Kern County Grand Jury • 2023-2024

Report: Kern River Valley Public Cemetery District

Published: May 23, 2024 15 pages
View Original PDF

Findings and Recommendations 15 findings

F1
The District would function more effectively with an engaged five-member board.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Recruit at least three qualified residents of the District to submit applications to the BOS by September 1, 2024, enabling them to fill the Board of Trustees vacant seat. (Finding 1)
F2
The Board’s bi-monthly scheduled meetings are insufficient to conduct business in a timely manner and cause agendas to be excessively long.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Schedule board meetings monthly to stay current on issues and keep agendas at a reasonable length, starting with the September 2024 Board Meeting. (Finding 2)
F3
The absence of board meeting minutes has caused a lack of transparency to the community they serve.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
By September 1, 2024, include previous board meeting minutes on the current agenda for approval by the Board, and to be posted on the website. (Finding 3)
F4
Failure of some Trustees to remain current on required training causes the District to be non-compliant.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Ensure that Board Trustees become current with required training no later than September 1, 2024. (Finding 4)
F5
The Board has been negligent in securing and overseeing personnel to maintain financial audits current, causing the District to become delinquent in mandated County and State filings.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
By September 1, 2024, develop a plan to keep District financial audits current and filed with the County and State, as required by law. (Finding 5)
F6
The Policies and Procedures generated from the CSDA template are not specific enough to the District and could cause misinterpretation by the Board.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Review, update, and approve District Policies and Procedures by December 31, 2024. (Finding 6)
F7
The Grand Jury finds the District is in violation of their Nepotism Policy 3126.3, causing widespread concern.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
By December 31, 2024, restructure the District’s organization to align with the District’s Policies and Procedures, especially regarding the section on Nepotism. (Finding 7)
F8
Without oversight of payroll, the potential for fraud exists. This could create public distrust.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
Establish a procedure to verify and approve hours worked by staff before submission to the third party payroll provider. This should be in place by September 1, 2024. (Finding 8)
F9
The District’s administrative office is currently understaffed. This is causing serious delinquencies of administrative duties including financial audits, board meeting minutes, and website updates.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
Restructure its budget to allow for adequate office staffing to become and remain current on all administrative duties by September 1, 2024. (Findings 9 and 10)
F10
The budget excess of approximately $15,000, for each of the past two FYs, as reported in the District’s adopted 2023-2024 Operation and Maintenance Expense Distribution Budget, could be allocated for additional staffing.
Related Recommendations (2)
R12
Recruit and hire additional groundskeeping personnel by September 1, 2024. (Findings 10 and 13)
R13
Connect to Cal Water for irrigation of the Cemetery, and adjust the budget to fund the expense, by December 31, 2024. (Findings 10 and 14)
F11
Poorly designed office space does not accommodate interaction with the public. The board does not face the public, hindering communication. The client consultation area lacks privacy and is not comfortable for families.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10
By December 31, 2024, reconfigure the office to combine the board room with the client consultation area so the Board can interact with the public, and client consultations are separated from the daily workstations. (Finding 11)
F12
The District’s website is difficult to locate by name, and the absence of Board Trustee contact information causes a lack of transparency.
Related Recommendations (1)
R11
Bring its website into compliance with CA SB929, and make it searchable by the District’s name, not its acronym, by September 1, 2024 (Finding 12)
F13
Due to the intermittent availability of no-cost labor to the District, the upkeep of the grounds is not consistent.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
Utilizing Cal Water is an affordable option to the Cemetery’s irrigation requirements. According to Cal Water, due to existing infrastructure there will be no hook-up charge incurred.
No recommendations for this finding
F15
The retaining barrier project is critical to the preservation of the Historic Cemetery. COMMENTS: The Grand Jury would like to express their appreciation to the staff and management of Kern River Valley Public Cemetery District for sharing their knowledge, and for patiently answering our plethora of questions. We especially want to thank the management for the tour we were given of Kern River Valley Public Cemetery District. It was so interesting, and we enjoyed observing this beautiful and peaceful cemetery.
Related Recommendations (1)
R14
Meet all requirements necessary to receive funds from FEMA and CalOES to construct the retaining barrier, by December 31, 2024. (Finding 15) NOTES: • The Kern River Valley Public Cemetery District 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: https://www.kerncounty.com/government/other-agencies/grand-jury • Present and past Kern County Grand Jury Final Reports and Responses can be accessed on the Kern County Grand Jury website https://www.kerncounty.com/government/other- agencies/grand-jury RESPONSE DEADLINE: REQUIRED WITHIN 90 DAYS FROM: Kern River Valley Public Cemetery District: Findings 1 through 15 inclusive and o Recommendations 1 through 14 inclusive. RESPONSES ARE REQUIRED PURSUANT TO CAL. PENAL CODE §§933 (c) AND 933.05 WITHIN 90 DAYS TO: • PRESIDING JUDGE SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF KERN 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. APPENDIX: Appendix A

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