COLUMN: The grand experience of the [San Benito] Civil Grand Jury

If I had a penny for everyone who associated the Civil Grand Jury with a courtroom trial, I would be a very wealthy woman. Nobody seems happy to see the official organization on their doorstep for an unannounced inspection, and it never ceases to amaze me that even many elected officials do not know the occupation of the Civil Grand Jury.

Admittedly, until 22 years ago, I was just as uninformed until I responded to the court’s posting for applicants. Since that time, I have been empaneled by the presiding Judges, Sanders, Tobias and Rodrigues for a total of six fiscal year terms; four of those have been appointments as the Foreman. The first year, I held the position of Secretary, so I did a lot of listening and participated on the editorial team for the annual report that would be received by the leading officials who make important decisions about policy and funding.

It was fascinating to learn the jurisdiction of the panel whose purpose was to represent all the persons in the “We, the People” of the entirety of the County of San Benito and City of Hollister and San Juan Bautista. Here I am all these years later and the total population of San Benito County has increased exponentially to 65,000 people supported by scores of departments and agencies: law enforcement; safety departments such as water, fire, health, and airport and hospitals, add transportation districts and contracted providers such as ambulance services.

The school districts, parks and recreation areas are also within the purview of the Civil Grand Jury. As the Foreman, I had the responsibility to oversee the training of 19-members through research, reviews, interviews, inspections, and investigations of the many entities. Although the only single charge is to “look into the local prisons or jails” the broad spectrum gets an overview in cycles, some more often than others and in varying degrees of depth.

The purpose of action is to promote good governance by observing, noting findings, then making corresponding recommendations to the principals of the Board of Supervisors and City Council, and they have the duty to respond in writing within 90-days, to 1) “agree”, 2) “partially agree”, or 3) “disagree” with the jurors.

The high degree of confidentiality may be one of the reasons that the public is unaware of the important functions of the civil grand jury. The meetings are held in secret session, interviews conducted of one person at a time, and the witnesses are only known to the Grand Jury and never identified by name or rank. They are also admonished to not speak to anyone of the nature of the investigation or interviews, as a broken admonishment may be punishable by law.

As an arm of the Superior Court of California, the Grand Jury has subpoena powers to bring forth witnesses and may also receive written public complaints, or even grievances against local officials, by mail addressed to a private mailbox and may only be opened by the jury officers.  The Grand Jury has the legal relationship of the county counsel or even state attorney, and sometimes, malfeasances may be reported to the district attorney for prosecution.

In six terms, I have been involved with over 100 jurors armed with the power of the badge, to go about their work with due diligence in the business of The People. There have been positive Grand Jury achievements because of dedicated jurors, although there are some issues that take several terms to make the changes recommended by the panelists.

For instance, there were uncollected local fees and fines that totaled a million dollars that got the attention of the Grand Jury, and the old animal shelter was replaced, largely due to the repeated annual inspections of the facility. Outdated systems and technologies were inspected and replaced by newer and more efficient means.

The body of the jurors is comprised of individuals of all walks of life, various professions represented, and their diversity has been a unifying factor in the many friendships that continued beyond the term of appointment. The members come from varied geographies; some born and raised right here in Hollister, but many more from the San Jose and greater San Francisco Bay area as well as other states.

All cultures have been represented and each has a story of interest. Ranchers, accountants, technicians, and homemakers, doctors, lawyers, law enforcement professionals; many with advanced degrees, sales-force employees and actively engaged blue-collar workers have all taken a seat at the round table to participate by contributing in observing our local government in action, and the resulting improvements have been found by working together in seeking knowledge and offering positive solutions.

The members have access to staff to analyze budgets with line-item details and inquire about operations from the taxpayer’s perspective. Jurors become become educated about the terms of contracts, the scope of responsibility and write about those facts to promote good governance.

For instance …
The Grand Jury can also acknowledge positive aspects of the various departments and always seeks to learn about the distinct character of our growing ag-based community. There are many jurors who have enjoyed the adventure so much that they come back to continue their education by serving additional terms. These people are the history book and can carry their experience into a leadership role in guiding new members into the timeline of productivity.

While I have served a total of six years, this year’s term is blessed with the participation of John Lemos, who has served four years, former Foreman Bob Marden serves as current Pro-tem and other multi-term members include Michelle Gutierrez, Natalya Gallion, Cherie Toll, and Bill Healy.

There are many varied careers representing the badge from blue-collar to JD., MD. and PhD. and each individual member has equal voice and vote. Strangers become familiar and there is a true sense of camaraderie as politics are put aside to remain neutral and objective towards the good of all within our boundaries of jurisdiction and we are all happy to be here for the future of our community.

BenitoLink
By Roxy Montana
February 8, 2022
This Column was contributed by Civil Grand Jury Forman Roxy Montana, who has been on the San Benito County Civil Grand Jury for six years. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent BenitoLink or other affiliated contributors.