[San Joaquin County] Stockton city council to vote on policy to respond to ransom ware attacks

The policy, which experts say is a step in the right direction, was called for in a June grand jury report.

Stockton— A new policy on the agenda for Stockton city council members Tuesday hopes to better prepare the city for a possible ransomware attack. The two-page proposed ransomware attack response policy was an item called for by a June grand jury report.

The city's proposed policy provides steps for city officials to follow when a ransomware attack is detected which include notifying the city manager, attorney, council and law enforcement. Ransomware attacks are generally carried out by software designed to block access to a computer system or files until money is paid to the attacker. 

Megan Thomas, an associate professor at Stanislaus State's Department of Computer Sciences reviewed the proposed policy and says that while it is a step in the right direction, some pieces are missing.

"It was amusingly human-focused from my point of view, there was like nothing about the technical responses at all," Thomas said. "Any attempt to stop the attack has got to happen within 10 minutes, so by the time we're thinking of notifying people, you've either stopped it or you haven't, but it was interesting that they didn't even put that on the list."

According to Thomas, municipalities like Stockton face numerous threats in the digital age from ransomware attacks to phishing schemes. 

June's grand jury report addressed some of the threats adding that while Stockton lacks a formal policy on payment procedures in ransomware attacks, the city's large IT department places attacks and disaster preparedness at a high priority.

"Stockton is one of very few cities having license to use a cyber security tool integrating the City with the State of California’s Office of Emergency Services. Stockton’s IT Director meets weekly with other department heads, updating them on all matters related to cyber security," the report said. "Stockton met each of the cyber security expectations except for the presence of a documented internal policy and procedure for response to a ransomware attack. However, the City does have a Cybersecurity Response Book detailing response procedures for other cyber events."

Thomas says simple steps such as restricting who gets access to add software, regularly backing up systems to multiple locations, having strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication could help avoid attacks such as ransomware attacks.

She adds that municipalities often face a higher risk due to their large budgets and employees who sometimes lack cybersecurity knowledge.

"I am reassured to see that Stockton is thinking about this, and is actually bringing it to the attention of people like the city manager and the higher-ups because a lot of times folks like members of the city council don't think about this stuff until you know, it's already happened," Thomas said. "Whether it works or not, at least are trying, which is a step in the right direction to be proactive about these threats."

Council members are slated to vote on the policy and a response to the grand jury's report during their Tuesday meeting which opens to the public at 5:30 p.m. 

ABC10
Gabriel Porras
September 9, 2022

Can San Mateo County's water supply withstand a major earthquake? New report raises concerns

A newly released report from the San Mateo County Grand Jury is raising concerns about what happens to the water supply when a major earthquake hits.

The infamous San Andreas fault cuts a path right though San Mateo County and the San Gregorio Fault skirts the coast line[sic].

At Cal Water Bayshore, which provides water to San Mateo, South San Francisco, San Carlos and Cola the threat of an earthquake is always on managers minds.

"We want to reassure our customers that we're not taking a blind eye to this situation and we are preparing for it and practicing on an on-going basis and it's not just today - we have been doing this for quite some time," said Ross Moilan, a district manager for Cal Water Bayshore.

The grand jury found that many of the 15 water districts do not have enough backup water or fuel to keep the water moving for 72 hours after a quake.

"I think in various scenarios, we're from one to three days with backup supply. But, again as those days are going on - we're trying to make repairs get things place and hopefully restore normal supply," Moilan said.

For that scenario, Cal Water says they have backup plans from their other 23 districts around the state.

"We'll make the call and we'll start getting resources coming - resources will be people who can fix pipes, can operate pumps. They'll be bringing in portable power units that can power our pump stations," said Darin Duncan, Director of Field Operations for Cal Water.

Duncan says the agency is constantly retrofitting and implementing lessons learned from quakes like Loma Prieta.

"What we found on that one is that we had rigid connections on these million gallon tanks and as everything started oscillating the pipes would shear off and you can't control that and you lost all of your emergency storage."

So, Cal Water replaced 700 storage tank connections.

"Everyone of them has what we call a flexible expansion joint - either double ball or they look like flexistraws."

The report also said that San Mateo County Emergency Management should be coordinating with more water districts.

CBS San Francisco
Andria Borba
August 9, 2022

Turlock school board responds to [Stanislaus County civil] grand jury regarding Career Tech initiatives

The Turlock Unified School District has made a plan to better promote its Career Technical Education courses to all English learners as part of the district’s response to a report released by the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury in June.

By law, the district had 90 days to officially respond to the jury’s findings and recommendations regarding Career Technical Education. The response must include whether the district agrees or disagrees with the recommendations with accompanying explanations.

According to Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Heidi Lawler, former Director of CTE and Program Equity Tami Truax and current director John Acha worked alongside school administrators and data systems staff to gather the data requested immediately after the jury’s report was released. Acha presented the findings and the proposed response to the Board prior to their unanimous vote.

“We're excited to share with you this report, and I say excited because this is what I enjoy most about my job: Identifying the great things that TUSD is doing already, as well as instilling change… We always need to evolve and we always have ways to improve and I appreciate the Civil Grand Jury,” Acha said.

Acha began by sharing that the district currently offers over 40 CTE courses with 31 teachers teaching them. After taking a closer look at the current state of the programs, Acha and the research team came to the conclusion that TUSD should agree with 8 of the 14 findings and recommendations.

One of the first topics listed by the SCCGJ that Acha suggest the district agree with was the fact that all English Language Learners in the district have the ability to enroll in CTE course. While that is the case, Acha and the team also agreed with the recommendation that the district can do a better job at promoting the courses to all students, including English learners. This recommendation also correlates with the finding regarding participation, as Acha agreed with the jury that enrollment tends to vary by schools and districts in Stanislaus County.

“[It’s} something we want to look into,” Acha told the Board. “Why is that? What is it that one site may be doing better versus another or what could have caused that? It’s good information to focus on.”

Acha and the team also acknowledged the jury’s finding that CTE completion rate amongst English learners is fairly low. According to data presented to the Board, the CTE course completion rate amongst English learners at Turlock High was only 10% in 2018 and 2019. At Pitman High, there was a 5% completion rate.

“My goal as the Director of CTE and Program Equity is to increase our pathway completion rates, which are called New Career Readiness rates,” Acha said.

Acha shared similar sentiments to the jury’s finding regarding graduation rates at continuation schools in Stanislaus County. Acha explained that while graduation rates varied dramatically by campus, Turlock’s Roselawn High had one of the higher rates in the county. Nevertheless, Acha believes there is always room for improvement.

Amid the long list of agreements, Acha did have some disagreements regarding the jury’s findings and recommendations.

Staying on the topic of continuation schools, Acha and his team partially disagreed with the finding that TUSD offers limited CTE programs to continuation students.

“We disagree partially here as we already as a district are incorporating some of the recommendations,” Acha said. “We already have multiple CTE courses available. At the continuation high schools, it's difficult sometimes with smaller staff just like it would be for a very smaller school, and that is a challenge, but it’s nothing you can't overcome or continue to work on.”

Another disagreement that came about was the jury’s finding that schedule conflicts limit English learners’ participation in CTE programs.

“Coming from my previous job building the master schedule at Pitman High School, I know the work that I did to reduce and limit the amount of complex issues for all students,” Acha said. “Absolutely I want every student to take every class they possibly can, but it's not possible. And it's not limited to English learners. At some point, there may just not be a way to make it work.”

Acha added that the Aeries software can usually assist in resolving schedule conflicts and that there is already an increased effort to decrease conflicts for English learners.

The SCCGJ also listed in their report that there could be eased financial burdens on students interested and participating in CTE courses, a finding that Acha and the team partially disagreed with as current policies and practices are being implemented to remove this barrier for TUSD students. There was a similar partial disagreement as it related to necessary technology. Acha explained that the devices all students are provided with can be compatible with over 130 languages, but acknowledged that steps to access those tools could be better promoted and taught.

All other findings and recommendations released by the SCCGJ were neither agreed or disagreed with as TUSD has already implemented the changes or have already motioned to make the recommended changes before the end of the current calendar year.

Now that the Board has approved the response, a CTE Task Force will be put together for this school year. The Task Force will conduct a comprehensive review of SCCGJ report with counseling and admin teams at Turlock, Pitman and Roselawn High and ultimately develop action plans to address the jury’s findings and implement recommendations.

Turlock Journal
Christopher Correa
September 9, 2022

EDHCSD at odds with [El Dorado County] grand jury

El Dorado Hills Community Services District board members accused the El Dorado County Grand Jury of subpar performance in a draft of its formal response to an investigation regarding the CSD’s management of Landscape and Lighting Assessment Districts.

“…the district expresses its dismay at the slipshod manner in which the grand jury conducted and concluded its investigation,” the 16-page letter reads. The term “strategically forced ignorance” is being suggested as a possible edit. “Both the oral testimony and the documentation provided by the district demonstrated the inaccuracy of many of the inquiries made by the grand jury during its investigation.”

Released June 30, the grand jury report focused on calculation of assessment amounts, the appeals process, rental income credits and possible conflicts of interest between the CSD and LLADs.

“This is a work of fiction,” declared board member Sean Hansen, calling the report “obnoxious and egregiously wrong.” Though the CSD disagrees with 10 of the report’s 13 findings, Hansen admits two are interesting. “For example, LLADs sharing in revenue for field rental programming … it’s a good idea,” he conceded.

The other finding the CSD approved of involved the impact of outsourced contract services on LLAD assessments to which the letter noted could be in the favor of the LLAD members. The CSD agreed all information concerning LLADs is not consolidated on the CSD’s webpage for LLADs.

Hansen took exception to the jury’s reference to conflicts of interest. “This definition by the grand jury is fiction,” he reiterated. “They made it up. There’s a disagreement, not a conflict of interest.”

In addition, the letter attests to the destruction of records relating to the investigation less than a month following the issuance of the report. “Most distressing of all, however, is the admission by the current grand jury foreperson, Marisa Nickles, in an email to District General Manager Kevin Loewen dated July 17, that ‘[a]ll records related to the 2021-22 grand jury investigations have been destroyed,’” the letter revealed.

“What the statute says is that a request can be made for all non-privileged materials on which the grand jury relied in rendering its report,” noted CSD legal counsel David Tyra, who pointed out that there is no prohibition in the code against the destruction of records. “The time period from the date of the report to the recognition in communication to GM Loewen that stated that the records had been destroyed — that was a less than 30-day time period. That seemed odd.”

Board member Noelle Mattock voiced concerns regarding the report’s disputation of standard practices used by districts across the state.

“It’s not just a cavalier brush at us,” she insisted. “Every other district within the county uses the same process. Every other district throughout the state is using this process … we are doing what 99% of the rest of special districts and others do.

“If we’re being called out for errors in the county’s data then every other special district needs to be called out that’s doing these assessment districts as well,” she continued. “So everybody else is failing.”

As to the inaccuracies filed by the CSD, Loewen referred to hours spent verifying the county tax roll given to the assessment engineer, citing outdated information. “The hard part is we don’t know what the mechanism is for us to change the county’s information,” he said. “Not to say we live and die by it but that’s what we utilize, assuming that it’s accurate. We pay for it. Nonetheless, if there’s an error we’ll always rectify it with the homeowner or we’ll have to absorb it.”

Although several recommendations were rejected, more than half were approved and either already implemented or on track for a future date, including defined calculations, improvement lists, boundary maps, rental income credits and added financial transparency.

Loewen has also promised to revive the advisory committee, which failed from lack of community participation in 2018.

“I really respect and appreciate the hard work that the grand jury does,” said Hansen. “Like us, it’s a volunteer position. I thank you all for the hard work that you put into this. But there’s a lot of big issues in this report.”

Final edits to the draft letter were tabled to a special meeting, tentatively set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14. The meeting will be posted on the CSD website and the public is welcome to attend.

Village Life
Sel Richard
September 15, 2022

Ventura County [Grand Jury] urges water providers to improve cybersecurity in wake of attacks

The Ventura County Grand Jury is recommending that local water providers upgrade their cybersecurity in the wake of cyberattacks against seven of them in the last five years.

The 2021-22 grand jury investigated the county's public – not private – water providers and concluded "there is considerable opportunity for improvements of cybersecurity policies and procedures," a report issued in May says.

The jury said that of the 14 water providers it interviewed, seven had "experienced some form of cyberattack within the last five years, ranging from successful phishing attacks to ransomware."

The attacks exploited cyber vulnerabilities such as an attacker's familiarity with the network, vulnerability of connected devices or poor access controls, the report says.

The document does not identify the seven providers or provide more details of the attacks.

Such attacks pose "a serious threat to the public drinking water supply," the report says.

For instance, the study notes, there were two well publicized attempts last year by hackers to poison water supplies in Oldmar, Florida and the San Francisco Bay area.

"The grand jury investigation addressed the vulnerability of Ventura County water providers to similar cyberattacks, which could disrupt clean water availability and/or provider business operations," the report says.

Keith Frost, foreman of the 2022-23 grand jury, said in an email Thursday that he cannot discuss the report.

"Grand jury members cannot comment on the investigation or the drafting of the report due to confidentiality provisions" of the state penal code, he said.

'Complex network'

The report says that according to the EPA, there are 64 community water systems that supply drinking water to Ventura County residents.

About 98% of the county's water is supplied by the 25 largest systems, including the Oxnard Water Department, Ventura Water, Ventura County Waterworks District No. 8, whose board of directors is the Simi Valley City Council, Cal American Water and the Thousand Oaks Water Department, according to the report.

Cyber espionage: 'No country presents a broader threat,' FBI director says of China

More than half of the water delivered to Southern California homes and businesses is imported from Northern California by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California through the State Water Project and from the Colorado River, the report says.

The MWD allocates a portion of the water to Ventura County. Two wholesale water providers, Calleguas Municipal Water District and United Water Conservation District, are primarily responsible for distribution of the imported water to the county's communities, according to the report.

"The grand jury found that Ventura County relies on a complex network of public and private water wholesalers and retailers," the report says.

The jury's investigation concentrated on the public providers who supply 76% of the county's water users, the study says.

The group examined two primary areas of cyber vulnerability in the water sector: the information technology used to bill consumers and record usage, and the operational technology, which controls the chemical treatment, filtration, storage and distribution of a provider's water.

The investigation focused on the cyber vulnerable component of operational technology, the supervisory control and data acquisition system, which remotely manages it.

"Malicious actors can take advantage of network vulnerabilities and/or weak access controls in either IT or OT," the report says.

Findings and recommendations

Based on its investigation, the jury made a number of findings:

•  Cybersecurity of both IT and SCADA systems is essential to safe and effective delivery of water.
•   Levels of cybersecurity for IT and SCADA systems are inconsistent among the investigated water providers.
•   Levels of cybersecurity training are also inconsistent.
•   Levels and frequency of cybersecurity assessments are inconsistent too.
•   Knowledge of cyber incident reporting requirements is inadequate among the investigated water providers.
•   There is insufficient information exchanged among the interviewed water providers regarding cybersecurity threats, attacks, protections and remedies.
•   There is insufficient awareness among public water providers of available federal and state expert cybersecurity services and support for their systems.
•   Some of the investigated water providers’ business recovery plans did not address recovery from a cyber incident.

The jury also made recommendations for the water providers it investigated:

• They should regularly assess their cybersecurity, addressing both IT and SCADA consistent with recommended best practices of the EPA and Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.
•  They should regularly share and exchange information regarding cybersecurity threats, attacks, protections and remedies, and provide training, using such forums as the Association of Water Agencies Ventura County.
•  They should use free federal and state expert assistance to enhance cybersecurity.
•   They should regularly conduct cybersecurity awareness training.
•   They should address recovery from cybersecurity incidents in their business recovery plans.
•   They should establish Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency-compliant internal protocols for reporting cyber incidents.

"Although the grand jury did not interview all of Ventura County water providers, the grand jury recommendations could serve as a model to strengthen the cybersecurity of all," the report says.

Required responses

Pursuant to the penal code, recipients of the grand jury's report are required to inform the jury whether they agree with the report's findings. They must also report how they propose to address, or have addressed, the report's recommendations.

Responses to the jury so far include Thousand Oaks, whose public works department said the city has implemented five of the six recommendations, including requiring all employees to attend and pass cybersecurity training.

"The city has (also) implemented regular random phishing attack tests for staff," the reply says.

The city says it's working on enacting the other recommendation to address recovery from cybersecurity incidents in its business recovery plan.

Schools targeted: Two Ventura County school districts affected by cyber attack

The Triunfo Water District, which supplies water to more than 30,000 people in east Ventura County, said in its response that it "has not experienced a cybersecurity event and informs its IT vendor, Frontier Technology Inc., of any suspicious activity in a timely manner."

It says it has enacted three of the recommendations and plans to carry out the other three.

The Ventura County Public Works Agency and the Oxnard Public Works Department said in their responses that they've implemented all the recommendations.

Camarillo said it has put into practice five of the recommendations and will implement the other one, establishing an internal protocol for reporting cyber incidents.

The Camrosa Water District, based in Camarillo, has implemented five of the six recommendations. It says it has to further analyze the other recommendation to share and exchange information about cybersecurity on public forums, which it doesn't currently do.

Ventura Star
By Mike Harris
September 12, 2022

Anaheim Pushes Back on [Orange County] Grand Jury Allegations

The City of Anaheim will respond this week to a grand jury report that found the city’s handling of the $320 million Angel Stadium deal was rushed, lacked transparency, and betrayed constituents.

A 4–2 vote by the city council Aug. 23 gave staff the approval it needed to send a letter (pdf) to the Orange County Grand Jury addressing recommendations made in “The Big A Lack of Transparency,” a reference to the stadium’s nickname, report released in June.

In Anaheim’s response, City Manager James Vanderpool pushed back against several findings about transparency and the alleged violation of state land act regulations.

The multi-year negotiations to buy the stadium and surrounding land for $320 million were fraught with controversies and fell apart in May. The Anaheim City Council voided the sale after allegations of possible back-door dealings surfaced in an FBI affidavit.

According to the affidavit, former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu was accused of giving insider information to the baseball team in an effort to earn a substantial campaign donation. Sidhu resigned as mayor in April and has not been charged with a crime.

And this week, Angels baseball team owner Arte Moreno announced he was exploring a sale of the team.

In its response to the grand jury report, Anaheim disagreed that it violated the “spirit” of California’s Brown Act, an open meeting law that addresses, among other actions, how city councils can discuss real estate negotiations and payments.

“The City met all Brown Act requirements for the regularly scheduled 2013 meeting,” the city manager wrote. The city also said that the actions of an entirely different city council and staff made nearly a decade ago had no bearing on the recent sale agreement with the Angels.

Anaheim also disagreed with the grand jury’s finding that appointing Sidhu to the team negotiating the stadium deal was unusual. The Brown Act allows them to appoint elected officials to real estate negotiations, according to the letter.

Vanderpool said he also found it “unusual” for the grand jury to suggest the city should appoint more than one council representative to any negotiating committee. Adding more elected officials would further politicize the matter.

The city agreed, however, that more briefings with the city council would have provided more awareness to the public about some of the details and progress of the stadium sale negotiations.

A two-week notice was issued about a special city council meeting to consider an agreement for the stadium sale and made the draft agreement available for public review, Vanderpool wrote.

The city disagreed with a report finding that said it failed to proactively promote public participation by not conducting community workshops or other opportunities to engage the community. The city held two informational meetings about the sale, according to Vanderpool’s letter.

Anaheim also disagreed with allegations about violating the state’s Surplus Land Act that requires the land to first be offered to affordable housing developers. The state’s Department of Housing and Community Development issued a notice of violation to city attorneys in December 2021 but reached a settlement with the city this year.

“The truth is that [Housing and Community Development] and the City had a dispute as to whether the [Surplus Land Act] was violated or not. And rather than fight that battle in court, HCD and the City were able to reach a compromised settlement,” Vanderpool wrote.

Anaheim will require that affordable housing remain a part of any future redevelopment of the stadium property and a 15 percent set-aside of affordable housing units for very low-, low- and moderate-income households, according to the response.

The city will also make any future transactions regarding the stadium public for at least 30 days before the city council takes action.

City councilmen Jose Moreno and Avelino Valencia declined to support the response. Moreno said he did not agree with the wording in the response and Valencia said he had reservations because he was not on the council when the events occurred.

Councilman Jose Diaz supported the staff’s effort to answer the grand jury.

“I respect the role of the Orange County Grand Jury, but I also respect the time city staff put into the response,” Diaz said. “This is not a political statement. This is just a response to the grand jury.”

Epoch Times
Jill McLaughlin
August 24, 2022

[Kern County] Grand Jury’s report cites Cal City woes

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

SUSD board disputes nearly half of SJ [San Joaquin] grand jury findings

The Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to accept their formal response to the San Joaquin County Grand Jury report disputing nearly half of the grand jury’s findings at the Aug. 23 board meeting. 

The board or district disagrees disputes or “will not comply” with 23 of the 50 findings in the grand jury report showing financial mismanagement, poor business practices and a lack of transparency. Trustees AngelAnn Flores and Maria Mendez voted no.

Just before the vote, Flores said being a minority vote on the board has rendered her unable to do her duly elected job. She said she played no part in the board’s response and encouraged the community to contact Judge Michael Coughlan — who the district’s response is addressed to — and the San Joaquin County Superior Court.

“We did not follow protocols … We did not go through the due protocol process for hiring our CBO (Chief Business Officer Marcus Battle). We did not go through the due process of hiring directors. We did not receive public input in a lot of the business that this district has done,” Flores said. “This grand jury (report) is valid. I thank the community for coming, speaking up and having the courage to speak on your behalf.” 

The formal response comes after the board made a commitment to the community to hold town halls and to participate in public discussion about the report. After trustees remained silent at an Aug. 4 town hall filled with concerned citizens, Board President Cecilia Mendez said, “No town halls. We’re not having any more town halls right now,” at the Aug. 16 special board meeting, ending any hopes for a two-way conversation before the district’s formal response was prepared. 

There was no talk of any further town halls at the Aug. 23 board meeting. 

Stockton Unified has been allotted more than $241 million in one-time federal COVID-relief funds. The June grand jury report states that Stockton Unified has no master plan that shows how these, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds are or will be spent, and the Business Services Department is unable to provide data and accounting for ESSER expenditures.

The state’s Financial Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) is midway through an AB139 Extraordinary Audit of Stockton Unified to determine fraud, misappropriation of funds or other illegal fiscal practices. The San Joaquin County Office of Education hired FCMAT in response to the school district’s projected deficit of at least $30 million by 2024. 

In response to four findings addressing Stockton Unified’s budgeting and deficit woes, the Board’s response letter states: “The District disagrees with this Finding.” No additional explanation is provided. 

A tale told before

If the board’s response seems familiar, it's because it is. 

Just a year ago, a 2021 grand jury report directed at Stockton Unified found that the district’s Board of Trustees had failed as district leaders and will likely continue to do so. In their response, the board declined to implement many of the recommendations and said the civil grand jury “ignored the weight of evidence, and that it instead has generally chosen to support the views of a disgruntled minority.” 

Recordnet.com
Ben Irwin – The Record
August 24, 2022

Stockton Unified trustees vote to cancel town halls on [San Joaquin] grand jury report

Activists are now calling for some Stockton Unified School District trustees to resign.

STOCKTON, Calif. — In a 5-2 vote during their special board meeting Tuesday, Stockton Unified School District trustees moved to suspend any public town hall meetings about this summer's scathing grand jury report, which found mismanagement and a lack of transparency at Stockton’s largest school district.

The vote followed nearly 20 minutes of discussion among board members and one person who filed a public comment card on the item.

In early August, the school district announced a two-hour long town hall meeting allowing members of the public to address board members regarding the grand jury report for up to three minutes.

The move to create the town hall was an action called upon by community members such as recent Stockton Early College Academy graduate and critic of the district’s board, David Sengthay.

“I was disappointed but not surprised,” Sengthay said following Tuesday's vote. “They were unable to take the criticism well and I think that their move to cancel any further town halls was, in fact, a way to prevent more negative press and to prevent that sort of publicity around the school district.”

The June grand jury report found poor business practices, an inadequate duty of care, and a lack of transparency at the district are pushing it towards a $30 million budget shortfall by the 2024 fiscal year.

The report said the state's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team has been brought in to conduct an audit of the financial issues faced by SUSD to avoid a potential state-ordered takeover by the San Joaquin County Office of Education.

SUSD has until Sept. 15 to submit a formal response to the grand jury.

Sengthay says by canceling any future town hall meetings on the report, the school district, also California’s 13th largest, is perpetuating issues outlined in the report.

“The decision to vote on these town halls was done during a special board meeting, which means it wasn't publicized well, and it was done during work hours -- at 1 p.m.,” Sengthay said. “The town hall was definitely a way for the public to get involved and stay engaged and now we're losing that sort of aspect."

Board president Cecilia Mendez made the motion to cancel any future town hall meetings saying the district should first formulate a response to the report and then allow the community to speak on the drafted response during the board’s next regular meeting, before the board votes to approve or revise the response.

The motion was approved by trustees Alicia Rico, Ray Zulueta, Scot McBrian and Zachary Avelar.

“No town halls, we’re not going to have any more town halls right now,” Cecelia Mendez said during Tuesday’s meeting. “We have to finish to respond to the grand jury, we need to do this, you know we have to do this."

Trustee Rico said if more town hall meetings were held, she would decline to participate due to a lack of respect from community members.

"I hear the video, the audio from the last town hall you guys had, it was nasty. There is no respect for people," Rico said. "We're not doing nothing against them. By the way, they come to the meetings and start saying a lot of things, this is not a community that we need. We need community to resolve these issues, not to make those issues worse."

Trustees Maria Mendez and AngelAnn Flores voted against the motion, citing calls from community members who requested the town halls and to discuss the report with board members before a response is drafted.

“This is not very transparent and not very respectful to the community voice,” Flores said during Tuesday's meeting. “By taking this vote the way we are in the motion for this vote, is in clear disrespect to the results of the grand jury report. This is exactly what they called us out on.”

In a statement to ABC10, SUSD Interim Superintendent Traci Miller said in light of the board's decision, she will begin hosting her own public meetings across the district.

“I will be hosting meetings with the public called Community Conversations. I am anticipating having fruitful discussions on matters of the school district,” the statement said. "I plan to host at the school district and in each of the 7 areas of the district. I am willing to put in the work to make improvements where needed.”

Following the Tuesday vote, Sengthay and other activists are calling for the five board members who voted in favor of canceling the town hall meetings to resign.

"We had some board trustees ridicule the public for only demanding transparency and respect saying it was too much," Sengthay said. "It's ridiculous for a board trustee to go public and say that we don't deserve them as a community when it's in fact the community that voted them in."

An online petition calling for the resignation of Trustees Cecilia Mendez, Rico, Zulueta, McBrian and Avelar has gained over 160 signatures in less than a day.

McBrian, Avelar, Flores and Maria Mendez's seats on the board are all up for election in November.

The district's legal consultant Jack Lipton said he believes the district's response to the grand jury report will be ready for consideration at the board's next meeting on Aug. 23.

ABC10 - KXTV
Gabriel Porras
August 18, 2022

[Lake County] GJ: Inconsistencies in the chain of custody procedures at Coroner’s Office

Jury report also cites issues with response times

Lakeport— The Civil Grand Jury Final Report included a review of the Lake County Sheriff’s responsibilities as coroner and contractual obligations of the mortuary. The report found that there were inconsistencies in the chain of custody procedures and enforcement of response times, giving the Sheriff’s department 60 days and the Board of Supervisors 90 days to respond to their findings.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Coroner Office is located at 1220 Martin St. in Lakeport and serves the entirety of Lake County including the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake. Responsibilities of the Sheriff-Coroner include determining the cause of death, investigation of necessary mortalities, notifying next of kin as well as performing autopsies. Although the Sheriff assumes the role of coroner during administrative hours, the Grand Jury stated “During the hours from 4:30pm to 8 am, coroner duties are performed by the Sheriff Lieutenant/Deputy Coroner who serves as the Chief Deputy Coroner and oversees the day-to-day operation and routinely reports to the sheriff. Each of the Lake County sheriff deputies serves as deputy coroners.” Deputy coroner responsibilities include reporting and documentation, collaboration with other agencies and contacting the mortuary for removal of remains. The Sheriff’s Office also contracts a part time physician who conducts autopsies one day each week at the primary contracted mortuary.

According to the Grand Jury “The current 2021–2022 budget for the Sheriff-Coroner contract is $10,330,672. The current contract does not have an expiration date and was automatically renewed, despite the general governmental practice of having a five year limit.” This was one of the issues cited with the Grand Jury suggesting “That the Sheriff-Coroner review the contract and RFP (request for proposal) every five years.”

As part of their research the Grand Jury discovered “that a resident had to wait with her deceased loved one for three hours before the mortuary arrived to retrieve the body. Meanwhile, the Deputy Sheriff remained outside in his patrol vehicle.” The Jury found that this was a violation of the contract noting, “The agreement for mortuary services line item six states, “The mortuary shall respond, when dispatched, within 30 to 45 minutes but in no event shall mortuaries’ response time exceed 60 minutes.” Moving forward the Jury suggests stricter enforcement of the response requirement in the mortuary contract.

The Grand Jury also found that “The Lake County Sheriff–Coroner’s office does not have a formal chain-of-custody procedure for release of a body to the mortuary.” This practice helps keeps accountability and transparency. The Grand Jury recommends “That the Lake County Sheriff-Coroner’s office implement a chain- of-custody process for the movement of remains that includes a signature, printed name, date, and time.”

The full Grand Jury report on the Sheriff/Coroner as well as other final reports are available on the Lake County website lakecountyca.gov.

Lake County Record Bee
Nikki Carboni
August 19, 2022