Opinion: [Santa Clara County] VTA clearly needs new model of governance

 Three separate civil grand juries over the last 17 years have focused on the Valley Transportation Authority’s performance and governance. Their conclusions: VTA underperformed its peers in 2004 and continued to do so in 2009.

The most recent report of 2019 states that “performance has continued to deteriorate over the last decade, relative to both its own historical performance and that of its peers.” The Grand Jury concluded that reversing this trend requires structural change to VTA’s Board of Directors.

The composition of the VTA Board, currently city council members and county supervisors, is defined in state law, so any change requires action in Sacramento. Fortunately, Assemblymember Marc Berman has introduced AB 1091 to do just that.

Many fine, well-meaning council members and supervisors have come and gone from the VTA board over the agency’s 26-year history. The problem is that as local elected officials, their time and attention are pulled many ways. Continuity is also a problem: Half of the board members turned over at the start of this year. And many board members don’t have the necessary background to provide the high-quality oversight that VTA deserves. Past board members often report that their experience was like drinking from a fire hose and that they barely got their arms around these complicated, multi-billion dollar transportation issues as they reached the end of their service on the board, usually after just two years.

As council members who have served on the boards of various regional public agencies, we understand. VTA faces myriad complex issues, even more difficult than those confronting other regional agencies and transit systems around the United States and the globe.

Fixing VTA will require a board of individuals who are able to focus their full time and attention on it and who bring expertise to the table, residents with “expertise, experience, or knowledge relative to transportation, infrastructure or project management, accounting or finance, and executive management” as proposed in AB 1091. The legislation also proposes to maintain geographic representation across the county, giving city and county elected officials the ability to appoint board members.

Effective transportation is a competitive cornerstone for Silicon Valley, and many other metro areas have built effective transit and congestion management systems while we have fallen behind. Given three Grand Jury reports over 17 years and continued declining performance, it is clear that we urgently need a new model for VTA governance.

VTA requires a focused, experienced Board of Directors that can effectively negotiate for and deliver critical and fair funding for projects across our region. We all are living with the results of Santa Clara County being short-changed in the allocation of transportation dollars that don’t reflect Silicon Valley’s economic impacts and population

The VTA Board must be willing to re-examine the organization from top to bottom.  We know that acknowledging VTA’s shortcomings and embracing change can be difficult, but we hope that the current board and our other representatives in Sacramento will recognize that change must begin at the top and join us in supporting AB 1091.

San Jose Mercury News
Teresa O’Neill is a former Santa Clara City councilwoman who served as chair of the VTA Board. John McAlister is a former Mountain View mayor who served on the VTA Board and chaired its Ad Hoc Board Enhancement Committee. Rod Sinks is a former Cupertino mayor who served as first chair of the VTA SR85 Policy Advisory Board.
March26, 2021

 

[Marin County] Town Of Corte Madera: Firearm Safety Collaborative

 On March 10, 2021, the Marin County District Attorney's Office issued a press release addressing the 2020 Marin County Civil Grand Jury report on firearm safety. District Attorney Lori Frugoli has launched a multidisciplinary collaborative to promote firearm safety in Marin that is focused on encouraging and promoting responsible gun ownership, gun dealer responsibility, and the enforcement of firearm prohibitions. The Town of Corte Madera also takes firearm safety seriously and responded to the same Grand Jury report by committing to performing public outreach services to all its residents regarding the need for safe handling and storage of firearms. The Town of Corte Madera has coordinated with the Central Marin Police Authority to provide outreach to the community regarding the procedure by which residents may obtain free gun locks and safety kits, or turn in unwanted weapons/ammunition. Detailed information regarding Central Marin Police Authority's free gun lock program can be found on their website or directly by clicking here:  https://www.centralmarinpolice.org/145/Safe-Storage-of-Firearms---Gun-Locks For those residents interested in surrendering a firearm or disposing of ammunition, please contact the Central Marin Police Authority at 415-927-5150, and they will arrange for an officer to pick up the weapon and/or ammunition.

Patch Larkspur-Corte Madera
Press Release from the Town of Corte Madera
March 16, 2021

Exclusive: [Eureka, Humboldt County,] California police degraded women in texts, called COVID patient ‘outbreak monkey’

Blog note: This article refers to a Humboldt County grand jury report

Police officers from Eureka, Calif., sent text messages with vulgar comments about homeless and mentally ill people, advocated for violence and demeaned women.

The vulgar, explicit text messages between a squad at the Eureka Police Department took a violent turn on April 20, 2020, after a suspect posted bail and walked out of jail.

The man had been arrested with an arsenal of loaded guns, a silencer and other equipment, including body armor that had belonged to the group’s supervisor, Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez. The sergeant exploded in the group chat.

 “He also had one of my tac vests that I had loaned to code enforcement!! Face shoot the f-----!!!” the sergeant wrote. “He was one of my first arrests!!! Sent him to prison for a minute!!”

Reyna-Sanchez’s comments that day were part of a pattern of violent, sexually explicit and demeaning messages sent between officers in Eureka, a coastal town in far Northern California.

The messages within the group chat include obscene comments about people experiencing homelessness and mental illness, all written only months after a damning Humboldt County grand jury report that criticized the department’s treatment of the homeless.

Officers openly advocated for violence and made degrading comments about women’s breasts, ridiculed a female colleague, and imagined homeless people and others in sexual situations, according to a Sacramento Bee review of the messages.

Reyna-Sanchez said about his coffee order: “Black and bitter...like my fantasy wife!!!”

Ten years before texting his squad to “face shoot” a suspect, Reyna-Sanchez himself shot a 25-year-old man in the head. Officers were struggling with David Sequoia in a carport, and the man reportedly pointed a gun within inches of an officer’s face. That officer shot Sequoia in the chest.

Seconds later, Reyna-Sanchez shot the man in the head because, investigators said, Sequoia was still pointing the gun at officers. Sequoia died, and the shooting was deemed justified.

A source who asked to remain anonymous provided The Bee with a series of photographs of the group messages sent among the squad over cell phones, offering only a snapshot of ongoing conversations spanning months. It was unclear if any of them were using city-owned cell phones.

Although Eureka, with a population of 27,000, has about 50 sworn officers, the messages reviewed by The Bee were confined to six officers in a single squad, primarily from Reyna-Sanchez, the leader of the group, and another officer, Mark Meftah.

In one exchange early in the pandemic, on April 4, Reyna-Sanchez told his officers that public health officials had asked them to check on a resident believed to have contracted COVID-19.

Officer Meftah responded:“My plan if I had to go there was to knock as lightly as humanly possible on the door, give him an eighth of a second to answer, and then leave.”

Reyna-Sanchez then wrote: “The public health dr suggested we go there, knock loud and step back when he came to the door!!! Nice plan bitch!!! I’ll be right behind u!!!”

Reyna-Sanchez later updated his team.

“So the outbreak monkey on L st has been contacted by eoc and is code 4… evidently they just called him until he answered and they’re good with that.”

Reyna-Sanchez, who was hired in 1999 and promoted to sergeant in 2007, did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.

He did receive them, however. Meftah mistakenly sent a text message intended for the sergeant to a Sacramento Bee reporter who had contacted him earlier in the day.

“Dude left a voice mail, too,” Meftah wrote. He questioned what someone was “trying to do (to) us/you???”

“Well, that’s awkward…” he wrote to The Bee reporter seconds later.

When The Bee described three of the messages to him, Meftah replied: “Ah, well, I’ve no comment on that. None of that sounds familiar.” He then said the date of one exchange was from more than a year ago.

“I’m going to terminate our conversation as I’m preparing to drive,” he said. He did not reply to additional questions.

Eureka Police Department Chief Steve Watson said he was unaware of the messages until The Bee requested a comment from him Tuesday. Watson said he has launched a formal investigation into the texts.

“It does deeply concern me,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday evening, adding that it jeopardized the progress the department has made in the community since he took over in 2017. “The public’s trust is our lifeblood. It’s not something, genuinely, that we take lightly.”

He said the texts were “disappointing and discouraging and inappropriate.”

“There’s no excuse if these comments were made,” Watson said. “We need to investigate it, look into it and take appropriate action just to make sure that the values of this department to our community are projected in everything that we do.”

Experts and former law enforcement officials who reviewed the messages said their demeaning nature and encouragement of violence are signs of deeper cultural problems in the small North Coast department — especially because they’re coming from a supervisor.

“These officers are doing their own organization a terrific disservice,” said Kevin Robinson, a retired assistant chief from the Phoenix Police Department who teaches criminal justice at Arizona State University. He called the banter “reckless” and a signal of a “pervasive attitude.”

“Chalk it off to whatever you want to chalk it off to,” Robinson said, “but the bottom line is they’re disrespecting people that depend on them, that they are sworn to protect and to represent.”

CRUEL COMMENTS ABOUT PROTESTERS AND WOMEN

The messages reviewed by The Bee include several obscene references to women, including one officer who wrote to another, “I’ll find you a prime hooker once per week.”

When one officer-in-training was added to their squad, Reyna-Sanchez was displeased.

“Seems the powers that be feel E Watch is too green to correct any issues that she has, and she had a lot of issues… so they’re putting her on days so that all u veteran officers can unf--- her…” Reyna-Sanchez wrote.

He then responded to another officer’s comment about the assignment: “Clearly they don’t see what I see… bitch be twice as big as u!!”

 

The officers also showed disdain for local protesters. In one of the group chats The Bee reviewed from January 2020, officers discussed a response to a planned demonstration.

“There’s supposed to be a protest at the courthouse from 1700 to 1900 for the ‘war in Iran’ … confirm u all have ur riot gear?? Gas mask, helmet, and dude handle,” Reyna-Sanchez wrote.

“I’ll beat those f------ hippies down,” Officer Meftah wrote to the group.

“Why don’t I have a side handle??” Reyna-Sanchez wrote, referring to a police baton.

In another conversation, they discussed a woman who was known to shoplift and who also had a history of mental illness. She was walking in a section of town.

“Get pics of her rack!!” Reyna-Sanchez wrote.

“Saggy ol udders,” Meftah replied.

“Have her stand on her head!!” Reyna-Sanchez said.

“I’d still look, obviously,” Meftah replied.

JOKES ABOUT PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

A Humboldt County grand jury issued a damaging report in 2019 that was critical of the department’s enforcement against people experiencing homelessness, nearly half of whom had been homeless for more than three years and 70% of whom had a history of drug or alcohol abuse.

“This does not paint a portrait of a population that would respond well to citations, arrests, and constantly being moved from place to place,” jurors wrote. “From our interviews with the homeless and people who work with the homeless, law enforcement efforts only create more exhaustion, mental anguish, and the need for drugs to mask those states.”

The city denied that its officers could do anything differently. Chief Watson said in an official response to jurors that “together we must find innovative and humane approaches leading to real, lasting solutions.”

Six months after that report was published, his officers continued their series of cruel jokes, many of them involving people with mental illness.

Last spring, Reyna-Sanchez made jokes about homeless people having sex in public spaces. “Oh boy!! Trog sex!!!”

“Hey sex is sex, you put that s--- on front of me ima watch,” Officer Meftah responded. “And i did, for like 10 minutes…”

On July 4, officers were dispatched to a call involving a woman. “She sounds hot!!! Reyna-Sanchez wrote. “In this cold chill, I bet she got some hard nipples!!!”

Meftah identified the woman, who police knew to have a mental illness.

“Just like Campbell soup… mmmm, mmmm, good!!!” Reyna-Sanchez wrote.

“If she’s going to insist I going topless, she needs to get her some 44DDs!!! And not the 38 longs she has!!! They look like beaver tails!!”

Last summer, on the heels of marches for police reform, Reyna-Sanchez was unsympathetic when officers shot and killed a man in a Eureka backyard. Officers and mental health specialists had spent more than three hours trying to negotiate with a suicidal veteran who suffered from PTSD

Negotiations broke down. The man pointed the gun at the police, and four officers fired.

Reyna-Sanchez, who was not working at the time of the shooting, sent a note to his squad that said the suspect “is at st joes with several extra holes in him!!”

Investigators said the shooting was justified.

MESSAGES HARM GOOD POLICE WORK, EXPERTS SAY

The messages were troubling but not surprising, said Philip Stinson, a professor at Bowling Green State University who studies police use of force and law enforcement culture.

Banter like that captured in the Eureka text messages shows the rare, unvarnished reality of how some officers view their work, said Stinson, who used to work for a police department himself.

“This is the police subculture of that agency unmasked,” Stinson said. “This is the officers in their natural habitat, talking amongst themselves. It’s an us-versus-them mentality. It’s a sexualized environment where policing is violent. It’s ugly.”

The messages also show an environment resistant to change in the city, which for years has also struggled with a swell of drug abuse, homelessness and overwhelmed social services.

One officer in the Eureka texts appeared to ridicule efforts to ban chokeholds and other deadly restraints against suspects. In one text exchange, an officer shared a YouTube video about “control techniques” being barred in New York City. “(Gov. Gavin) Newsom is already j---- off with excitement hoping he can get it here I’m sure,” another officer wrote.

“At the end of the day, whether somebody was joking or not joking, or intended to to be offensive or not, we have to be responsible and accountable for our words and our actions,” Watson said. “And we have to be careful that everything that we do on and off duty reflects in a positive light, that reinforces trust with our community.”

Robinson, the former chief in Phoenix, said comments like those in the text messages are detrimental to the good work the vast majority of law enforcement officers are trying to do — especially given the recent reckoning facing law enforcement.

He said, based on the text messages, they need a cultural change.

“It’s not going to stop,” Robinson said, “until people realize for sure that they are going to be disciplined for it, if not lose their jobs.”

Sacramento Bee
BY JASON POHL
MARCH 17, 2021

[Santa Clara County] Palo Alto Fire Department confronts recruiting challenge as female firefighters opt out

City Council vows to spend more money, ramp up effort to increase diversity in agency

Blog Note: This article refers to a Santa Clara County grand jury report

When Catherine Capriles was hired by the Palo Alto Fire Department in 1994, she was part of a group of 10 incoming firefighters: five men and five women.

Capriles, who retired as deputy chief in 2018, said that during the earlier part of her tenure, Palo Alto had a higher proportion of women than any department in the state, going to as high as 13 women at its apex. The chief who hired her, Ruben Grijalva, prioritized recruitment of women and minorities, she said. The class before hers, she noted, had seven women and three men.

"He made it a priority," Capriles told this news organization. "He fought for and made specific decisions toward recruiting minorities and women."

Today, the Palo Alto Fire Department is one of many across the nation that is struggling — and failing — to recruit female firefighters. According to a recent Santa Clara County civil grand jury report — titled "Why aren't there more female firefighters?" — Palo Alto had 90 male firefighters and just five female firefighters in 2019. After the retirement of a female captain last December and staffing reductions due to budget cuts, the city now has 81 firefighters, four of whom are women, Fire Chief Geo Blackshire said Monday during the City Council's discussion of the report.

The grand jury surveyed four fire agencies in the county — the Palo Alto Fire Department, the Mountain View Fire Department, the San Jose Fire Department and Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District — and issued a set of recommendations to remove or reduce existing barriers for female firefighters, including the creation of a recruiting plan tailored toward growing the number of female firefighters. Of the agencies surveyed, only Mountain View has such a recruiting plan — a key reason for why 10% of its department consists of female firefighters, compared to just 2% in San Jose, 7% in Santa Clara County and 5% in Palo Alto, according to the report.

The report also recommends that the fire departments adopt mentoring programs to guide potential recruits, new recruits and current firefighters. These programs should include visits to local schools and organizations to demonstrate encouragement. The surveyed fire agencies were also advised to create plans to address the "unique challenges in the gender-inclusive work culture for women in the setting of a fire department."

While workplace diversity is broadly accepted as an inherently good quality, the grand jury highlights the special attributes that women bring to firefighting services. Most calls that the Fire Department receives, the report notes, are for medical situations or transports. The jury cited numerous calls in which the presence of a female firefighter brought a "calming effect to medical situations."

A Palo Alto Fire Department firefighter scales down a building with a life-size dummy during a training exercise. Courtesy Palo Alto Fire Department.

"For example, having a female present during childbirth labor or after a sexual assault was seen as beneficial," the report states. "Another example includes an instance where a naked, elderly woman fell in the shower and the victim's relief was noticeable as her shoulders relaxed upon seeing a female firefighter enter the room. The female firefighter entered first and covered her up."

But for Palo Alto and many other cities across the county, the effort to recruit women has fallen well off the mark. The grand jury found that only 4% of the firefighters in the county are women. It attributed the dwindling number to insufficient female recruitment, gender bias and a "lack of inclusivity" within the fire agencies.

"I feel the intent was always there and there was always a lot of asking, 'What should we do? What should we do?' But it just felt like it didn't get followed through on," said Jennifer Krusing, who retired as a captain from the Palo Alto Fire Department in 2019.

Like other agencies, the department has had to contend with a shrunken pool of female applicants. The grand jury found that only 3% of the 1,994 applicants who applied to be firefighters in the four surveyed departments in 2016 were women. Some of that is a function of inadequate recruiting, the jury concluded.

Krusing agreed. She noted that when she and a colleague attended a regional girls camp — a prime opportunity to teach high school girls about firefighting — several years the city had declined to pay them for the time they spent there. The city also hasn't gone as far as it could have in reaching out to students, college athletes and other potential recruits.

"I feel like they didn't want to do what it took to start this," Krusing said. "You've got to start early. You've got to be more proactive."

Budget challenges had often hampered the city's ability to recruit women, Capriles said. The department often did not have dedicated funding for recruitment and was forced to tap into its hiring budget. Mountain View, which Capriles said had no women in its Fire Department in 1994, recognized this challenge and allocated $30,000 for the recruitment of women. Palo Alto, by contrast, has not taken that step.

"In the past, they have made that decision," Capriles said, referring to spending more on recruitment. "In the last 10 years, they have not made that decision."

While insufficient recruitment is one barrier to increasing the number of women, harassment is another. The grand jury report notes that while every department has a nondiscrimination policy, "the unique work setting of a fire department coupled with the low number of women in fire service presents out-of-the ordinary workplace challenges because they live together and rely on each other during life-or-death situations."

"These unique features of this workplace make it more challenging for women to report discrimination and/or harassment," the report states.

While Capriles said the vast majority of her colleagues were "awesome people" and — in some cases — "friends for life," harassment was a persistent issue for female firefighters. In most cases, she said, the person making an inappropriate comment didn't realize that he said something sexist until someone pointed it out to them.

The sexism can take subtle forms. Capriles recalled an instance in which a training instructor paused to apologize to her — the only woman in the class — before proceeding to tell an inappropriate story. During a break, she confronted the instructor about his behavior, which she called "embarrassing and inappropriate," and noted that the only reason he offered an apology was because she was in the room, and not because the story was offensive.

While most incidents don't get reported to the Human Resources Department, when they do, the follow-up can be underwhelming. Krusing recalled one episode when a firefighter made an inappropriate comment around her and a colleague overheard the comment and filed a grievance on Krusing's behalf, alleging harassment. Over the course of the investigation, Krusing said she was asked by Human Resources what she would like the city to do.

"It was a really hard question because I felt like any kind of a behavior coming from above to punish him for those things would be counterproductive," she said. "I wanted to know they supported me but I felt like what I really, really wanted to happen was for my peers, for the captains and their peers, to have my back and say, 'That's not cool, that's not the way we treat people.'"

In responding to the grand jury, the city cited its anti-harassment policy and its belief that "prevention is the best tool for the elimination of harassment."

"Steps to prevent and correct workplace harassment include affirmatively raising the subject through training and written policy, expressing strong disapproval of inappropriate conduct, and developing appropriate sanctions."

The city also notes in its response that reports of unwelcome conduct are "thoroughly investigated and, where founded, appropriate disciplinary action up to and including termination will be taken."

At the same time, both Krusing and Capriles said that most incidents of this sort go unreported.

"You have to remember, women in the fire services are in different positions than someone who works in an office. You live with these guys, you put your life in their hands and there are certain things you have decided to put up with," Capriles said, referring to casual harassment. "When you get into the fire service, there is a decision you make to put up with that."

The sexist comments and innuendos were a major reason that Capriles said she had decided to retire five years earlier than initially planned.

"Sometimes you get to a point where you say, 'Life is too short,'" Capriles said.

In addressing the grand jury's findings, Palo Alto leaders touted on Monday the city's progress on recent changes to support female firefighters, including adding gender-separated locker rooms and removing a requirement that all job applicants be licensed paramedics or EMTs — a requirement that the grand jury highlighted as a major barrier to female applicants. Capriles credited Blackshire, who became chief in 2019, for his attempts to bring more women in, including changing the application requirements several years ago.

At the same time, Blackshire and the council acknowledged Monday that it will take additional time, effort and money for the city to raise the number of female firefighters in the city's ranks. Recruiting girls to get interested in firefighting is, by nature, a long-term strategy. And because the department is currently under a hiring freeze, the revised application requirement will take years to have any tangible effect on department demographics.

'You have to remember, women in the fire services are in different positions than someone who works in an office.'

Blackshire said the department has made "tremendous efforts" to increase the applicant pool. But he also noted that the number of women in the department is now at its lowest level since he joined the department in 1997.

"We're looking to make more efforts in recruitment and education and awareness and outreach, which is really, really key," Blackshire told the council. "I also see it as a social issue, where we have to tell women when they're young girls … that firefighting is a career for them as well."

In its response to the grand jury, the city notes that it has already implemented four of the five applicable recommendations. These include developing a mentoring program, evaluating fire stations to make sure women are accommodated, approving a plan for a gender-inclusive workplace and issuing uniforms that are tailored for women firefighters. The city is also moving ahead with a plan to improve recruiting of female firefighters, though it does not expect to complete the plan by the grand jury's deadline of this June.

When it comes to gender-separated facilities, the city's response notes that six of Palo Alto's seven fire stations (all but the one on Stanford University's campus) have separated dorms, while five have separate restrooms with showers and four have separate locker rooms.

Yet accommodations still sometimes pose a problem for female firefighters. When the city was building its new Station 3 near Rinconada Park and firefighters had to temporarily relocate to a Geng Road building near the Baylands, that temporary station did not have separate facilities. Krusing said that when female firefighters brought up the lack of accommodations, one supervisor floated the idea of simply not sending women to that station (Krusing said the department did not follow through on that suggestion).

'We have to tell women when they're young girls … that firefighting is a career for them as well.'

The council vowed on Monday to support Blackshire's efforts to increase the number of women in the Fire Department and to provide him with a dedicated budget for the effort. Council members Alison Cormack and Greer Stone both said they would support spending more on recruiting women and touted the benefits of having more diversity in the Fire Department. Cormack noted that firefighters often meet people during "one of the worst days of their lives" and that the presence of a woman can be an advantage.

Stone said the city should follow Mountain View's example and set a goal of having at least 10% of the Fire Department be composed of women.

"I'm excited to see what we can come up with, as well as encouraging additional outreach within our own local school districts, at an early level, to really put it out there that this is a career for all genders and all people," Stone said.

Palos Alto On line/Palo Alto Weekly
by Gennady Sheyner
March 17, 2021

[Santa Clara County] San Jose leaders push back against bill to change VTA governance

Blog note: This article refers to several grand jury reports

San Jose councilmembers are pushing against a new state bill that would keep them off the county’s transit board.

AB 1091, introduced by Assemblymember Marc Berman,  would prohibit elected officials from serving on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) board. Instead, cities can appoint expert residents to represent their communities. San Jose would also see its representation on the board shrink.

Berman said changing VTA’s board structure will improve its governance. Even before the pandemic, VTA grappled with drops in ridership and a budget deficit.

“Three Civil Grand Jury Reports over the last seventeen years have identified the governance structure of VTA as a root cause of the agency’s poor performance,” Berman told San José Spotlight. “Transit riders, taxpayers and VTA staff deserve a board of directors that have the interest and ability to dedicate the time necessary to provide appropriate oversight and meet our region’s complex transportation needs.”

But city officials say cutting the number of San Jose board members is an issue of equity, especially since San Jose is the majority of ridership on VTA’s transit arm.

According to Ramses Madou with the San Jose department of transportation, almost 70% of riders in the county who board busses and light rails begin their journey in San Jose. Typically, these riders are disabled or cannot afford to travel by car, he said.

If the bill passes, each city would only get two board seats — non-elected officials appointed by the mayor — leaving San Jose with three fewer voting representatives than it has now.

“We see this (bill) as taking away the voice, the perspective and the representation of the most disadvantaged folks in the county and the folks who are actually using the transit system,” Madou said.

Under the proposed bill, each of the five county Board of Supervisors members would appoint a member. Supervisors could appoint more representatives from San Jose, but this is not guaranteed.

The Rules and Open Government Committee discussed flaws with Assembly Bill 1091 on March 17.

On Wednesday, a council committee that sets agendas for the City Council voted unanimously to ask the San Jose City Council to oppose the bill. The committee includes Vice Mayor Chappie Jones, Councilmembers Raul Peralez, Sylvia Arenas, David Cohen and Dev Davis.

The full council take up the issue on March 23.

Changing VTA’s governing board

After years of being bashed by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury for its governance, VTA hired an outside consultant to suggest ways to improve its 18-member board. The board contains 12 voting members and six alternates. Five of the 12 current voting members represent San Jose.

In December, the consultant made recommendations — which include adopting four-year board terms and eliminating alternate members — to the VTA’s Ad Hoc Board Enhancement Committee.

The committee debated the consultant’s suggestions Jan. 17. County supervisor Cindy Chavez said strong discussion about the board’s makeup arises every year because San Jose has “too much power,” which leaves smaller cities feeling left out of decision making.

Kicking out elected officials

Madou said barring elected officials from board positions may not be the right approach to fixing the problems. Elected officials can better connect transit issues with local policies than a resident not entrenched in the lawmaking process, he said. Madou added that residents have opportunities to voice their opinions through various VTA advisory committees.

Local transit advocate Monica Mallon said the agency should be more responsive to the community and riders, but she’s not sure a fully elected-official board or fully citizen board is the answer.

“I would be interested in the exploration of a mixed board with both elected officials and citizens,” Mallon said. “I think there is value in having elected officials on the board because of their direct connection to city and county government.”

Peralez strongly opposes the bill, adding Berman did not collaborate with San Jose.

“I think we need to send a strong message of opposition,” Peralez said. “This is not at all something that I think this city should be considering.”

Peralez said further conversation is needed to improve VTA governance. For example, Peralez said the city could talk with VTA about electing board members in the same way BART does.

Cohen, on the other hand, is still deciding.

“I’m a little bit unsure yet on opposing the bill because I’m not convinced that the current method of running the VTA board is working,” he said, noting that elected officials have to juggle other responsibilities. He said perhaps San Jose could propose ways to amend the bill.

Berman remains hopeful that the bill will create a more effective VTA board by July 2022.

“I would hope that this would be something that everyone — even current VTA board members that might have to give up a little personal political power in exchange for better governance — could agree with,” Berman said. “I look forward to engaging with the city of San Jose and Mayor (Sam) Liccardo on AB 1091 as we work towards our shared goal of improving public transportation in Santa Clara.”

San Jose Spotlight
Carly Wipf
March 18, 2021

 

What is the Siskiyou County Civil Grand Jury? Here are several things you should know

President of the Siskiyou County Chapter of California Civil Grand Juries Steven Thornburg, current jury foreperson Kelly Atchley and Siskiyou County Judge Karen Dixon talk about the grand jury and its responsibilities to the community.

You might have heard of the Siskiyou County Civil Grand Jury – but what exactly does it do?

Volunteers are currently being sought to serve on the 2021-2022 grand jury, which investigates various government offices and elected officials to ensure they work efficiently and effectively, and to hold them accountable.

The grand jury is funded each year by the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors.

Here are several things you should know about the grand jury.

Grand juries shine a light on local government

The jury consists of 19 people that hold the responsibility, as well as the authority, to investigate local government with the objective of reporting their findings and recommendations to the people.

The grand jury is required by law in the State of California, although it was put on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings from the 2019-20 report are expected to be released later this year.

President of the Siskiyou County Chapter of California Civil Grand Juries Steven Thornburg said serving on the jury is a way for local community members to hold agencies responsible for good governance.

Thornburg, current jury foreperson Kelly Atchley and Siskiyou County Judge Karen Dixon explained that the investigations can be positive in nature and shine a light on what they're doing correctly, or could investigate citizens' concerns or allegations of misconduct.

After being sworn in, jurors are provided with extensive training on performing their responsibilities, conducting investigations, and writing reports. The grand jury selects its own topics, which vary from year to year.

Grand juries investigate a variety of topics

Previous reports have included those on the Siskiyou County Veteran Services, the Siskiyou County Day Reporting Center, Yreka Police Department's facility, the Weed Community Center and the Siskiyou County Special Districts.

The grand jury can also investigate points of community concern, including the actions of local government and complaints that have never been resolved. The requirement is that the investigation and resolution must be of general benefit to the community.

Once the grand jury concludes a report, it may be issued to the agencies, the governing body and the public. The report must contain findings and recommendations.

People from all walks of life are wanted

“We want a variety of people with different life experiences with an open mind that feels that what they can bring to the Grand Jury will benefit others,” said Dixon.

Atchley said that the majority of people who serve on the Grand Jury come from those that live mainly off the I-5 corridor. She said they have worked hard to encourage folks from all over Siskiyou County, such as the Happy Camp and Dorris and Tulelake areas. She said having a wide group of folks representing the Grand Jury important thing to have on the Grand Jury.

She added that they have a juror from Happy Camp on the 2019-2020 jury, and their perspective and experience has proven to be invaluable.

Thornburg said one of the best jurors to serve was a carpenter by trade who at first wondered if he would be a good contributor. He said his vast knowledge of Siskiyou County, the way he worked well with others, and his interest in being on the grand jury proved to be invaluable.

“It's important to have voices from all walks of life,” he said.

Thornburg said it is vital to have members who are not trying to push an agenda and who understand each member has an equal voice and works well with others.

Alternates are also appointed, since "life does happen," Atchley said.

For instance, for the 2019-2020 grand jury did have to use alternatives due to some members getting ill, one quitting right away, and one juror passing away.

Thornburg said it is a positive process to be a part of.

Atchley said she enjoys getting together with a varied group of people who band together to identify issues that need to be delved into further, and work together to investigate them. She said what happens and is discussed in the grand jury, specifically in terms of cases, is strictly confidential. 

“For the rest of my life I can’t talk about it,” Atchley said.

What do I get out of the deal?

Thornburg said people come away with a better sense of how government works, both the good and the bad, and many times form new and lasting friendships with their fellow jurors.

Dixon, Thornburg and Atchley empathized that serving on the grand jury is a terrific way to understand local government and issues. People who serve also have a measure of satisfaction knowing that their efforts will be seen and potentially acted upon by elected officials and appointed officials.

“It’s more than a good idea ... It’s a legal requirement we have," Dixon said.

“It's great to see people come together for the common good,” he said.

“We want people that are open-minded and can work with others,” Atchley said.

Bill Choy
Siskiyou Daily News
March 22, 2021

Eyes on [San Mateo County] public defender office

 [San Mateo County] Civil grand jury suggests improvements, county providing audit ahead of contract talks

In the wake of a 2020 civil grand jury report recommending significant oversight and improvement to the county’s Private Defender Program, both the county and the organization are committed to changes and improving services.

“I think this is really a golden opportunity for us to take the feedback, take a serious look at what we can do better and ask for the contract and money to do it. We have no lack of motivation to do all the things that can be done. The current structure of the program does have limits, but we are hoping to expand those,” said Lisa Maguire, the chief defender of the Private Defender Program.

Established in 1968, the Private Defender Program, or PDP, provides indigent defense representation to all people facing charges from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. The report evaluated if recommendations from a 2015 civil grand jury report around improvements occurred in finances, operations, county oversight and legal representation. The 2020 report recommended increased county oversight on finances, improvements to PDP services and an independent review to evaluate the program and estimate costs to improve the PDP model.

San Mateo County contracts with the San Mateo County Bar Association, or SMCBA, to provide attorneys to defendants through the PDP program, which has a staff of 15 full-time employees, led by Maguire, who oversees operations and reports to the SMCBA board. Staff assigns cases to around 100 attorneys who are independent contractors.

San Mateo remains the only county in California with a population over 500,000 that does not have a county public defender’s office and instead contracts with an organization. Maguire doesn’t believe one model is better than the other and that both are effective for providing quality defense. She said the county’s model provides defense lawyers with more flexibility and control over their practices and convinces more lawyers to stay. Maguire predicted if San Mateo County moved to a county public defender office, it would likely reduce the number of lawyers available to DA’s Office levels but keep a similar workload.

“I do think that’s the model that will continue. I think that’s for good reason. It makes a lot of sense. It’s working, and there’s no reason it can’t continue to work and even improve,” Maguire said.

San Mateo County Manager Mike Callagy agreed, saying there was no evidence that any other program would do better than the PDP, and he believes there is good leadership in place. He did not express any interest in changing models, saying the current one is viable and works for the county and provides flexibility and freedom for attorneys.

Callagy said the county is currently evaluating a firm to lead an independent audit to evaluate the PDP program for potential changes. The county was slated to make a decision Friday if the firm is qualified. If picked, the county will negotiate a contract, leading to a much quicker timeline and process instead of reapplying for bids. Callagy said the firm specializes in reviews of defense program performance. No timetable or deadline is required for either side to finish the review. He expects any needed changes suggested to be in the new PDP contract later this summer to ensure a vigorous and balanced defense program.

“We are going to take a very hard look at any suggestions that they offer,” Callagy said.

Criticisms
Maguire said her program takes the grand jury criticisms seriously and is addressing issues around finances, resources and services, but didn’t agree with all of the report findings.

“There are certainly several areas of the report that I feel like don’t give an accurate picture in terms of the comparison between the work we do and the work the DA’s Office does,” Maguire said.

She said the criticism about a lack of oversight was misinterpreted, as the PDP does provide oversight monitoring for quality control but doesn’t interfere in the case.

“We don’t micromanage, and we don’t interfere. The clients are given a competent, dedicated criminal defense attorney who is doing criminal defense,” Maguire said.

Apples to oranges
Maguire and San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the differences between the DA’s Office budget and the PDP budget were like comparing apples to oranges. Both said it was due to the retirement benefits of numerous employees that the PDP does not have. According to the grand jury report, the DA’s Office budget is $45.2 million, and the PDP budget is $19.6 million, which was found to be concerning.

Wagstaffe said a significant portion of the budget is for salaries and benefits and is not used directly for court cases or proceedings. He cited that the PDP uses independent contractors and doesn’t pay salaries to support employees. The DA’s Office also has programs and expenses beyond just prosecution, like providing crime victims services. He did not believe the funding imbalance affects the legal process.

Maguire agreed, adding, “our money more directly goes to the service of our clients, while a lot of their money goes into running a big governmental agency.”

She said that there is a lot of change in communities, and public expectations for defense lawyers are higher than 15 years ago. People now expect lawyer services and knowledge around client background through mitigation reports, mental health diversion options and resentencing options for clients.

“We are definitely providing a lot more of those types of services, which are becoming more and more recognized as important in understanding big pictures instead of moving people through the system as just a case,” Maguire said.

Changes planned
To address problems, the PDP is hiring another staff attorney to help with tailored training and oversight for attorneys and is adding a social worker position to help bridge gaps in the system, help educate lawyers and reach out to community-based organizations. It hopes to expand services and contract terms to get earlier and longer representation for clients. Maguire said the county manager’s office was encouraged to learn of the staff additions. She hopes a contract extension would include more options and funding to add services.

The biggest benefit from expanding its services and budget would be representing clients at an earlier stage before the court arraignment when a defendant is advised of the charges against them and asked to enter a plea. It would allow the PDP to advise clients lost in the process and need legal help before arraignment.

“I think that the best thing that could come out of this is the ability to just expand the representation we can give them,” Maguire said.

Daily Journal
Curtis Driscoll
March 15, 2021

City, Police Accountability Commission respond to [Yolo County] grand jury critique

The city of Davis and its Police Accountability Commission offered mixed reactions to a Yolo County grand jury report from last fall that found shortcomings in how the PAC conducts its business.

City officials provided the responses in December to the grand jury, which posted them Monday on its county website.

At issue: whether the PAC — formed in late 2018 in response to a violent Picnic Day brawl between civilians and three plain-clothed police officers that occurred the year before — has fulfilled its mandate to address police accountability issues.

Much of the grand jury report focused on that April 2017 altercation, which triggered public outcry when it came to light that the Davis Police Department minimized the involved officers’ roles in the incident.

That in turn led to a police internal-affairs investigation and a revamped police oversight system that includes the 10-member PAC and the hiring of Michael Gennaco as the city’s independent police auditor.

The grand jury issued 11 findings stemming from its investigation, to which the city and PAC responded, addressing matters including police representation at PAC meetings, commissioner training on law-enforcement issues and the committee’s working relationship with the city and Gennaco.

1. The practice of excluding DPD leadership and officers from meetings of the Davis PAC limits candid dialogue between the PAC and the DPD.

City: Agree. See PAC response.

PAC: Agree. The PAC agreed on this practice based on concerns expressed by multiple people from the public and our commission liaisons. The PAC now has DPD staff come to meetings when discussions of police policy/practice are on the agenda.

2. The practice of excluding DPD leadership and officers from meetings of the PAC limits the PAC’s ability to obtain the specialized knowledge it needs to make recommendations to the City Council.

City: Disagree partially. The PAC does need technical expertise if they are expected to make technical recommendations, and the PAC does not regularly have police representation at every meeting. However, the commission is working to identify agenda items where law enforcement presence is necessary and beneficial, and is inviting representatives to those meetings for those specific items.

As for the police chief’s ability to attend meetings, the chief, along with other city staff, must balance a variety of meetings and other work obligations into schedules. Staff attempts to meet the requests for attendance at city-related meetings, schedule permitting.

This balances the need for technical expertise with the role of the PAC in reaching disenfranchised groups or individuals in the community, who may not be comfortable at a meeting with law enforcement present. Part of the reason for the PAC is to provide outreach to disenfranchised groups in the community.

PAC: Disagree partially.The PAC does not exclude DPD leadership from meetings and lists DPD participation on agendas, which are publicly posted. In the past, the PAC has wanted the chief to attend a number of meetings but there has been reluctance on his part. The PAC created a subcommittee to have regular meetings with the chief and his staff. One meeting was held.

There was agreement that the chief or his designee would attend PAC meetings as appropriate. This has occurred several times (see finding 1). The IPA also supplements the PAC’s understanding of DPD policy and procedure, although in a limited manner as he is not within DPD.

3. Sensitivity to a limited number of individuals has outweighed the claims of the larger community to benefit from hearing the insights and perspectives of the DPD as the PAC attempts to fulfill its responsibility to provide meaningful guidance to the Davis City Council with respect to police policies, procedures and practices.

City: Disagree partially. The PAC tends to attract individuals who are interested in police accountability, however it is not unusual for a small portion of the population to be actively involved in any city commission.

It is the Council’s role and responsibility, however, to take information from all sources, including commissions, and weigh all information appropriately, in order to make well-rounded decisions to benefit the community. Further PAC outreach and engagement with the broader Davis community to gauge community wide topics of interest and perceptions is strongly encouraged.

PAC: Disagree. We are unclear who the grand jury is referring to related to “the claims of the larger community.” The PAC has heard multiple specific requests for the police to not attend. We have not heard specific requests for the police to attend PAC meetings.

4. The PAC has not fulfilled its responsibility to provide annual written input to the city manager and the City Council on the effectiveness of the IPA.

City: Agree. The PAC discussed the IPA evaluation at their November meeting and completed an evaluation at their December meeting.

PAC: Agree. As a new committee, members have asked about the evaluation and have not gotten responses that led us to make this a priority.

5. During calendar year 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, the PAC did not coordinate with the IPA to identify and prioritize topics to be audited by the IPA.

City: Agree. In the original structure, it was thought that the IPA and the PAC would coordinate on topics to audit, however, that has not turned out to be the primary focus of either entity. Instead, the IPA is auditing complaints and bringing information to the PAC to advise them of trends, issues, and concerns. The City Council formally revised the PAC’s authorizing resolution in November 2020 to clarify the roles Council expects of the group.

The PAC refers to recommendations made by the Auditor earlier in 2020. Many of those recommendations require further review, and staff resources have been redirected since the spring to address COVID needs. The staff liaison is aware of the recommendations and will continue to work with the Police Department to determine whether/how to implement

PAC: Agree. The PAC did ask the IPA to confirm whether IPA recommendations have been implemented by the DPD. In the DPD report, it was noted that several recommendations were not fulfilled and the explanations provided were not complete. In the May 2020 meeting, the PAC asked the IPA and city staff to request further explanations from the chief. So far, no further explanations have been received.

6. As stated in its authorizing resolution, the PAC is to provide community-based police accountability by way of interactions with the public, the IPA, the DPD and others. The PAC’s responsibility to provide police accountability is not limited by the non-action of the Davis City Council at its July 30, 2019, meeting (declining to re-open the Picnic Day investigation at the PAC’s request).

City: The City Council has a number of advisory commissions that assist the Council with information gathering, public outreach and decision-making. The Council considers recommendations of all its commissions carefully, but ultimately, may not agree with every recommendation. That does not mean the recommendations or the process by which the recommendation was made and considered are not worthwhile.

The PAC exists in an advisory capacity to the City Council, but remains a resource for the community, regardless of the Council’s action on one recommendation. Further, the use of the terminology “non-action” by the City Council is misleading.

The City Council did take definitive action — to elect to not investigate further. This decision was reached in a public hearing and based on information and options presented by the PAC, a staff report, considerations presented by the IPA and after hearing public testimony.

PAC: Disagree. When PAC received a Picnic Day review by IPA and asked the Council to take action to reopen an investigation into the incorrect press release, the council declined. The PAC is unsure what else it can do because our authorizing resolution does not include investigatory privileges.

7. With IPA input, the PAC is charged with systematically reviewing DPD policies, procedures and training for topics to be audited by the IPA. To meet this obligation, the PAC is authorized to inquire into departures from DPD policy, procedure and planning during and following the Picnic Day 2017 incident, including the DPD press release of April 24, 2017, and the release of the edited dash-cam video on May 10, 2017.

City: Agree. The PAC was created in late 2018 in part because of the 2017 Picnic Day incident, after a lengthy community process, an enhanced auditor position, and changes to the Police Department’s policies. The PAC can inquire into the 2017 Picnic Day incident and to make recommendations to the Police Auditor and/or the City Council. The PAC is not, however, an investigatory body.

PAC: Disagree. Three pieces of information provided by the grand jury are different from pieces PAC heard at the time: that the dash-cam video was slowed down, that there were protocols related to congestion management that were not followed, that there was the ability to know who sent out the incorrect press release.

The DPD changed their policy regarding crisis press releases, now requiring that supervisors must review any crisis press communication prior to its release to the public. The PAC has agreed to review adherence to this policy after any further crisis DPD press release.

8. The PAC, with input from the IPA, is authorized to provide community-based police accountability by inquiring as to why the (outside) attorney investigators (probing the Picnic Day incident), working under the direction of the Davis city attorney, failed in following the procedures set out in the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights, which led to no DPD officer being held individually accountable for the inaccuracies in the April 24, 2017, press release.

City: Disagree. See PAC response.

PAC: Disagree.This finding appears to suggest that the PAC has investigatory privileges which it does not. It is a question that could be made to the IPA to clarify as it is under his scope of work.

9. PAC commissioners lack understanding of how internal affairs investigations are conducted, how findings based on such investigations are made, how (police accountability law) SB 1421 requests should be presented, and how the DPD responds to SB 1421 requests.

City: Agree partially. See PAC response.

PAC: Agree partially. The PAC is a citizen commission whose members have a variety of backgrounds and who represent the community. The group has access to utilize the IPA and the Davis Police Department for training and information.

10. The PAC, with input from the IPA, is authorized to provide community-based police accountability by inquiring into the DPD’s public misrepresentation of the decision-making process for the release of records under SB 1421. The DPD misrepresented in January 2019 that the Custodian of Public Records made the decision to refuse release of the Picnic Day 2017 investigation.

City: Disagree that there was misrepresentation on the part of the DPD

PAC: Disagree (See finding 6).

11. Because appointment to the PAC is limited to people who do not have law-enforcement backgrounds, training is critical for existing and incoming commissioners. For PAC commissioners to be justifiably perceived as knowledgeable on topics of police accountability, both by the public and by the DPD, commissioners require training in a wide variety of best practices for policing, including specific training in DPD police practices, policies and procedures.

City: Agree partially. The PAC is a citizen commission whose members have a variety of backgrounds and who represent the community. The group has access to utilize the IPA and the Davis Police Department for training and information. That said, their required monthly time commitment is two hours, with additional time as individual schedules permit. The PAC is also able to act as a conduit for community concern about policing, without technical training.

PAC: Disagree partially. To fulfill the training required, a commitment of more hours per month will be required of volunteer citizen commissioners and the city will be required to allocate time and funds to provide training. PAC should join the National Association for Citizen Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) to be kept up to date on best practices of policing and oversight.

Davis Enterprise
By Lauren Keene
March 9, 2021

[Santa Clara County] San Jose School District Denies Improper Lobbying Charges

Officials with San Jose's biggest school district denied charges they improperly hired lobbying firms to push a teacher housing proposal.

Blog note: This article refers to a Santa Clara County grand jury report

Officials with San Jose's biggest school district denied charges they improperly hired lobbying firms to push a teacher housing proposal—saying that at least one of the firms never lobbied for them at all, despite meeting with officials who would approve the plans.

The allegations stem from a Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report released late last year. The report found that San Jose Unified School District failed to disclose conflicts of interests and lobbying contracts related to a proposal to build affordable housing for teachers and staff.

In a special meeting on Tuesday, the school district's board rejected concerns that the contracts with two different firms working on the housing project had been inappropriate. But it agreed to provide more transparency around such agreements in the future.

Lobbying?

The firms that worked on the project are Schoennauer Company, LLC, a registered lobbyist with the city with experience in land-use law, and Snider Consulting.

"The contract we hired (Schoennauer) for, they were not lobbying," said SJUSD board president Brian Wheatley. "They were helping us navigate all the various rules and regulations both with the city and the county because we are educators."

A report from district staff said the grand jury's report was based on "unfounded opinion and irrelevant" and that some grand jury members "were fiery and appeared self-interested in reaching a specific outcome."

Schoennauer partner Erik Schoennauer met with San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo on at least two occasions to discuss the affordable housing project. Schoennauer, however, said he didn't lobby for the project during the meetings. Rather, he said, he met with Liccardo to ensure transparency between the city and district about the project.

The grand jury wanted to question how communication happened. The fact is, the district wants lots of communication to work in partnership with the city and community to develop staff housing," Schoennauer said.

The report also accused Snider Consulting founder Kelly Snider of not disclosing that her home sits yards away from a finalist site for the housing project. Snider and the district did not believe her house's proximity to a potential site was a conflict of interest and didn't believe that it had to be disclosed.

Along with the district, she said the grand jury report focused too much on how the district was communicating with the community instead of analyzing the affordable housing project.

The grand jury also found problems with the district's lobbying at the state level. In 2019, the district hired Ball/Frost Group, LLC, a Sacramento-based advocacy and legislative policy firm, according to the report. But the contract it signed with Ball/Frost wasn't made readily available to the public, and the district didn't clearly and fully disclose the work Ball/Frost was doing, the report found.

A Ball/Frost representative declined to comment.

Homes for teachers

The district believes the affordable housing project is needed, as teachers and staff have repeatedly told the public they are having difficulty buying a home in the high-price area.

The district is considering several sites in the area. Early discussions involved closing either Leland High School or Bret Harte Middle School to build housing, with each location hosting 75 to 325 units.

The project received considerable pushback from some residents concerned that it would decrease property values, and increase traffic and endanger pedestrians in the neighborhood. Opponents also believe it would cost taxpayers too much.

"My issue from the very beginning has been just a complete lack of professionalism in the handling of this and a continuous pattern of deception and lack of transparency," said Tobin Gilman, a parent of two former district students, who claimed the project made "no financial sense at all."

The project has been largely put on hold as the district focuses on returning to in-person learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to city officials. According to the project's website, teachers would be able to move into the affordable housing in three to five years.

Patch.com
San Jose Spotlight
Lloyd Alaban
March 10, 2021