Delta Levees in Contra Costa County 1607

Recommendations 19

• R1

  Page 159
  After identifying the necessary funding, LAFCO should consider including independent physical inspections of levee conditions, in addition to the self- reported evaluations of the conditions, in the MSRs of all County reclamation districts, if necessary by hiring an independent engineering firm to perform this function.
• R2

  Page 159
  After identifying the necessary funding, the County reclamation districts should collaborate in establishing and supporting a shared website, possibly approaching one of the Districts that already has a website to take the lead. This website should include “Best Practices”, a calendar of date- or seasonal-specific tasks, such as preparation for nesting season when certain work is prohibited, and dates when Subventions Program applications are due, and a common log of significant levee incidents to identify and track historical trouble spots.
• R3

  Page 159
  After identifying the necessary funding, the County reclamation districts should consider taking turns hosting a short, local, annual conference for all District Board members and staff. Each conference should include an educational presentation on a matter of common interest, such as changes in regulations or levee standards, new technology or procedures for levee work, new sources of funding, and/or most effective techniques for successful grant applications.
• R4

  Page 159
  After identifying the necessary funding, reclamation districts should consider adding a “training module” for new and re-elected Board members to their required governance training (i.e. Brown Act and Ethics). This “module” or session should cover the district’s levee regulations and protocols, the consequences of noncompliance with regulations and protocols, flood preparedness, and Contra Costa County 2015-2016 Grand Jury Report 1607 Grand Jury Reports are posted at http://www.cc-courts.org/grandjury emergency response training – or at minimum a “back to basics” session with the consulting engineer to cover these concerns.
• R5

  Page 160
  Reclamation districts should formalize, or at a minimum document, all “Mutual Aid” agreements for future reference as reclamation district personnel change over time.
• R6

  Page 160
  After identifying the necessary funding, the County Tax Collector should consider including informational material on flood preparedness or levee safety precautions, available at no charge from our County Flood Control or Central Valley Flood Control Agency or DWR, with every property tax bill that has an address within a reclamation district.
• R7

  Page 160
  After identifying the necessary funding, the County Clerk Recorder should consider including informational material on flood preparedness or levee safety precautions, available at no charge from our County Flood Control or Central Valley Flood Control Agency or DWR, with election materials sent to addresses within a reclamation district.
• R8

  Page 160
  After identifying the necessary funding, the Board of Supervisors should consider directing the County Planning Department to provide each applicant for new construction or major remodeling in unincorporated areas within a reclamation district with a brochure or direction to an online website explaining levee safety rules and regulations, along with the reasons for same, applicable to their particular reclamation district and to require that each applicant confirm receipt of the brochure or link to website by initialing.
• R9

  Page 160
  The Oakley City Council should direct the Oakley Planning Commission to provide each applicant for new construction or major remodeling within a reclamation district in the City of Oakley with a brochure or direction to an online website explaining levee safety rules and regulations, along with the reasons for same, applicable to their particular reclamation district and to require that each applicant confirm receipt of the brochure or link to website by initialing.
• R10

  Page 160
  The Board of Supervisors should consider directing the appropriate planning and/or land use departments to follow the precedent established by the East Cypress Corridor Project and condition approval of proposals for new residential or commercial development, where allowed on any unincorporated County land in a reclamation district, on financial support of the existing levees.
• R11

  Page 160
  The City of Oakley should consider following the precedent established by the East Cypress Corridor Project and conditioning approval of proposals for new residential or commercial development, where proposed on Oakley’s annexed land in a reclamation district, on financial support of the existing levees. Contra Costa County 2015-2016 Grand Jury Report 1607 Grand Jury Reports are posted at http://www.cc-courts.org/grandjury
• R12

  Page 161
  After identifying the necessary funding, the Board of Supervisors should consider directing the County’s Transportation, Water, and Infrastructure Committee to establish a task force or initiate a staff study to investigate ways to encourage and facilitate grant-seeking coalitions of urban water agencies and/or other beneficiaries of the levee system, on smaller-scale projects with shorter time horizons than those currently being investigated by the Delta Protection Commission (i.e. similar to but including even smaller-scale projects than the Bacon Island improvement coalition).
• R13

  Page 161
  After identifying the necessary funding, the Board of Supervisors should consider directing the County’s Transportation, Water, and Infrastructure Committee to establish a task force to investigate possible ways for the less-advantaged reclamation districts to obtain interim funding, including but not limited to grants or low-interest rate loans, to cover the initial two-year lag-time to obtain reimbursement for essential levee maintenance work from the Subventions Program.
• R14

  Page 234
  The COE should consider requiring that information in forms completed during exit interviews concerning reasons for employment termination at the Brentwood Contra Costa County 2015-2016 Grand Jury Report 1611 Grand Jury Reports are posted at http://www.cc-courts.org/grandjury Schools be categorized so that specific trends can be detailed for use in recruiting and retaining employees and this accumulated data can be reduced to an annual report to the CBOE and made available to the public; after identifying funds to do so.
• R15

  Page 235
  The COE should consider creating SARCs applicable to Special Education programs that track data such as performance, progress of the special education programs and IEP goals met to give a true picture of the effectiveness of the programs offered.
• R16

  Page 300
  The County should consider creating an easily accessible, online central repository with all relevant information on deed-restricted housing units to assure that inventory of AH is maintained, and identify funding to do so.
• R17

  Page 331
  The City should consider adopting a policy to promulgate, enforce, and promote a daytime curfew. Contra Costa County 2015-2016 Grand Jury Report 1615 Grand Jury Reports are posted at http://www.cc-courts.org/grandjury
• R22

  Page 140
  In many cases, students of different ages may be mixed together in a single classroom according to their mental capabilities, to sustain continuity of learning. It is vital that the learning environment in special education schools be one of compassion and serenity to foster the learning process, notwithstanding the behavior issues that may arise with special needs children. Those personnel involved with special needs children must be compassionate, properly credentialed, and trained to administer to the “special” needs of special education children. They must have the confidence and support of the students, their parents and school administrators. For at least the past three years staff reports persisted of a hostile work environment at two of the COE special needs schools, which are located in Brentwood (subsequently referred to in this report as the “Brentwood Schools”). During this period, a number of qualified teachers claimed they sought transfers, had retired or were forced out by the principal when they expressed concerns about the school environment. A number of these complaints were communicated through union representatives to the COE. However, the complaints were not resolved to the satisfaction of the teachers and staff at the Brentwood Schools until the complaints were aired at public meetings of the County Board of Education in the fall of 2015. At the Board’s October 21, 2015 meeting, a representative of the teachers’ union announced that a majority of teachers Contra Costa County 2015-2016 Grand Jury Report 1611 Grand Jury Reports are posted at http://www.cc-courts.org/grandjury at the Brentwood Schools had signed a “vote of no confidence” in the principal of the Brentwood Schools. The complaints were raised again by teachers and others at the County Board meeting on November 4, 2015. Shortly thereafter the principal of the Brentwood Schools resigned and a replacement was appointed by the County Superintendent of Schools. The matter took years to squarely address because teachers and staff at the Brentwood Schools perceived there was no clear and protected procedure in place for filing complaints with the COE about their principal without fear of retaliation. Further, the problem might have been resolved after it was first brought to the attention of the COE and CBOE had those bodies acted decisively at the onset of the complaints. The Grand Jury recommends that appropriate and well understood internal complaint procedures be put in place that assure employees and teachers that complaints about working conditions supported or tolerated by higher-level administrators will receive professional attention from the Superintendent’s office or the CBOE without fear of retaliation or adverse treatment. Acronyms COE = Contra Costa County Office of Education (Superintendent) CBOE = County Board of Education (Trustees) IEP = Individual Education Plan SELPA = Special Education Local Plan Area IA = Instructional Assistant (Classified employee) CTA = California Teachers Association (Teacher’s union) Local One = Classified employees union IR = Incident Report UCP = Uniform Complaint Procedures SARC = School Accountability Report Card
• R12-14

  Page 197
  years. The State of Human Trafficking in California (2012) issued by the California Attorney General notes that “…trafficking [in California] as a criminal enterprise is second only to the drug trade in annual revenues.” Approximately 80% of human trafficking activity occurs in three “hotspots”, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego. California Penal Code 236.1 (paraphrased below) provides that human trafficking involve one or more of the following acts: (cid:2) Coercion: causing a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm or physical restraint; (cid:2) Deprivation of personal liberty: accomplished through force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace or threat of unlawful injury; (cid:2) Duress: a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, hardship or retribution sufficient to cause a reasonable person to acquiesce in or perform an act which he or she would otherwise not have submitted; or (cid:2) Forced labor or services: labor or services obtained or maintained through force, fraud, duress or coercion, or equivalent conduct that would reasonably overbear the will of the person. California’s Response to the Human Trafficking Problem In 2005 California enacted its first anti-trafficking law (AB22) making human trafficking a felony and assisting its victims. Along with a related bill, (SB180), the legislation also established the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery (CA ACTS) Task Force to review California’s response to human trafficking. Proposition 35, which passed in 2012, increases prison terms for traffickers and requires sex traffickers to register as sex offenders. It also requires that all law enforcement officers assigned to Contra Costa County 2015-2016 Grand Jury Report 1609 Grand Jury Reports are posted at http://www.cc-courts.org/grandjury