Orange County Grand Jury
• 2010-2011
• Agency Response
Response to:
Centralia School District 8/11, 135K
Iryme Rug0 Water Di8trict*
⚠️ 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 2 findings
F1
District websites often do not provide easy public access to compensation and financial data of the district, if available at all. We disagree wholly with this finding as it applies to IRWD. The main page of the IRWD website provides clear and easy-to-use links to compensation, board meetings and financial information. The compensation section provides information on board members, general manager and staff compensation including information on benefits. A copy of the general manager's contract is also posted. The finance section includes three calendar years of the IRWD Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, as well as copies of the District's operating and capital budgets. IRWD has long-used the internet to effectively convey information regarding the agency to its customers and other interested parties. In fact, in 1998 IRWD became one of the first water districts in California to establish a presence on the internet. In July of 2010 the IRWD website was updated and awarded the Best in Industry New Media Institute Award for excellence in online communications. In July of 2011, the IRWD website was recognized with an Award of Excellence by the Orange County Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Many water districts and other governmental agencies now look to the IRWD website as the new standard for website excellence. The Honorable Thomas J. Borris, Presiding Judge Orange County Superior Court
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
the board of directors and general manager as well as current budget and financial reports. This recommendation has already been implemented as a standard practice for IRWD. The main page of the IRWD website includes clear links to compensation, board meetings and financial information. The Compensation section provides information on board members, general manager and staff compensation including information on benefits. A copy of the general manager's contract is also posted. The Finance section includes three calendar years of IRWD's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) as well as copies of the District's operating and capital budgets. IRWD's CAFR has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence by the Government Finance Officers Association. Maintain and update agendas, minutes, meeting schedules and location on the district's
F2
Districts websites were sometimes not updated to reflect public meeting changes or cancellations. We disagree wholly with this finding as it applies to IRWD. IRWD follows and complies with all requirements of California Government Code Sections 54954.2 and 54956 regarding public meeting notification requirements. In addition to these requirements, the IRWD website offers its customers updated agendas, minutes, meeting schedules and accurate meeting location information. It also includes copies of full meeting packets and easy-to-navigate calendars. Interested parties are able to sign up and receive advance emailed notices of availability on the website of meeting agendas and information packets. Throughout the website and in IRWD publications, customers and interested parties are encouraged to sign up for this service. Provide in an easily accessible format on the district's website, data on compensation for
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
website. This recommendation has already been implemented as a standard practice for IRWD. IRWD follows and complies with all requirements of California Government Code Sections 54954.2 and 54956 regarding public meeting notification requirements. In addition to these requirements, the IRWD website provides its customers updated agendas, minutes, meeting schedules and accurate meeting location information. It also includes copies of full meeting packets and easy- to-navigate calendars. Interested parties are able to sign up and receive advance emailed notices of the availability on the website of meeting agendas and information packets. Throughout the IRWD website and publications, customers and interested parties are encouraged to sign up for this service. The Honorable Thomas J. Borris, Presiding Judge Orange County Superior Court The District recognizes the need for public transparency and is dedicated to providing its customers with straightforward and timely access to important information. The District believes that we serve the public and we are committed to providing the highest value to our customers in the form of the lowest possible cost. If you have questions or require further information, do not hesitate to contact the District's Interim General Manager, Paul Cook, at 949-453-5590. Sincerely, Sum E. Lipm Steven E. LaMar President . * . . . .
* 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.