California City —
Instability in city leadership, which has contributed to expensive legal
problems, and a lack of communication with residents are among the problems
with California City government outlined in a 2021-2022 Kern County Grand Jury
report.
On Tuesday, City Manager
Doug Dunford presented the city’s response to the report’s recommendations for
improvement.
“I think this Council’s
been pretty conscientious. We really tried to implement polices to protect the
city, because, at the end of the day, we don’t want any more lawsuits,” Mayor
Jeanie O’Laughlin said. “We are committed to trying to do the right thing and
try to move the city forward.”
The report was the result
of a complaint received from a resident, which detailed 46 areas of concern,
according to the released report.
The Grand Jury
investigated the complaint through interviews with Cal City officials and
residents, and studied City Council agendas, minutes, financial statements and
previous Grand Jury reports.
While many of the concerns
could be readily addressed, according to the report, there remained 10 findings
of problems within the city and nine recommendations for addressing them.
The top of the report’s
findings regards instability in city management, where departments are led by
interim managers and there is frequent turnover.
“To describe Cal City’s
leadership as being in ‘crisis mode’ is an understatement,” the report states
in its first finding. “The City of California City’s leadership must be
stabilized with qualified department heads for Cal City to survive. The
practice of filling leadership positions with interim staff is not sufficient
for long-term good governance.”
Cal City was led by an
interim city manager for nine months, until Dunford began, May 1. All other
department heads, with the exception of Fire Chief Jeremy Kosick, are interim
positions or vacant.
The city is actively
recruiting for these positions but was unable to fill them by the Sept. 30
deadline in the report, Dunford said, due to the employment shortage.
The city has taken steps
by hiring interim Public Works Director and Human Resources Director, and is
interviewing Police Chief candidates, on Monday.
To aid in communication
with the public, the report recommends scheduling quarterly town hall meetings,
by Sept. 30.
“Unfortunately, we are
playing catch-up with a lot of the issues and trying to get our budget moving
forward,” Dunford said. “That’s one reason why we’re not having town hall
meetings, but we’ll schedule those afterward.”
Two recommendations
regarded training for City Council. The first called for training in the Prop.
218 legislation, which regards setting taxes and fees. The second recommended an
ethics course in human resources, including state and federal labor laws.
Dunford replied that such
training is planned for after the November election, in order to ensure that
all Council members receive the same instruction.
The report found that the
city’s “water line replacement program can only be described as derelict and
incompetent. Previous City Officials have continually passed the buck. The
‘buck’ needs to stop somewhere.”
To correct this, the
report recommended hiring an outside contractor, by June 30, 2023, to finish
water line replacements, something Dunford said is in process, releasing bids,
this month, to get a number of projects moving forward.
The report also criticized
the city’s financial state, with unaudited books, and recommended the city’s
books be organized and prepared for financial audit at the end of each fiscal
year.
Dunford replied that the
city’s audits have been caught up to 2020-2021 and the 2021-2022 audit is due,
next month.
The Grand Jury found
issues with the city-owned Tierra Del Sol Golf Course, stating it “may be an
unrealistic dream,” due to debt and insufficient revenue to sustain it.
The report recommended a
feasibility study for the golf course, by March 1, 2023, to determine adequate
greens fees to support it, as well as whether private sponsorships or
government grants are available. If the course is not on an upward trend, by
March 2024, the city should prepare to lease, sell or otherwise divest itself
of the facility.
The city is engaging a
firm for a citywide user fee study to update fees and make sure they meet
actual costs, Dunford said. Any decision on the future of the golf course will
wait until the full financial picture is available.
The report also
recommended, by the end of the year, the city contract with a private agency
for human resources and personnel matters for advisement on employment and
termination practices.
The city has already
contracted with Beauchire Consulting for all of its human resources issues, and
has labor attorneys retained for termination practices, Dunford said.
Antelope Valley Press
August 28, 2022
Allison Gatlin
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