Orange County Grand Jury
• 2012-2013
Gene Kent, John Rodriguez, Nilima Gupta, Barbara Cleary Dianne Senechal, Christine Schaefer, Virginia Zlaket, Linda
⚠️ 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 17 findings
F1
Page 33
Public officials are stewards of the public trust and maintain it by placing the civic interest ahead of their own. Even the appearance of impropriety damages public faith in government. Citizens expect its officials to conduct business in a lawful and ethical manner.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Page 33
The unparalleled development of Orange County from an agrarian to world-class economy in the post-World War II era led to the creation of a “power elite” of land A Call For Ethical Standards: Corruption In Orange County developers and public officials. The influence of “development dollars” in the form of contributions to public officials resulted in a series of public corruption cases over a forty-year period. Other ethics scandals involved the abuse of power.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Page 34
Orange County reacted to the 1994 bankruptcy scandal by creating a patchwork of oversight offices to audit financial, performance and professional standards. These offices have varying levels of independence, jurisdiction and legislative support. They need to be accountable as well.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Page 34
Unethical behavior at the local government level is not something that “simply fixes itself.” The County needs an independent Ethics Program that provides training, advice and guidance to public officials and private persons seeking to do business with government.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Page 34
Citizens need a clearinghouse to voice complaints about actual and perceived incidents of corruption and unethical behavior by public officials.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Page 34
In California, the Cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland have ethics commissions that address similar ethics issues.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Page 34
Orange County lacks effective ethics oversight of its public officials.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Page 56
Other than re-issuing a yearly statement on the County policy regarding discrimination and harassment, County elected officials and executive management have undertaken no pro-active measures to address and change the County culture that allowed the tolerance of inappropriate behavior that was present for years. This culture continues and needs leadership to change.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Page 130
All police departments believe that on-going training should be supported by Mental Health Services Act funding.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
Page 130
All police departments adhere to written policy, procedure and/or protocol regarding contact with mentally ill persons.
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Page 130
Policy and lawmakers in the County of Orange continue to examine Laura’s Law in light of its potential impact on the mentally ill and all citizens for positive outcomes. To Protect And To Serve A Look at Tools to Assist Law Enforcement in Achieving Positive Outcomes with the Homeless Mentally Ill
No recommendations for this finding
F12
Page 150
The law, California Family Code §§ 3190 – 3191 gives the court the authority to order counseling at its discretion and there exists the means to pay for the counseling for parents and children, specifically: 1. The parents themselves can pay, 2. Lag money can be used to pay, 3. Orange County MHSA (Prop 63) has discretionary money for counseling.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
Page 150
Ignoring paternal parenting is too expensive to allow it to continue. The many hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid child support and the social failings result in both an incalculable loss in human potential and the financial cost of incarcerating society’s failures.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
Page 150
CSS had a $350,000 net county contribution in 2011/2012.
No recommendations for this finding
F15
Page 150
Orange County MHSA (Proposition 63) is obligated to use 20% of its budget for programs for prevention and intervention, and of that Orange County has committed that 75% is to be used for the County’s youth.
No recommendations for this finding
F16
Page 150
Promotion of mental wellness includes, among other things, support of programs that prevent youth suicides, youth runaways, unwanted teenage pregnancy, behavioral disorders, juvenile delinquency and high school drop outs. Children of divorced and separated families are recognized as high risk for such behaviors.
No recommendations for this finding
F17
Page 150
The existence of Orange County Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC), which reviews juvenile detention, provides precedence for the creation of a parenting commission. “Best Interest of the Child” Lost Child Support Costs 1.3 Billion
No recommendations for this finding
Commendations 15
-
CM1 Page 209There were two visits to four juvenile detention facilities for overview, inspection, and dissemination of questionnaire responses.
-
CM2 Page 209Questionnaire data was analyzed.
-
CM3 Page 209Meetings and Interviews were held with the following: Upper level management of the Probation Department, directors, staff, teachers, and juvenile wards in each residential facility Attendance at the Probation Department and Orange County Department of Education Meeting, (Dec. 17, 2012) Interview with Orange County Department of Education Alternative Correctional Community Education Schools and Services representative (ACCESS), (Jan. 7, 2013) Orange county Probation Department Meeting with the Orange County Grand Jury Criminal Justice Committee (Oct. 9, 2012)
-
CM4 Page 209Research: Grand Jury Standards of Review of Jails and Juvenile Detention Centers Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-2012 Orange County Probation Department 2012 Business Plan Orange County Grand Jury 2011-2012 Final Report, Juvenile Detention and Treatment Facilities Orange County Juvenile Justice Commission Report 2011 “Orange County Register” articles on juvenile detention centers Office of Independent Review Juvenile Hall 2012 Incident Report Youth Law Center of San Francisco and Georgetown University, Early Learning Center Collaboration Report
-
CM5 Page 209Phone Interviews with: Youth Guidance Center Management Joplin Youth Center Management Orange County Probation Department Juvenile Division Orange County Probation Department, Administrative and Fiscal Division Management BACKGROUND AND FACTS Five juvenile detention centers are discussed in this study: 1) Los Pinos 2) Juvenile Hall 3) Youth Leadership Academy 4) Youth Guidance Center 5) Joplin Youth Center
-
CM6 Page 346More vote-by-mail ballots were received than were cast at polling places in Orange County during a Presidential election.
-
CM7 Page 346For the first time, more than 50 percent of vote-by-mail ballots were from permanent vote-by-mail voters.
-
CM8 Page 346More vote-by-mail ballots (112,000) were dropped off at polling places than ever before.
-
CM9 Page 346All sample ballots were mailed on the first day legally allowed.
-
CM10 Page 346Although the legal period to certify election results is much longer, the Registrar of Voters was able to certify after just 14 days. The increase in vote-by-mail had the biggest impact on this election than any other statistical factor. There was a 10.5 percent increase of vote-by-mail ballots counted in 2012 (575,843) compared to 2008 (521,348). Vote-by-mail ballots represented 34.3 percent of all registered voters. Vote- by-mail ballots were 50.8 percent of ballots cast. 72.9 percent of vote-by-mail ballots mailed to voters were cast. Polling place ballots cast decreased by 11.6 percent from 2008 (624,181) to 2012 (552,018) due to the increase in vote-by-mail participation. 2 Memorandum from O.C. Registrar dated December 17, 2012
-
CM11 Page 352The voter’s signature on the vote-by-mail ballot envelope, when compared to the signature on the affidavit of registration, did not appear to be the same, including: a. The voter used a mark on the vote-by-mail envelope that is not properly witnessed, and the affidavit of registration has a signature of the voter. b. The voter printed his or her name on the signature portion of the vote-by- mail ballot envelope but had a written signature on the signature portion of the affidavit of registration.
-
CM12 Page 352The vote-by-mail ballot return envelope contained two or more voted vote-by- mail ballots but there were less than an equal number of distinct signatures on the vote-by-mail envelope. The Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project26 was begun after the 2000 presidential election to provide scientific analysis regarding voting technology and election administration. In their report released on October 18, 2012, following
-
CM13 Page 129Finally, with the thousands of words written here, there are not words to express the gratitude and thanks we, as citizens, owe to the men and women who serve us day and night as law enforcement officers in the County of Orange. Their professionalism, bravery and service cannot be overestimated or taken for granted. It is because of our trust in them that we get up each morning without a thought to our safety and well- being. It is because of our trust in them that, when things go wrong, we call them first. Thank you.
-
CM14 Page 361Orange County grand juries have commended the Registrar of Voters office on several prior occasions citing management and staff for exemplary performance. The 2012-13 Orange County Grand Jury is pleased to commend the Registrar and his employees again for a “job well done” during the November election.
-
CM15 Page 362700 Civic Center Drive West Santa Ana, CA., 92701 www.ocgrandjury.org
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Orange County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office