Lassen County Grand Jury
2023-2024
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Findings & Recommendations
12 findings
F1:
It is clear that the City of Susanville has positioned itself for the challenges of homelessness and is staying ahead of the problems.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
Lassen County Board of Supervisors should form a committee and hold quarterly collaborative meetings (if not already occurring), to include Lassen County Housing, Lassen County Health & Human Services representatives, Fish & Game, California Highway Patrol (CHP), Lassen County Sheriff, Susanville Police Department, Susanville Parks & Recreation, County and City Supervisor representatives and concerned / affected citizens, with reports to appropriate local media.
F8:
Lack of local press coverage (i.e., printed newspaper) or news outlet (broadcast news), limits communication to the public regarding current status of county business.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
The Chief Administrative Officer should work with the Lassen County Board of Supervisors to budget for, seek, and hire a Public Information Officer (PIO) to report on a regular basis to the public, so the public is more informed and can elect their representatives with necessary knowledge in hand.
F9:
County government has failed to attract sufficient qualified persons and prospective officeholders to both fill the available positions and present a choice for the voters. This is not restricted to the Office of the Auditor-Controller.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9:
The Board of Supervisors should develop a comprehensive written plan to find and entice qualified persons to run for office.
F10:
The process of appointment by the Board of Supervisors for the Auditor-Controller vacant seat was unsatisfactory given that the Office of the Auditor-Controller is a technically challenging and professionally demanding position. The Civil Grand Jury has found that the appointment process in 2020 resulted in the appointment of a candidate incapable of handling a looming software transition of a vital personnel and payroll system.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10:
The obvious option is to recommend conducting a special election, however, that is barred by California Government Code. Short of a legislative remedy, the Civil Grand Jury can find no effective recommendation for improvement.
F11:
In 2022, there were nine months left before the installment of new county officers, yet the Board of Supervisors was slow and ineffective in its effort to recruit a new Auditor-Controller, leading to a hasty decision for appointment.
Related Recommendations (1)
R11:
The Board of Supervisors should engage in contingency planning for this scenario (finding
F12:
County employees charged with keeping track of both county funds and State and Federal dollars are sorely in need of training and professional development. 37
Related Recommendations (1)
R12:
The Chief Administrative Officer should mandate annual continuing education and training for all county staff that work with or handle funds and/or accounts, to include management of State and 38 Federal grants. Enforce attendance and test for comprehension. Initiate HR actions as required. The Chief Administrative Officer should routinely assure the Board of Supervisors that this is carried out.
F13:
The Civil Grand Jury recognizes that the deficiencies noted in the external single audits for the past eight years, generally involve accounting methods required for Federal grants (accrual basis) being different from the perfectly adequate methods used for decades (cash basis) in the accounting of funds generally, and failures in various county departments to recognize this difference.
Related Recommendations (1)
R13:
The Board of Supervisors should provide the Auditor-Controller’s Office with resources to hire and train a compliance auditor, trained to find compliance issues before they show up in the Annual Single Audit.
F14:
While problems with the transition from outdated accounting software to the new Munis software has been bumpy and wasteful, the effort has been stabilized and is on-track to full implementation by July 2024.
Related Recommendations (1)
R14:
The Civil Grand Jury would like to recommend that an award be given to Ms. Cardenas for her unrelenting service to the County of Lassen to get the Auditor-Controller’s Office back on track and have a clean slate for the 2027 elected official that takes her place! If this transition is successful, this would call for an award of all IT employees involved in this effort as well!
F15:
The Civil Grand Jury found no written succession plan in the Office of the Auditor-Controller. When the incumbent Wemple left office in 2020 for retirement, there was no one to fill the void. Appointed Auditor-Controller Morgan left in early 2023 for health reasons. Therefore, the statutory remedy of appointing a qualified officeholder was only partly successful, resulting ultimately in a vacant ballot in 2022, followed by a vacant office in 2023.
Related Recommendations (1)
R15:
The Board of Supervisors should direct the Chief Administrative Officer to request each elected county official to come up with a written succession plan as well as written professional development plans. These may be published in employee policies. The Board of Supervisors should consider the question of requiring the Chief Administrative Officer to do a similar process for all non-elected county departments.
F16:
The results of the advisory votes on County Measures T & U by a margin of three to one, show that the voters want to elect their Auditor, and do not deem to trust that selection to the Lassen County Board of Supervisors. Moreover, the voters desire that the offices of Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector remain vital, separate, and independent parts of county government.
Related Recommendations (1)
R16:
Based on the results of Measures T and U in the 2024 election, the Board of Supervisors should respect the decision and will of the voters. The Board of Supervisors should request the County Clerk to hold separate elective races for the Offices of Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector for the June 2026 election. The office staffs should be prepared to separate as directed by the current incumbent Cardenas. The incumbent Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector will leave office in January 2027, which means two separate county elected offices will be up for election.
F17:
Public office is a public trust. When Auditor-Controller Wemple was re-elected to office in 2018, she had entered a four-year compact with the voters. Wemple let The People of Lassen County down by her early vacating of the trust the voters placed in her to fulfill that oath.
Related Recommendations (1)
R17:
The Civil Grand Jury has no actionable recommendation for Finding F17.
F18:
The Civil Grand Jury found it hard to find some information on county websites, especially organizational charts to lead us to certain points of contact for further information.
Related Recommendations (1)
R18:
The Chief Administrative Officer should ensure that detailed organizational charts (with names and titles of each position) for the full County Government, as well as each Department/Office, are developed and published on the County website; as well as ensure they are updated and re-published whenever there are changes.
Additional Recommendations
7
Not linked to specific findings.
R2:
The 2024-2025 Civil Grand Jury should follow up regarding use of grant funds for the homeless.
R3:
The County should hire or create a media liaison or Public Information Officer (PIO) to communicate between government agencies and the general public.
R4:
The City and the County should continue to establish ordinances to enforce camping regulations on public property.
R5:
The City and the County should establish a joint committee with Caltrans, California Fish and Game and other regulatory agencies to monitor the Susan River for camping and protection of the environment of the river and any contaminations.
R6:
The City and the County should continue enforcement of ordinances already established. 14
R7:
The 2024 - 2025 Civil Grand Jury should continue to monitor the enforcement of camping along the Susan River. Addendum/References (on following pages) 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Report of the Audit and Finance Committee On the Matter of the Office of Lassen County Auditor-Controller Reason For Investigation Grand Jury Initiation
R19:
Future Civil Grand Juries should visit ALL elected and non-elected offices for an assessment of those operations, whether good or bad.