Kern County Grand Jury • 2021-2022

Report: City of Delano

Published: December 15, 2021 13 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 5 findings

F1
Residents of Delano would be better represented if the City of Delano converted from At-Large City Council representation to District Based City Council representation. Because of the adverse effect of de facto segregation, this would ensure that all demographics of the city have equal representation. It would give each district the opportunity to elect someone living in his or her district.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Within the next five years, the Delano City Council should convert to a District Based City Council representation. (Finding 1)
F2
The current website link to the ZOOM Delano City Council webinar, on the last page of the Agenda makes it difficult to locate, especially for people with limited internet ability.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The Delano City Council ZOOM hyper-link on the website Agenda page should immediately be moved from the last page to the first page. (Finding 2)
F3
Delano is well within its right not to have in-person attendance at City Council meetings. This practice, however, disenfranchises those without internet access and technical expertise.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
To benefit citizens who do not have internet access, the Delano City Council should resume in-person meetings, in addition to ZOOM, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control Guidelines, i.e., mask wearing and social distancing. (Finding 3)
F4
Delano has made an admirable effort at being transparent, via their website. Unfortunately, the Delano City Council has missed the mark in providing a Citizens’ Review Committee for Measure U spending. The Committee has not met since 2012—this is a violation of the Measure U Ballot initiative.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
In order to comply with Measure U, the Delano City Council should immediately advertise for and empanel candidates for the Measure U Citizens Review Committee. The City Council should ensure that meetings are held yearly. (Finding 4)
F5
This crossroad Delano currently finds itself at is a tenuous one. Varying ideologies on how a city should be run exists between the City Council and city officials. This threatens to stall the progress Delano has made. The City Council and city officials must bridge the gap of their divide in order to maintain the progress and development the city has produced in recent years and ensure that future growth is not stunted. COMMENTS: The Grand Jury would like to thank the city of Delano and all who provided interviews and vital documentation for this report.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The Delano City Council and city officials must bridge the gap of their ideological differences. In order to improve communication and relations amongst them, the Delano City Council and city officials should initiate team-building meetings quarterly, where they can establish a positive working relationship. (Finding 5) NOTES: • The City of Delano should post a copy of this report where it will be available for public review. • Persons wishing to receive an email notification of newly released reports may sign up at: www.kerncounty.com/grandjury • Present and past Kern County Grand Jury Final Reports and Responses can be accessed on the Kern County Grand Jury website: www.kerncounty.com/grandjury RESPONSES ARE REQUIRED PURSUANT TO CAL. PENAL CODE § 933, SUBD. (C) AND 933.05 WITHIN 90 DAYS TO: PRESIDING JUDGE KERN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 1415 TRUXTUN AVENUE, SUITE 212 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301  TRUXTUN AVENUE, SUITE 600 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301 Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Cal. Penal Code § 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury.

Comments 3

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Delano City