCAUZILLO | sscauzillo@scng.com | San Gabriel Valley Tribune
November 24, 2020

Riverside County says $35 million on consultant was well spent

Contrary to a Riverside County grand jury report, the county’s $35 million investment in outside consulting firm KPMG yielded substantial savings and improvements in county government operations, according to a formal response to the jury’s findings.

The response, which the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Tuesday, Nov. 17, takes issue with the jury’s report, “KPMG County Transformation Project: Benefit or Millions Squandered?”

The jury is a group of citizens empaneled by a judge to scrutinize public agencies and recommend improvements, though the subjects of jury reports are not obligated to follow the recommendations. The jury’s August report questioned the county’s spending on KPMG and cast doubt on county assertions that the firm’s work saved $100 million.

“Many (of KPMG’s) recommendations were process-driven, those results are qualitative in nature and not quantitative,” officials wrote in the county’s 11-page response. “Additionally, there still may be considerable savings and other benefits to be derived as the county continues to follow up on recommended initiatives from (KPMG).”

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department — its spending was the original focus of the consultant’s work — filed its own response. Sheriff Chad Bianco, who was a lieutenant when KPMG started working with the county, wrote that his department “is actively implementing” the firm’s recommendations.

While he doesn’t disagree with KPMG’s findings or recommendations, “most, if not all … are already ‘common sense’ and ‘best practices’ within the law enforcement profession,” wrote Bianco, who became sheriff in 2019.

The county first hired KPMG, an international consulting firm, in 2015 for $762,000 to study what cities pay to have the sheriff as their police force.

A year later, supervisors gave KPMG another $15.7 million to help implement more than 50 of its recommendations centered on protecting the public more efficiently. Eventually, KPMG got close to $40 million from the county to suggest improvements for virtually every area of county government.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted county finances, Riverside County, which has more than 20,000 employees and a $6.5 billion annual budget, struggled to make ends meet without dipping into savings. KPMG, which produced 50,000 pages of analysis of county government’s inner workings, was meant to help the county do more with less and foster a culture that values hard numbers in decision-making.

In its report, the jury found the county had little evidence that the consultant’s work saved $100 million. But county officials said such evidence was provided “on multiple occasions” by the county and the firm.

“The Grand Jury appears to have compared overall budgets to determine if actual savings occurred in some instances, but such comparisons are invalid since they assume the department budget is not impacted by unrelated increases to costs outside of the department’s control,” the response read.

Two of the consultant’s reports had 209 recommendations, 108 of which have been put in place, the response added.

The jury also faulted the county for, with KPMG’s help, approving a $17 million contract for a new human resources software system that was later canceled. The Workday cancellation, which cost the county $8 million, stemmed from a lack of buy-in from county departments to change their business practices to accommodate the new system, the jury found.

In their response, officials wrote “a reasonable change in business practices … was not a viable solution” to the new system’s problems.

The jury also criticized the Board of Supervisors and department heads for a lack of follow-up on the consultant’s recommendations. The County Performance Unit, an office created to guide the data-driven decision-making sought by KPMG, was disbanded, the jury found.

Forming such a unit, officials wrote, would be “cost-prohibitive and logistically challenging.” The county explored other ways to share performance data, the response read.

The jury also criticized the county for not bidding out the consultant’s contract as amendments ballooned the pact to 54 times its original size.

Since KPMG was familiar “with the overall structure of the county” and was asked to put recommendations into place, “there is no requirement for the county to seek additional bids in those circumstances,” the response stated.

Riverside Press-Enterprise
By JEFF HORSEMAN | jhorseman@scng.com
November 18, 2020

 

[San Luis Obispo] Grand Jury identifies list of failures that caused Paso schools’ budget crisis

A San Luis Obispo Grand Jury investigation into the Paso Robles school district budget crisis found it was caused by rampant administrative mismanagement and a lack of financial oversight, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The Grand Jury report “looks at failures in leadership and management that precipitated the recent crisis, and provides a detailed illustration of how a school district can inadvertently fail its students and the community it serves.”

The investigation was “self-generated, prompted by news reports, in accordance with government guidelines for the Grand Jury,” the report said.

Paso Robles schools are in the midst of recovering from serious financial issues that came to a head in late 2018, when the district’s budget reserve dipped below 1% to about $300,000 and Superintendent Chris Williams resigned suddenly.

Williams oversaw and directly contributed to the district’s fiscal problems by overspending and overestimating income — a situation made worse by administrative turnover, the Grand Jury report said.

School board members failed to provide needed oversight, and the county Office of Education was unable to intervene in time to prevent the district’s financial decline, the report said.

“This trifecta of abdication or dereliction of duties, mismanagement and leadership failure was evident in hearing from individuals and reviewing the documents requested by the Grand Jury in search for the truth of just what happened in Paso Robles,” the report said. “The circle of blame is a large one that offers a cautionary tale from which every school district can benefit.”

WHAT HAPPENED TO $6 MILLION IN RESERVES?

Paso Robles schools had a budget reserve of 10.4% at the end of the 2014-2015 fiscal year, when Williams was hired. By the time he left, the reserve had dropped to about four-tenths of a percent — well below the state’s 3% reserve requirement.

The Grand Jury identified seven factors that contributed to the reserve loss: miscalculated average daily attendance (ADA), improper transportation cost calculations, disallowed food service expenditures, accounts payable errors, poor planning for pension and salary increases, unplanned legal settlements and fees, and a failure to consider the costs of new programs.

Williams created new programs to draw students — including the Visual and Performing Arts Program and elementary and middle school athletic programs — that were assets to the district, but required additional staff and were ultimately not economically sustainable.

“While the objectives were good, the methodologies for achieving the objectives were problematic,” the Grand Jury report said.

 

The district overestimated and miscalculated its ADA numbers, which failed to rise to projected levels. The district also had four chief business officers in four years.

Williams, himself, twice briefly held the chief business officer position in an acting capacity.

“Beyond lacking the experience for this role, it left a serious gap in accountability with no systems for checks and balances,” the report said of this situation.

SCHOOL BOARD FAILURES

The school board failed to check Williams’ spending, likely out of a “desire to support the programs promoted by the new superintendent,” the report said.

“Board members relied on information coming from the superintendent and his direct reports and either did not bother to verify it or had no means to verify the information,” the report said. “As a result, a majority of the trustees routinely approved expenditures not supported by the budget.”

Some board members also had family members who were district employees, which may have led to conflicts of interest. The situation “(jeopardized) the ‘arms-length’ relationship preferred in such situations” and caused “accusations of preferential treatment being given to certain employees.”

The county Office of Education wrote letters to Williams and Field Gibson, who was board president at the time, informing them of the district’s deteriorating financial situation. However, Williams and Gibson did not pass the Office of Education’s concerns on to the other trustees, and county staff reached out to the board directly.

The Office of Education eventually brought in a financial monitor to help repair the budget after the agency’s outreach failed.

WILLIAMS’ GOLDEN PARACHUTE

When Williams resigned, he negotiated a settlement package of more than $226,000, which was approved by the trustees, including three members who were at the end of their tenure on the board, according to previous Tribune stories.

The county Office of Education later found Williams actually wasn’t entitled to this money, and newly elected board members rescinded the agreement. The district’s financial monitor — who should have been part of the initial negotiations — also wouldn’t approve the settlement, the report said.

County Superintendent Jim Brescia helped negotiate a payout that was half the amount of the original settlement, which was necessary to avoid a lawsuit, according to the report and previous Tribune stories.

POOL COMPLEX ‘UNLIKELY TO BE REALIZED’

Williams’ quest to build an aquatics complex also drained about $1.5 million in Measure M bond funds after he “prematurely purchased pool components and committed to an aquatic complex without a fully developed plan and a way to pay for it,” the report said.

The board approved the purchase of Italian stainless steel pools in January 2018, even though the district had not secured the millions of dollars in funding necessary to complete the project. Independent fundraising efforts also yielded only a fraction of the money needed, far less than Williams and other leaders projected.

The pools are still being stored in metal containers on district property, although the aquatic center project is “unlikely to be realized,” the report said.

GRAND JURY RECOMMENDATIONS

The Grand Jury provided a list of 16 recommendations to help prevent similar economic crises in the future. The suggestions include the following:

• Change district policy to prevent the superintendent from serving simultaneously as the chief business officer.
• Require comprehensive training for new hires responsible for accounting and business operations.
• Require district employees and board members to disclose potential conflict issues.
• Consider collaborating with the city of Paso Robles to use already-purchased equipment to upgrade municipal pools.
• Conduct audits of Measure M bond funds and 4A Foundation funds dedicated to the aquatics complex.

District officials released a statement in response to the Grand Jury report, which “corroborates many of the findings of the district’s own internal investigation.”

“The past failures are inexcusable,” the statement said. “Steps have been taken to rectify the problems and the district welcomes the recommendations of the Grand Jury as the new board to be seated December 15 begins its work. The current board will be reviewing the findings and providing any additional background to assist the district with its response to those findings, and with insight on additional reforms based on the recommendations.”

San Luis Obispo Tribune
BY LINDSEY HOLDEN
November 19, 2020

[San Luis Obispo County] Grand jury releases report blaming school district’s financial problems on poor leadership

 The San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury yesterday released a report, “Paso Robles School District: A Cautionary Tale” where it says poor leadership and management resulted in the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District’s financial crisis.

This report looks at “failures in leadership and management that precipitated the recent crisis,” and provides a “detailed illustration of how a school district can inadvertently fail its students and the community it serves.”

This is a three-part report examining Paso Robles Joint Unified School District. The trilogy of reports, “School District Leadership,” “District Reserve Management” and “The Aquatic Complex,” is intended to highlight how people, systems, and institutions fell short in their obligations to their citizens.

The full transcript of the reports is at https://www.slo.courts.ca.gov/gi/jury-grandjury.htm This website also provides information on how to apply to become a grand juror. It also has the “Grand Jury Citizen Complaint Form” available for the public to submit complaints regarding county issues to the grand jury.

The school district says that it is “heeding the caution,” and noted that the new administration and current board have addressed these issues in the last two years, and the board and administration will continue to develop improved policies and practices.

“The past failures are inexcusable,” the district said in an announcement on Tuesday. “Steps have been taken to rectify the problems and the district welcomes the recommendations of the Grand Jury as the new board to be seated December 15 begins its work.”

The current school board will be reviewing the findings and providing any additional background to assist the district with its response to those findings and with insight on additional reforms based on the recommendations.

Conclusions from the grand jury report:

The financial problems that developed at the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District were a result of the actions of three groups charged with school system oversight. Their collective failures to control or report on excessive expenditures created a fiscal crisis that will take time and hard work to resolve.

The previous superintendent’s leadership is responsible for overestimating income and not controlling spending. Under his administration, the constant turnover in business and financial staff caused mismanagement in monitoring finances and budgets. The Trustees had hired a superintendent with a new direction and vision with the hope to revitalize their district. Unfortunately, the available funding failed to support the new vision. Despite that fact, the trustees approved expenditures in excess of available funds without sufficient questioning.

And finally, the limitations in the SLOCOE oversight procedures prevented the County from officially intervening in the district’s deficit spending pattern. Despite repeated warnings communicated to the superintendent and the Board President, no corrective action was taken. It was later determined that the communications from the County were never forwarded to the other trustees who remained unaware of the financial crisis on the horizon. On the other hand, the trustees are required to practice due diligence, which they failed to do.

This trifecta of abdication or dereliction of duties, mismanagement and leadership failure was evident in hearing from individuals and reviewing the documents requested by the Grand Jury in search for the truth of just what happened in Paso Robles. The circle of blame is a large one that offers a cautionary tale from which every school district can benefit.

Paso Robles Daily News
Skye Pratt
November 18, 2020

Tulare Public Cemetery investigated by Tulare County Grand Jury

 The Tulare County Grand Jury report included some harsh criticisms of the Tulare Public Cemetery District (TPCD.)

Even though TPCD Trustee Xavier Avila called the report a “big nothing burger,” emotions ran high at its October 22 meeting as arguments irrupted and Leonor Castaneda, the district’s manager, called the police twice to escort attendees out of the meeting.

The Grand Jury initiated an investigation because it received several citizen complaints “alleging various violations by the TPCD Board of Trustees.”

Grand Jury Report Findings

The Grand Jury report cited, among other issues, the district’s difficulty in conforming to the Brown Act, irregularities in finances and providing trustees with requested information, including complete board packets. The report suggested that the Tulare County Board of Supervisors (TCBOS) should have provided more oversight of the district. The report was also critical of the Facebook page Caring Cause.

Concerning its finances, the Grand Jury report stated that, “Office staff was using antiquated bookkeeping practices which led to inaccurate and lost payroll documents as well as endowment fund practices not being followed for several years. Payroll was done by averaging hours rather than hours worked.”

Its recommendation was for the district to conduct an independent forensic audit covering the last five years. The report also told the district the transfer of endowment funds needs to be made on a more regular basis. Health and Safety Code 9065 (f) requires the interest from the Endowment Care Fund be deposited in an Endowment Income Fund and be spent solely for the care of the cemeteries.

Trustees Vicki Gilson and Alberto Aguilar agreed with the Grand Jury’s findings. They have complained about inaccuracies in the payroll. They have also pointed out that contractors are being hired to do work at the North Cemetery without soliciting bids and then approving expensive contracts without the approval by the board.

Aguilar has submitted documents that prove that Castaneda has not been compensating the district employees based on the actual number of hours worked. He mailed a letter on October 8 to Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward and delivered a copy to the TCBOS that contained several exhibits exposing financial irregularities concerning the district.

“I have requested charges be filed against Leonor Castaneda, Xavier Avila and Stephen Presant. A copy of my letter was also sent to Xavier Bacerra, State Attorney General,” he said.

Presant has said that the district changed procedures in 2018 to paying the employees for the hours worked instead of an average over two weeks. “No employee was cheated,” he said.

When Avila complained during the October 22 meeting that Aguilar had no proof that Castaneda was incorrectly calculating employees’ pay he produced his documents.

“I pointed out to him that in July, 2020, one employee was underpaid $343.00 and that same employee was under paid $114.00 in the month of June, 2020. In the month of November, 2019, the same employee was overpaid $80.00, and in the month of December, 2019, he was overpaid $168.00,” said Aguilar.

Avila opposed a forensic audit, and the district’s draft response to the TC Grand Jury echoed his sentiments. “A forensic audit is an examination of an organizations [sic] financial records to derive evidence which can be used in a court of law or legal proceeding. There is no evidence of any financial irregularity to justify the large cost of hiring a forensic audit specialist,” said the letter.

The Grand Jury report also was critical that “information contained in the board packets are frequently incomplete and not all members are provided information to which they are entitled.” It recommended “a complete restructuring of TPCD’s policies, procedures and internal controls be implemented within the next 12 months.”

Often, Gilson and Aguilar raise items of concern on the agenda–upon which they have had difficulty securing placement–and they have to bring their concerns up during trustee comments. When two employees had been hired in June without the board’s approval they could not get the item on the agenda. In terms of getting important information, Aguilar has been unable to get the audit committee packet, employee payroll detail, or bank statements.

“The reason that I have had to hire an attorney is due to your on-going and continued refusal to provide me with all material data that I have requested and you have not provided,” Aguilar wrote to Present.

The district’s draft response agreed with the Grand Jury’s assessment. “The Tulare Public Cemetery District Board is committed to doing this and part of the action taken in January of this year was to properly staff the office to account for the workload required to meet board needs. It is felt this should alleviate this situation.”

Board of Supervisors should have intervened

The Grand Jury report criticized the TCBOS for neglecting to provide essential oversight to ensure that the public interest was served by the TPCD Trustees. “Despite much public attention focused on the dysfunctionality of the TPCD’s Board of Trustees, the TCBOS, has thus far declined to exercise its authority under the section of the CHSC 9026.”

The California Health and Safety Code (CHSC), enables a board of supervisors to intervene in such cases and to appoint itself to serve as the governing board of a district. The Grand Jury recommended that the TCBOS consider exercising its authority under the applicable sections of the CHSC 9026 with a view toward bringing the governance of the TPCD into compliance with generally accepted practices and state requirement.

The report went on to say, “They (the TCBOS) continue to reappoint trustees who have demonstrated an inability/unwillingness to adhere to accepted practices as they relate to conduct of Cemetery District board meetings.”

It certainly isn’t for a lack of information that the board of supervisors has declined to get involved. For many years now, TPCD board members and concerned Tulareans have complained to the TCBOS about the district. Many concerned citizens have sent dozens of emails and spoken during public comment at the TCBOS meetings. Trustees and members of the public have also met personally with Supervisor Pete Vander Poel to discuss the problems plaguing the cemetery.

Presant said it was difficult to respond to this particular item because the report gave no specifics on which trustees have not conducted themselves appropriately at board meetings or how they have not adhered to accepted practices. Presant said that he was considering asking the Grand Jury for clarification on this item.

In the TCBOS response to the Grand Jury it disagreed. A draft response states, “From all appearances, the District is in sound financial shape and the cemetery grounds have never looked better. In the view of the Board of Supervisors, this shows that the public interest is being served by the appointed Cemetery District board.”

The TCBOS response included, “Wholesale replacement of the appointed board, which is the only option available under the Health and Safety Code, is not warranted and would detract from the local control that is vital to the success of the District in meeting the needs of and being responsive to the community.”

Caring Cause Facebook page

The report said, “Caring Cause is a volunteer group, which is disruptive to Board meetings…Members of the group Caring Cause speak up in board meetings before they are recognized by the Chairman and interrupt speakers during public comment sessions.”

Caring Cause is a Facebook page created in 2017 to improve the cemetery grounds and the management of the district. Individuals who “friend” Caring Cause’s are not part of any formal group and are not necessarily supporters.

The founder of the Caring Cause page, Elaine Hollingsworth, attends several meetings a year and always speaks in turn and is respectful to the trustees. Presant agreed, and said that he personally didn’t have a specific person in mind when he read the Grand Jury’s criticism of Caring Cause. He did believe that some of the disruptive attendees were also supporters of Caring Cause.

Community activist Alex Gutierrez videos the TPCD meetings as a community service for all those who cannot attend and posts the videos on Caring Cause’s page. Gutierrez has frequently spoken out of turn or interrupted trustees but is attending the meetings as a private citizen, not as a member of any particular group. He feels it is his civic duty to speak up when public needs are being ignored. He feels that at times it is the peoples’ only resort to be heard.

Gutierrez felt it was hypocritical of the Grand Jury to criticize the TCBOS for not intervening but then accuse Caring Cause of being disruptive when attempting to improve the management of the cemetery.

Castaneda directed to call the police

Fireworks were flying before the meeting even started.

Before all the trustees had arrived, Presant asked Aguilar what he thought of the district’s response to the Grand Jury report. Aguilar told Presant that he thought the letter was terribly written and rife with inaccurate information.

According to Aguilar, County Counsel Mathew Pierce got very close to him and commenced to scowl and threaten him. Pierce claimed that Aguilar’s behavior was rude and unprofessional and that he was not going to allow it. Aguilar responded by telling him to back off and said that he had no authority over him.

“I don’t work for you, you work for me–so back off,” he said.

Pierce then asked him, “Do you want me to leave?” and Aguilar responded, “There’s the door.”

When Pierce noticed that some members of the public were recording the confrontation on their phones he walked back to his seat.

On witnessing this confrontation, Corina Lara protested and said loudly to Presant that Pierce should not be allowed to treat a trustee so disrespectfully. Lara had seen two pictures Linda Malloy, founder of the Cemetarians, flipping off a trustee and had also seen a video of her saying  f*** you to Aguilar.

Lara asked why Aguilar was chastised for respectfully expressing his opinion while Malloy was allowed to continue her vulgar behavior.

(Lara is an aunt of the young woman whose casket Castaneda and the groundskeepers jostled because of their inexperience in handling a casket. The family members were not permitted to be pallbearers because of COVID. Castaneda had threatened the family that it would be locked out of the cemetery if they called the office one more time requesting they be the pall bearers.)

Presant directed Castaneda to call the police to remove Lara from the meeting because she was being disruptive. Once the police came Lara asked if she could stay in order to speak during public comment and Presant gave her another chance.

The second incident started when Gutierrez chuckled after Avila said a forensic audit would cost $100,000 or more. Then Gutierrez continued to speak after Presant warned him he was being disruptive. Presant told Gutierrez to leave the meeting and Gutierrez refused. Presant then instructed Castaneda to call the police again.

The police arrived and escorted Gutierrez out of the meeting without incident.

Gutierrez felt the entire incident played out according to script and that Avila and Presant had the confrontation planned.

“They targeted me before the meeting,” he said

Going forward

Presant has planned a tentative meeting the Monday before Thanksgiving to finalize the district’s response to the Grand Jury report. Responses to the report are required from both the TPCD and the TCBOS.

Their responses are due by December 9.

 

Valley Voice
Catherine Doe
November 6, 2020