2021 SANTA BARBARA COUNTY GRAND JURY

After a 6 month break due to the COVID pandemic, the 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury has been sworn in.  The 2021 Grand Jury is available to investigate any concerns community residents may have about government entity operations or officials in the cities or the County of Santa Barbara.  The Jury wants to hear from you.

Please visit the Grand Jury website, www.sbcgj.org, and review reports prior juries have published along with the responses from the appropriate agencies.  If a citizen has a specific "Request for Investigation" in mind, there is a form on the website that an individual may complete and submit for consideration.

The Grand Jury is a division of the Superior Court and keeps watch over numerous government agencies and districts in Santa Barbara County.

EdHat
Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
January 26, 2021

Calaveras [County] Grand Jury releases report on local fire district

Although the 2019-2020 Calaveras County Grand Jury (CCGJ) Report was delayed this year due to COVID-19, the final part of the report was recently released.

The report details the grand jury’s investigation into the operations of the Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District (CCFRPD) following a citizen complaint. The CCFRPD spans about 164 square miles and includes the communities of Glencoe, Mountain Ranch and Sheep Ranch. The area was hard hit by the Butte Fire in 2015, and the district has been experiencing financial difficulties in recent years.

“The CCGJ found numerous areas of concern regarding the financial transparency of the CCFRPD, the relationship between the District and the Central Calaveras Fire Safety Elves (Elves), and opportunities for misuse of District property and resources,” the report reads. “There is also a lack of familiarity by District Board of Directors (BOD) with the Brown Act, and a general lack of an engagement by the BOD which has resulted in little to no oversight of the administrative functions of the District. Additionally, funding from the Butte Fire PG&E settlement, earmarked for fire recovery and preparedness, was used to purchase highly specialized equipment for uses not within the typical areas of responsibility as outlined in the mission statement of the CCFRPD.”

The Elves is a nonprofit formed in August of 2017 to work with the district to address impacts from the Butte Fire by clearing fire-damaged trees and other flammable materials on private property and providing firewood to seniors, veterans, disabled and low-income community members at no cost to them.

“In September 2017, the BOD adopted a policy that would permit the Elves to use the District name and allow the District to obtain grants for use by the Elves program,” the report reads. “However, the District is required to maintain the responsibility for financial management of any funds received for the Elves via the District.”

The program was initially funded with a Calaveras Community Foundation (CCF) Butte Fire Cleanup grant of about $50,000.

“Since the Elves had just formed and were working in coordination with the District, and it was unlikely the foundation would award such a large sum to a newly formed organization, the District applied for the grant,” the report reads. “As the recipient of the grant, the District was ultimately responsible for tracking expenses associated with the grant and keeping them separate from other District expenses.”

The grand jury found the district’s tracking of these expenses lacking.

“During the one-year term of the grant, the activities and progress of the Elves program, and the expenses associated with it, were never discussed at BOD meetings,” the report reads. “The BOD approved all monthly District expense transmittals, which included the grant expenses, without discussion. Over the course of a year, about $35,000 was spent on log removal and property preparation; about $15,000 was spent to purchase a number of tools and equipment to carry out the terms of the grant. Because the grant funds were awarded to the District, these items are the property of CCFRPD.”

A check for an additional grant of $8,000 from the CCF to the CCFRPD awarded in April of 2019 for the Senior Fire Safe Homes project was authorized by the chief to be deposited directly into the Elves’ bank account, reducing the district’s ability to track expenses, according to the report. However, lack of public interest and lack of volunteer and professional assistance, as well as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in only a portion of the grant being spent, and the rest was returned to the CCF.

In 2019, the district was authorized to receive about $100,000 in PG&E Butte Fire settlement money through the county to purchase and maintain equipment for the Elves program, the report reads.

“The Elves reported delivering a total of 256 cords of firewood, clearing seven properties, and clearing 88,044 cubic feet of flammable materials from private property,” the report reads. “While the Elves’ efforts benefited these individual properties and homeowners, the majority of the District did not experience a direct benefit. The Elves plan to dissolve at the end of 2020. It is unclear what will happen to the equipment that was purchased for them and if it can be used by the District. Lot clearing and firewood production are not currently within the scope of official District activity.”

The district’s procedures for obtaining fuel contributed to the difficulty in tracking the expenses of the Elves, the report reads.

“Due to current District procedures for obtaining fuel, both diesel and unleaded gasoline, it is impossible to differentiate the fuel costs of the Elves program with the CCFRPD fuel costs,” the report reads. “The previous Chief allowed the Elves to use the CCFRPD gasoline account at a local fueling station. Additionally, the diesel pump at Station No. 1 does not have a mechanism to ensure that all diesel used is logged and therefore accounted for.”

The grand jury found that district funds “were improperly transferred to the Elves, a nonprofit corporation, which prevented the BOD from overseeing the management of those funds,” and recommended that “the CCFRPD BOD immediately ensure District funds are managed directly by the District.”

In order to track fuel use, the grand jury recommended that “the BOD direct the Chief to create a procedure to track all usage of CCFRPD fuel accounts, by March 31, 2021.”

The grand jury found that “CCFRPD purchased specialized equipment for the Elves that is otherwise useless to a fire district in carrying out its mission,” and recommended that “the BOD review its priorities and ensure that spending and asset acquisition is in line with the CCFRPD mission statement and capabilities, by June 30, 2021.”

The transparency of the district may have suffered as a result of the loss of a full-time administrative assistant position in May of 2019.

Following the loss of the position, “Duties such as recording BOD minutes, handling of payroll, finances, and office management were assigned to part-time staff, including the Chief,” the report reads. “The distribution of responsibility resulted in the Chief having sole access to administrative and financial passwords. In May 2020, the Chief stepped down to fill the newly created position of Deputy Chief, and a new Chief was hired. At the same time, the BOD agreed to review both position assignments in six months. The Deputy Chief maintained control of the responsibilities assumed a year earlier. The passwords and other means of access to financial information were not provided immediately to the new Chief.”

The grand jury found that the “Chief and the BOD Treasurer do not have the necessary access to financial information related to the District, which limits financial oversight and accountability,” and recommended that “the Chief and Board Treasurer be provided full access to all District financial records and that financial records be stored and maintained at District Fire Station No. 1 by Feb. 1, 2021.”

The report notes that there is only one other fire district in the county with a deputy chief position.

“Considering the CCFRPD budget constraints, the Deputy Chief position is unnecessary for such a fiscally strained district,” the report reads. “The CCGJ recommends the BOD review the Deputy Chief position assignment to determine efficacy, by Dec. 31, 2020.”

The grand jury found that the district’s board was unfamiliar with the provisions of the Brown Act, which are intended to ensure public access to the meetings of governing bodies in California.

“Since the elimination of the administrative assistant position, the Chief, or Deputy Chief, is responsible for recording and publishing the minutes,” the report reads. “Minutes were not published to the website from May 2019, when the administrative assistant left, to mid-2020. Most, but not all, minutes are now available on the website. The portion of the website related to the BOD includes an outdated photo of the Board members and does not list current members. Although there is a link to the Policy and Procedure Manual on the website, it does not link to a copy of the Manual.”

The grand jury recommended that “the BOD ensure that the CCFRPD website is updated as BOD membership changes, and that policies and procedures are modified by March 31, 2021,” and that “the BOD receive formal training in Brown Act requirements by April 30, 2021.”

The report notes that the CCFRPD was unable to pass tax measures in 2016 and 2018.

“The inability to pass parcel tax measures is evidence that the CCFRPD has not sufficiently engaged with the citizens of the community,” the report reads. “The CCGJ recommends the CCFRPD increase community outreach and engagement about District Services” and “propose a new parcel tax measure, by the March 2022 primary election and increase public education about the need for support, beyond 2018 efforts.”

The grand jury requests responses from elected county officials within 60 days, and from governing bodies within 90 days.

To read the CCGJ’s 2019-2020 Final Report, visit https://grandjury.calaverasgov.us/Reports

Calaveras Enterprise
By Noah Berner
January 21, 2021

PRJUSD BOARD REVIEW OF [SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY] GRAND JURY REPORT ‘PASO ROBLES SCHOOL DISTRICT: A CAUTIONARY TALE’

PASO ROBLES – The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) Board of Trustees met on Saturday, Jan. 9, to review, in detail, the entire Grand Jury Report titled “Paso Robles School District: A Cautionary Tale,” dated Nov. 17, 2020.

The report reads like a fictional story; however, it explains the events in detail that led to the school districts’ financial crisis.

Board members spent several hours reviewing, discussing, and giving insight into the findings of errors found by the Grand Jury.

Board President Christopher Arend started the meeting by requesting a change to the order of the agenda. The Board voted 6-0 to move the discussion about retaining the council to the end of the agenda.

Trustee Lance Gannon was not in attendance. 

The report starts by giving a brief overview of the school district’s financial problems between 2015 and 2018, which led them to become subject to a second Grand Jury investigation, with the first being in 2012.

The report is broken down into three parts; School District Leadership, District Reserve Management, and The Aquatic Complex.  

According to the summary, the report was “self-generated, prompted by news reports in accordance with the guidelines for the Grand Jury.”

Burkley Baker called in for public comment on item F1 prior to the board starting. “I hope that this will finally come to a conclusion. I also hope that the board takes this very seriously; the fact that this took two months for this meeting is a little concerning to me. The voters take it seriously; the voters rejected four incumbents that were involved in this Grand Jury, everyone that they possibly could they voted out of office.”

Barker continued, “The grand jury did not really touch too much on what I would say the human factor in terms of the intimidation, retribution, harassment, bullying in general abuse of employees in this school district. I hope that the School Board looks at that because it was a big big part of what happened under the Williams administration, not him but also some of his staff, and the whole Board had an attitude lets move on, not look back rather a cavalier attitude, I thought so I hope it changes now, and again I hope that this board recognizes what the people want… I hope that this is done and I hope that it is transparent and I hope that it is specific, and I hope that it is put to rest once and for all so that this district can move forward in a positive atmosphere that is has in the past it is a great school district.”

After a slightly heated conversation between Trustees Tim Gearhart and Chris Bausch regarding a motion allowing Board members to disclose information from a closed session proposed by Trustee Arend, it was decided to not to allow authorization.  

The chapter on leadership focused on three “key elements,” the district superintendent and administration: two, the School Board of Trustees and third, the County Board of Education.

The report states that the purpose of this chapter is to report on the investigation into the impact of leadership failures at all three levels.

 

At the Dec. 7, 2018, PRJUSD Special Board Meeting, Joan Summers, Former Board President, announced, “Superintendent Williams initiated his resignation, and we are sad to say that the Board and Superintendent Williams came to a mutual agreement effective 60 days from today, Dec. 7.”

Summers thanked former Superintendent Williams on behalf of the Board for all of his hard work since coming to the district in August of 2014. “I want to thank you for your moral integrity, your one team one dream, your passion for student success.”

The vote back in 2018 was 6-1 to accept the resignation of Williams. Trustee Chris Bausch voted no and did not want to see Williams leave. “I don’t want to see Mr. Williams resign,” Bausch said. “I want to see the good work that he started continue, albeit within our financial limitations. Mr. Williams has done some great things. He has done everything the board has asked him to do, and that is why we are in a financially compromised situation. He will be missed.”

According to the Grand Jury report, Williams negotiated a lucrative severance package as a condition of his resignation without the approval of the San Luis County Office of Education (SLOCOE). SLOCOE reported that the former superintendent did not meet his contract’s requirements that would entitle him to any severance package; however, the resignation was accepted and remunerated by the outgoing Board of Trustees.

The SLOCOE monitor stated they were not a part of the first negotiation and should have been, and they would not have approved the original agreement. The County Superintendent ended up negotiating a new agreement with smaller terms that saved the cost of a protracted lawsuit.     

As the Board reviewed the document details, several members’ mishandlings by the Grand Jury could be traced back to Williams.

Board members Chris Bausch and Tim Gearhart were both board members when former Superintendent Chris Williams was in position. Both members expanded on their experience with Chris Williams and corroborated the corruption that was occurring.

Trustees Bausch and Gearhart were able to provide insight into the district atmosphere while under Chris Williams. Both provided examples of miscommunication between the former Superintendent and the Board of Trustees.

Several accusations were made that insinuated Chris Williams hired many unqualified people out of the district who had ties to Chris Williams, rather than hiring qualified individuals within the district.

The yet-to-be-built Aquatics Complex was heavily discussed as the Grand Jury highlighted the plan as an example of the School Board failures.

From the Grand Jury report, “The purpose of the report is to illustrate how the administration of the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) erred and created financial blunders that impacted the entire district operation. The Grand Jury (SLOGJ) believes that nothing illustrates these failures better than the example of the Aquatic Complex plan, which to date, is not close to being constructed.”

The Grand Jury report mentioned in their findings of Chapter 3: The Aquatics Complex, that there is a lack of support from the community for the complex.

This idea was refuted by a public caller and Trustee Nathan Williams (no relation to Chris Williams), and Tim Gearhart.

“There is plenty of evidence out there showing the community has a great deal of support,” said Trustee Williams.

The report stated a lack of funding for the complex proved community support was evident, which was explained by Trustee Williams and a public caller that COVID-19 had prevented fundraising efforts not because there is no interest in the complex.

Before reaching the report’s recommendations portion, the Board motioned to table agenda item F.2 and F.4 to be discussed at the Jan. 12 meeting at 4 p.m.

Recommendations on how to proceed will be discussed at the Jan. 12 meeting; updates on the progress and outcome will be forthcoming.

PRJUSD Second Special Meeting Jan. 12

The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) met for a second time on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 4 p.m. to continue their special meeting from Sat. Jan. 9, which focused on the Grand Jury Report: Paso Robles Schools: A Cautionary Tale.

The board continued their discussion of the recommendations made by the Grand Jury in the report.

The board must submit its responses to all findings and recommendations to the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court no later than Feb. 17.

In regards to the second recommendation, which states:

“The District shall require comprehensive training for new hires who are responsible for financial accounting and business operations.”

Trustee Tim Gearhart commented on the recommendation saying, “We’ve done that.”

Trustee Bausch commented that he hadn’t seen any training for financial employees. Although he trusts there is training in place, he suggests everyone knows and understands what the training entails.

Bausch said, “I think what happened last time, during Mr. William’s tenure, people knew and saw what was happening, but they were terrified to come forward and tell anybody. If somebody called me, it was under penalty of secrecy, and I could not tell anybody.”

Recommendation three suggested a revamp of board meeting structures to allow for a more focused agenda.

Board president Arend, agreed they need more focused agendas but mentioned that it couldn’t be done depending on the circumstances. A great example of this was how COVID brought a brutal amount of agenda items to the table, all of which were time-sensitive.

Related to meeting agendas, Bausch brought up, “We get all of the information to help say yes, and agree with staff suggestions. We get very little information or shown where to find information for something that opposes staff recommendation. That’s not fair. We’re led to make a positive decision in the staff’s favor. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing in every case, but it goes back to Tim’s point of rubber-stamping it-there are negative things, and we need to know what happens if we say no, we need to know what happens if we say yes.”

Superintendent Curt Dubost responded to Trustee Bausch’s statement saying they would work on bringing more information to the table.

Trustee Bausch motioned to adjourn the special board meeting to be continued Jan. 19 at 4 p.m. to resume discussion on Recommendation 10 and conclude the rest of the agenda, seconded by Dorian Baker and passed 7-0.

Paso Robles Express
By Camille DeVaul
January 14, 2021

Animal welfare groups successfully sue [Monterey] county to enforce its own cockfighting ordinance.

Blog note: This article refers to a 2019 Monterey County grand jury report.

There are good reasons why cockfighting is outlawed in all 50 states. It’s not just cruel and inhumane for the roosters who are drugged, outfitted with razor-sharp spurs and forced to fight to the death. It’s dangerous to people, as well as being a potential source of disease, say animal welfare groups. Two groups filed suit against Monterey County in August, asking a Superior Court judge to compel officials to enforce the county’s rooster ordinance meant to curb what activists contend is a flourishing practice here.

That ordinance was passed by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors in a 3-2 vote in 2014. It made it illegal to keep more than five roosters on a property without a permit, and it also set certain standards for debris cleanup and treatment of the animals and prohibited anyone convicted of cockfighting or animal cruelty from obtaining a rooster-keeping permit. The law was challenged in 2015 by two men who argued the ordinance was unconstitutional and violated their civil rights. They lost in Monterey County Superior Court in 2016 and an appeal in federal court was denied in February 2019.

In 2014, the county estimated there were possibly hundreds of cockfighting operations. Yet the ordinance went essentially unenforced, according to a 2019 report by the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury. Witnesses testified there were closer to 1,000 operations.

The grand jury concluded that enforcement was hampered by a complicated reporting process, confusion over the roles of county agencies and some agencies’ inability or unwillingness to enforce the ordinance. In written responses, county officials disagreed with some of the grand jury’s findings but agreed they had a lack of staff to respond to issues.

The grand jury requested improvements be made in 2020, but when that failed to happen the two animal welfare groups – Humane Farming Association and Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, known as SHARK – as well as a resident identified as Jane Doe, filed the lawsuit in August. On Dec. 18, the plaintiffs and the county agreed in court to a stipulation that includes plans for better enforcement. During negotiations, the county hired additional animal control officers, bringing its staff up to four.

Officials agreed to form a task force with representatives from Animal Services, county counsel’s office, the District Attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office, SPCA Monterey County, and a representative from the Board of Supervisors. That group has not met yet; a six-month progress report to the court is due on May 25.

Attorney Vanessa Shakib of the firm Advancing Law for Animals, representing the plaintiffs, says there is a greater cost to the public when cockfighting is allowed to continue than there is to enforcement. One example is a 2002 California poultry epidemic of Virulent Newcastle Disease attributed to cockfighting operations which cost an estimated $180 million to eradicate. Cockfighting has also been known to spread zoonotic diseases – those spread from animal to human. “We’re not just talking animal welfare,” Shakib says.

Monterey County Now
Pam Marino
January 11, 2021 

Editorial: More can be done to curb Marin opioid overdoses, deaths

 Blog note: This editorial refers to a Marin County grand jury report.

Marin County health officials have been in the forefront of efforts to stem the prescription of opioid pain relievers and deaths to which their abuse frequently leads.

Their initiatives made a difference, reducing the flow of prescriptions and saving lives.

But in 2019, the cases of opioid-abuse hospitalizations and overdose deaths rose to levels that caught the attention of the 2019-20 Marin County Civil Grand Jury, which recently released a report on its investigation and recommendations for further action that needs to be taken.

While lately most of the public’s focus has been on the coronavirus pandemic, Marin residents serving on the grand jury offered a sobering reminder that there continues to be other health threats.

While they credit the county with leading the creation of “robust prevention and treatment programs,” the jury is justifiably worried about the uptick in abuse cases and deaths seen in 2019, after years of progress in reducing both.

“Despite prevention efforts, the opioid problem in Marin has not gone away,” the jury writes in its report, “Opioid Misuse: Strengthening Marin County’s Response.” The jury reports that “opioid deaths of county residents in 2019 approached the high levels not seen since the end of the last decade.”

One of its recommendations should be easy — expanding the availability of naloxone, a widely used emergency drug that can save lives from overdoses.

The county, through its RxSafe Marin initiative, has already broadened the drug’s availability, providing it to first responders such as police and firefighters, as well as to family members of known abusers.

It has also worked on increasing medication-assisted treatment available in Marin, but the grand jury says the statistics show more needs to be done, noting the county lacks sufficient long-term residential treatment care for those who need aftercare and recovery.

The grand jury is also recommending the expansion of its “navigator” program, where someone counsels and assists those who wind up in the emergency room due to an overdose away from their addictive and dangerous behaviors.

The local civil grand jury often does a public service in shining the light of public attention on issues or problems that may not be well known, but are important to the community.

The 2019 statistics showcased in the jury’s report are good reason for the county and community medical-care providers to do more in addressing opioid abuse and overdose deaths.

They can be prevented by providing medical care providers the tools they need and by taking measures that limit access to such dangerous drugs.

There is no question, the county has done a lot in recent years to try to respond to a situation that was clearly out of control. The grand jury has shined the spotlight on the need to do more and effective measures that can make a difference — including saving lives

Marin Independent Journal
By MARIN IJ EDITORIAL BOARD
January 3, 2021

Evacuation planning lacks leadership, [Marin County grand] jury finds

Choke points would abound in an emergency evacuation of West Marin. In Inverness, the problem is Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. In Bolinas, it’s Mesa and Olema-Bolinas Roads. And for the entire coast, any of the over-the-hill routes—through the San Geronimo Valley, past Nicasio or around Mount Tamalpais—would become congested if thousands of people were trying to leave at once.

Despite this threat to public safety, nobody in Marin is taking responsibility to plan for evacuation, according to a Marin County Civil Grand Jury report issued last month. The 19-member watchdog group calls on the Transportation Authority of Marin to step up and include evacuation as one of its criteria when planning or funding projects. The grand jury also urges public works departments of cities, towns and the county to prioritize evacuation, and argues that these governing bodies should address evacuation infrastructure needs as they update their general plans.

The Woodward Fire heightened anxiety around evacuation and prompted the grand jury to revisit the issue. Bolinas resident B.G. Bates fled the blaze despite it being miles away, because she feared a collective rush to leave town. “Once you get to Mesa Road, there are several places where the trees come up on both side and meet in the canopy,” she said. “It’s beautiful, but that’s not where you want to get caught. I think about it all the time: What are my solutions? It depends on which way the fire is coming from, I guess.”

Inverness resident Francine Allen is particularly worried about having to evacuate at the same time as thousands of visitors to the Point Reyes National Seashore. “It’s something I’ve been concerned about for a long time, and nobody seems to be thinking about it. It just hasn’t gotten any traction anywhere,” she said.

Preparing for an evacuation involves many interconnected components: educating the public, cutting back vegetation, improving mapping and signage, designating refuge centers and executing the evacuation during emergencies, along with actually building and improving the infrastructure to support a mass evacuation. The barriers to improving evacuation outcomes are both physical and political.

“In interviews with the grand jury, many officials expressed reluctance to take on these specific evacuation infrastructure challenges because of the enormous costs, potential litigation, environmental complexities, neighborhood resistance, and lack of authority,” the report states. “Furthermore, it is not clear who has responsibility for addressing this critical need. Nevertheless, the dire consequences of failing to address this challenge could result in a catastrophe that far outweighs the cost of improving our roads to support mass evacuation.”

Some public works directors told the grand jury that they believe first responders are in charge of plans, but law enforcement officers said they focus on evacuation only during active emergencies. Other elected officials anticipate that the new Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority will handle planning, but the scope of its work is limited and does not include infrastructure improvements. The Transportation Authority of Marin has denied that it has any role or responsibility for considering evacuation needs in its transportation projects, but the grand jury disagrees.

The transportation authority was established in 2004 as Marin’s congestion management agency, required by state law in every county. Funded by grants, a half-cent sales tax and a $10 vehicle registration fee, the authority is tasked with coordinating roughly $40 million in annual funding for a multitude of transportation projects, from improving routes to schools to widening the highway, all with the goal of improving mobility.

The agency was chartered when traffic was high on Marin’s priority list and wildfire evacuation was a remote concern. But times have changed, and the agency hasn’t changed with them.

The jury first looked at evacuation routes in 2019 and made the initial call for the authority to prioritize evacuation projects and require that every proposed project consider its impact on mass evacuation. At the time, the authority responded that it “is a funding agency and does not set local policy.” But the grand jury argues that the authority is ideally positioned for the task, as the only entity with countywide authority over transportation projects. Because its board is broadly representative of Marin’s jurisdictions, it can support large cross-jurisdictional projects along Marin’s major evacuation routes.

“Contrary to its previous responses to the grand jury, the Transportation Authority of Marin is not precluded or constrained from incorporating evacuation planning needs as a criterion in its infrastructure projects. The Transportation Authority of Marin’s decision-making process is inadequate unless it includes evacuation as a criterion when funding improvements,” the grand jury found.

Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, who sits on the transportation authority board, believes that both the authority and departments of public works should revise their policies to look at evacuation when funding projects. “I think it’s a good idea, and it’s something they should do with all of their projects,” he said.

The transportation authority wouldn’t work alone. The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, composed of 17 fire agencies, was established last year and has a nearly $20 million annual budget. The agency has allocated $1 million for a traffic study of evacuation routes this year, a first step in identifying problem areas. The agency will also fund major vegetation management projects along evacuation routes and create evacuation route maps, but it does not have the ability or the funding for major infrastructure improvements, such as widening roads. Thus, the transportation authority should work with firefighters, and a transportation representative should serve on the wildfire prevention authority’s advisory and technical committee, the grand jury argued.

The buck ultimately stops with the Board of Supervisors. The jury calls on the board to adopt a resolution urging the transportation authority to consider evacuation needs in public works projects, and for the county to update the safety elements of its general plan this year to include evacuation planning. Each agency has until March 14 to respond.

Point Reyes Light
By Braden Cartwright
January 6, 2021