Score: 0
(2/1/2)
Sonoma County Grand Jury
• 2010-2011
whAt we don’t know Could hurt us the need for a whistleblower Program in sonoma County
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
Sonoma County offices follow state law by posting the State Attorney General’s hotline number on employee bulletin boards.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Every governmental unit: county, city, school board or special district should encourage employees and citizens alike to report suspected waste, fraud or abuse issues to a central county reporting location. This local whistleblower hotline should be administered by the Civil Grand Jury or the Auditor-Controller’s office to provide anonymity and assurance that investigations will be thorough and impartial for any government entity in Sonoma County. Why would the Grand Jury want the County of Sonoma to provide this service and include cities and other government entities? We suggest this for the greater good of the citizens!
F2
Many of the larger counties and several cities in California have created their own whistleblower programs. Most are provided only for their own employees.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
When a Sonoma County central whistleblower program and administrator is established, every governmental unit should provide clear, easily accessible information about the program and 24- hour hotline on their websites, in their employee training and as a notice on employee bulletin boards.
F3
There is no central administrator in Sonoma County to report evidence of waste, fraud and abuse among the multitude of local governmental organizations and to ensure that a fair and confidential investigation takes place.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The county budget for 2011/2012 and forward, include the cost of a commercial whistleblower hotline service (est. less than $15,000/ yr), either as part of the operating budget of the Civil Grand Jury or the office of the Auditor / Controller.
F4
The cost to implement a whistleblower program applicable to all governmental units in Sonoma County would be modest and initially focused on publicizing contact information and educating employees and citizens about its availability.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The designated office for Sonoma County should provide an annual report to the public on the whistleblower program including such information as the total number of whistleblower complaints received, the number of complaints that were formally investigated, and the dollar value (if applicable) that was recovered. REQUIRED RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE QUESTIONS IN
Additional Recommendations 3
These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.
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R5Do you believe that a local twenty-four hour hot line, additional assurance of confidentiality and summary annual reports to the citizens would be of substantial value when managing increasingly scarce governmental resources? ___ Yes ___ No
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R6Given time and adequate description of a proposed structure and process, would you consider formally adopting a resolution to participate in a countywide whistleblower program administered by either the Grand Jury or the County Auditor-Controller office? ____ Yes ____ No
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R7Comments: _____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________________________________________ By For 48
Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
No Responses Found 3
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office
Sonoma County District Attorney
Elected County Office
Sonoma County Sheriff
Elected County Office