Kern County Grand Jury • 2018-2019

Report: City of Bakersfield Public Safety and Vital Services Committee - Measure N*

Published: November 06, 2018 14 pages Consolidated Report

View Original PDF

⚠️ 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.

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F3

Findings and Recommendations 9 findings

F2

documents prior to having to vote, although other members find that the time allowed for research and study is adequate. Consequently, discussion, analysis, and

No recommendations for this finding

F4

practice has indicated that more than two meetings are needed to accomplish the necessary research and have a coalescence of minds. For the betterment of the Committee, members are meeting more than they originally agreed to. 2022-2023 Kern County Grand Jury Report The practice of reading the Measure N budget request three times has the effect of

No recommendations for this finding

F5

filibustering the meeting, contributing to truncated discussion. The Grand Jury found this process frustrating and exhausting. The triplicate reading of the proposed Measure N budget consumes an excessive

No recommendations for this finding

F6

amount of time and bores both the Committee and the members of the public, thus tamping down interest and participation. Currently the Council only receives information from the Committee through the

No recommendations for this finding

F7

minutes. This method limits the degree of communication because the Committee does not prepare official written reports. The continuity between the Council and the Committee needs to improve. Name plaques on dais indicate the Ward that the nominating Councilmember

No recommendations for this finding

F8

represents. However, the individual may or may not live in that Ward. In any case, the Committee member is appointed at-large. This gives the public the impression that Committee members represent the Ward. The Grand Jury observed there was little time spent by the Committee discussing

No recommendations for this finding

F9

whether an expenditure is prudent or of "the right" amount. The Council has limited time to review comments of the Committee prior to taking

No recommendations for this finding

F10

action on the recommendations. Consequently, this results in its inability to fairly 5 assess the Committee's work. Committee recommendations for changes in scope and allotment of Measure N funds

No recommendations for this finding

F11

are generally sparse, and those that exist are not well known to the general public. COMMENTS: The Grand Jury thanks members of the Council, City staff, and members of the Committee for their time and willingness to answer questions relating to this report.

No recommendations for this finding

Comments 2

CO1

Some members of the Committee do not feel that they received adequate information about their roles either prior to their appointment or immediately after having been sworn in. This results in confusion over the extent of their roles as advisors. The Committee has a legal requirement to meet formally at least twice a year. Past
CO2

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 2022-2023 Kern County Grand Jury Report RESPONSE DEADLINES:

No Responses Found 1

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

Bakersfield City

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.