Score: +16 (18/4/2)
Inyo County Grand Jury • 2016-2017

2017 County of Inyo Grand Jury Report*

Published: June 25, 2017 37 pages
Ver PDF original

Findings and Recommendations 16 findings

F1
The concrete floor in the intake area is heavily stained.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The Grand Jury recommends a deep cleaning of the concrete floor in the intake area.
F2
The walk-around deck in the control tower is without a continuous guardrail or warning stripes.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Continue the yellow and black painted line on the edge of the walk around in the control tower or add on to the partial existing rail.
F3
The control panel in the tower is outdated and replacement parts are hard to acquire or locate. A new panel could cost upwards of $500,000.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Set aside or seek funding for the procurement of a new control panel.
F4
Staff stated that the facility lacked enough isolation/segregation cells.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Find or create space which could be set aside for additional isolation/segregation cells.
F5
Printer table in the booking room area has sharp edges, which poses a hazard to both staff and incoming prisoners.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
For staff and inmate safety, either pad or round the edges of the printer table in the intake area.
F6
Response time can have an effect on the evaluation of the mental state of a subject at the time of booking and incarceration.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Establish a workable policy with County Health and Human Services staff regarding response time to the facility to assess the mental condition of incoming prisoners at the time of incarceration and/or booking.
F7
The three-year recidivism rates of the conservation camp system are the lowest in the prison system.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
The OVCC crews provided tens of thousands of hours of community service worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to Inyo and Mono Counties in 2016.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The annual per capita housing cost is approximately half that of a prison.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
The daily per capita food cost is $3.14 per meal. COMMENDATIONS C1. The Inyo County Grand Jury commends the Owens Valley Conservation Camp for being a highly cost-efficient and well-maintained facility that provides many services of benefit to Inyo County and the State of California. C2. The Grand Jury commends the professional staff of both the conservation camp and CAL FIRE, present and past, for their dedication and commitment to the incarceration and service program. C3. The Owens Valley camp and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection area to be commended for their assistance in fire protection for all unincorporated communities in the county. REQUEST FOR RESPONSES Pursuant to Penal Code 933.05, timely responses are requested from the following: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Owens Valley Conservation 2016 ELECTION DAY INYO COUNTY CLERK-RECORDER, REGISTRAR of VOTERS PO Drawer F Independence, CA 93526 SUMMARY During September, 2016, the Inyo County Grand Jury (ICGJ) received an invitation from the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters, to serve as members of the Election Observer Panel on Election Day, November 8, 2016. Three jurors agreed to serve as Election Observers and visited all of the Inyo County polling places on Election Day. BACKGROUND The Inyo County Clerk-Recorder serves in an elected position with major responsibilities including maintenance of official county files (marriage documents, political files, annual filing of California Statement of Economic Interest forms by 500 county employees and board and commission members, and California Environmental Quality Act filings), recording (real property, tax liens, permanent records of real estate transactions), voter registration and conducting elections. The Clerk-Recorder and staff conduct Federal, State and County elections, and also conduct elections for the City of Bishop, 17 special districts, six school districts, two hospital districts, a community college district, and a resource conservation district. Of the approximately 10,000 registered voters in Inyo County, over 65% vote by mail. METHODOLOGY During the morning of Election Day, the Election Observers jointly observed the operation of the Bishop area polling places at the Tri-County Fairgrounds and the Paiute Professional Building. During the latter portion of the morning, one of the Observers revisited the operations at the Tri-County Fairgrounds polling place. During the afternoon and evening, the Observers jointly observed operations at the Big Pine and Lone Pine polling places, then ended the voting day at the Independence polling place, and observed the carefully and efficiently conducted closing procedures at that polling place. The Observers ended Election Day by visiting the Clerk-Recorder office and observed poll workers returning ballots and other election materials to the Clerk-Recorder and the operation of the ballot scanners by staff and volunteers. The ICGJ conducted a follow-up interview of the Clerk-Recorder in order to gain a better understanding of operations of the office of the Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters. DISCUSSION Signage outside of the polling places assisted voters in their efforts to vote. For first time voters, it would have been helpful if all mailings included polling place addresses and if polling place signage visible to drivers had been placed in the vicinity of the polling places. Although each of the polling places was accessible, since inclement weather can be expected during November election days, ease of accessibility should be considered. At all of the polling places, the volunteer poll workers enthusiastically assisted voters and kept the polling places neat and organized. The Observers met with the Clerk-Recorder at the Bishop Paiute Professional Building polling place and were given a thorough briefing about polling place operations and the use of the electronic voting machine, which is an accessibility requirement. At all of the polling places, the poll workers graciously provided information to the Observers and answered the Observers' questions. It became very obvious to the Observers that the minute details of operations at each polling place and poll worker duties had been very logically and carefully preplanned and prepared. Although the Observers had not participated in poll worker training, it was evident to them that the poll workers had all been well trained. Poll workers very carefully assisted voters in placing their completed ballots into the ballot boxes, and maintained security of the completed ballots. The closing procedures were efficiently handled by the lead poll worker and the other poll workers at the Independence polling place, followed by the lead poll worker double checking the closing check list to ensure that proper procedures had been followed. When the inspector (lead poll worker at a polling place) returned the ballots and other materials upstairs at the Clerk-Recorder office, the staff and volunteers were ready and efficiently checked-in the ballots and other materials. Each of the ballot counting scanners had an assigned team of volunteers to assist the scanner operator with the counting of ballots. As at the polling places, the volunteers were well trained and worked efficiently as a team. Ten to twenty volunteers assist staff from three weeks prior to an election to two weeks after an election. There are 120 volunteers on Election Day, saving the County $8,000. The Clerk-Recorder has recently been able to add another staff member, thus restoring the office's historic staffing level. However, the Clerk-Recorder and Assistant Clerk-Recorder work long hours and haven't been able to take more than a week of vacation at a time since 2013. They would like to provide better service to County residents, provide outreach to the schools and community, including providing Brown Act training for special districts and fire departments. The addition of another staff member to the office would enable the Clerk- Recorder to provide better and quicker service and conduct outreach. Some of the vital computers in the Clerk-Recorder's office are outdated: In order to run a program developed 17 years ago in 2000, the computers are of that era. Therefore, those computers would not be secure for online usage. Additionally, the ballot counting scanners were purchased in 2005 and need to be replaced with modern technology. Because of the high cost of modern technology, the Clerk-Recorder will seek approval from the Board of Supervisors for a more frugal lease arrangement allowing for a contractor to supply, maintain and replace an integrated hardware and software solution to the County's voting technology requirements. The Clerk-Recorder partners with the tribes in the county, assisting with tribal elections by lending the tribes polling booths and signage for tribal elections. FINDINGS
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Although the facility is older, it was clean and appeared to be in good condition.
No recommendations for this finding
F12
The effectiveness of the heating system varied within the building, with some rooms being very cold. A planned boiler replacement project is a priority.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
Individual electric heaters have been placed in patient rooms for patient comfort.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
The parcel tax monies are being used within the guidelines of the tax measure.
No recommendations for this finding
F15
There is a critical need for additional funding to pay off bankruptcy debt, for current operations, and to become solvent.
No recommendations for this finding
F16
At times, there is a delay in patient transfers to other definitive care facilities due to a shortage of EMTs to staff the Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance.
No recommendations for this finding

Additional Recommendations 1

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

Commendations 19

Comments 4

Agency Responses 4

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

No Responses Found 1

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

Inyo County Board of Supervisors Elected County Office

* 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.