Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
• 2014-2015
County of Santa Cruz Grand Jury Final Report 20142015 Photos by AnneMarie DeSoto
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 14 findings
F1
Page 26
The operations and activities of the Santa Cruz City Schools Parcel Tax Oversight Committee lack the transparency required for public oversight committees, including a website with posted meeting times and locations, agendas, minutes, and membership for the current year and prior historical records.
F2
Page 26
The Parcel Tax Oversight Committee has not complied with operating rules defined by the Board of Education with respect to quorum or length of term.
F3
Page 26
The Parcel Tax Oversight Committee has not consistently tracked the attendance or responded to continued absences of its appointed members.
F4
Page 26
The Parcel Tax Oversight Committee has not provided annual oversight reports in any consistent or predictable format accessible to the general public.
F5
Page 26
The lack of publicly available information regarding open positions on the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee leaves taxpayers who are not associated with Santa Cruz City Schools unaware of opportunities to serve on the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee.
F6
Page 26
For the 201314 school year (the first year of the new Measures I and J) the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee failed to meet, monitor expenditures and report to the community.
F7
Page 26
Neither the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee nor Santa Cruz City Schools has been able to verify that the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee has met its responsibility to monitor expenditures and report annually to the community.
F8
Page 26
Santa Cruz City Schools Board of Education has not defined the form that the annual report should take.
F9
Page 26
Administrative and clerical duties have been assigned to the counselors, counseling secretaries, and library staff, who are funded by parcel tax money. The use of parcel tax money to pay for administrative and clerical costs is contrary to the intent of the measure language.
F10
Page 26
Santa Cruz City Schools failed in its obligation to provide annual information regarding the allocation of parcel tax funds.
F11
Page 26
The Board of Education has failed to follow its own explicit commitments for the proportional allocation of parcel tax funds.
F12
Page 26
The Parcel Tax Oversight Committee, Board of Education Trustees, and Santa Cruz City Schools staff disagree concerning the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee’s role in making expenditure recommendations.
F13
Page 26
The Board of Education has failed to provide a formal charge to the members of the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee.
F14
Page 26
The Board of Education has failed to require the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee to comply with the Brown Act.
Recommendations 1
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R2Page 27The Santa Cruz City Schools website for the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee should include the Brown Act requirement, posted meeting times and locations, agendas, minutes, and membership, both for past and upcoming meetings. (F1,
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 133The Grand Jury concludes that Santa Cruz County jurisdictions are currently in compliance with state laws mandating diversion of organics from the landfill, but will no longer be in compliance with AB 1826 by the year 2020 or sooner, unless a largescale organics composting program is implemented. Given the uncertainty over the continued availability of the Monterey Regional Waste Management District’s pilot composting facility, an incounty composting facility is essential. The County Department of Public Works is taking appropriate steps to create this facility and include food waste recycling in its next franchise hauler contract, but needs the participation of other local jurisdictions to gain the necessary economies of scale. The city of Santa Cruz is on a parallel path to develop its own solution. The cities of Scotts Valley, Capitola, and Watsonville are waiting to evaluate the County’s plan. Municipal budgets are under tremendous pressure from many fronts, but unless AB 1826 is modified, each jurisdiction must find a way to comply with this composting mandate, regardless of cost. Public acceptance and changes in behavior, combined with creative and assertive political leadership, will be critical to the success of the program, and will require outreach, education, and an awareness of residents’ needs.
Commendations 5
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CM1 Page 28C1. The Grand Jury commends the Santa Cruz City Schools Board of Education for adding a mandate for a citizen oversight committee to the parcel tax measure language, although oversight was not required by state law. C2. The Grand Jury commends the current Santa Cruz City Schools administration and Parcel Tax Oversight Committee for having begun to address the longstanding deficiencies of the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee.
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CM2 Page 94C1. The Grand Jury commends Santa Cruz County, the Homeless Action Partnership, local jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations for their collaborative efforts to implement evidencebased programs and solutions, including the coordinated entry system, to relieve homelessness. C2. The Grand Jury commends local jurisdictions and nonprofit organizations for their ongoing collaborative efforts to fund and operate local emergency shelters.
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CM3 Page 135C1. The Grand Jury commends Santa Cruz County and the cities of Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Watsonville on meeting or exceeding diversion goals set forth by the State in AB 939, SB 1016, AB 341, and AB 1594, in many cases well before the target dates. C2. The Grand Jury commends Santa Cruz County and the city of Capitola for initiating pilot programs in composting food waste, and for continuing them despite the loss of permits to operate the programs at the Buena Vista Landfill.
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CM4 Page 176C1. The Grand Jury commends Santa Cruz Regional 911 for providing exemplary service in dispatching fire, police and EMS, and for working to establish a textto911 system. C2. The Grand Jury commends both Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District and Central Fire Protection District for creating the Cooperative Prevention Program. C3. The Grand Jury Commends Central Fire Protection District for creating a district policy for responding to Public Records Act requests.
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CM5 Page 213C1. We commend the SheriffCoroner and California Forensic Medical Group for providing expanded onsite detention facility medical services. Medical services, such as dental care, medical imaging, and other procedures are now provided more efficiently and without the need for costly transport to offsite medical facilities. C2. We commend the SheriffCoroner and California Forensic Medical Group for the provision of expanded medical services at the Rountree Men’s Medium Security Facility. Inmates with medical needs, who formerly could only be housed at the Main Jail, are now eligible for housing at the Rountree Men’s Medium Security Facility. C3. We commend the SheriffCoroner for implementation of the Prudent Care for Incarcerated Seniors program, which provides an increased level of care, or alternative custody arrangements, for inmates age 65 or older.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Santa Cruz City Elementary School District
School District