Kern County Grand Jury • 2022-2023

The City of California City a Time to Come Together, 2.0

Published: April 07, 2022 11 pages
View Original PDF

Findings and Recommendations 10 findings

F1
To describe Cal City’s leadership as being in “crisis mode,” is an understatement. The City of California City’s leadership must be stabilized with qualified department heads for Cal City to survive. The practice of filling leadership positions with interim staff is not sufficient for long-term good governance.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The City Council should empower the City Manager to fill all director positions with permanent and qualified individuals by September 30, 2022. (Finding 1)
F2
The new City Manager and the current City Council must bridge the communication divide that exists between them and the concerned residents. Cal City would benefit if all comments, concerns, or complaints were addressed and discussed by the City Council and the City Manager, for fact and truth to prevail over anger and emotion.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Outside of city business meetings, the City Manager and City Council should schedule quarterly open town hall meetings, by September 30, 2022, with concerned residents; the goal being to improve communication and separate fact from emotion and anger. (Finding 2)
F3
The City Council’s lack of knowledge regarding Proposition 218 must be remediated. It is the City Council’s responsibility to assure that Prop 218 is followed and implemented.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
By December 31, 2022, the City Council should complete in-service training on Proposition 218 legislation and review Proposition 13, the original Howard Jarvis Tax Initiative, which led to Prop 218. (Finding 3)
F4
Cal City’s water line replacement program can only be described as derelict and incompetent. Previous City Officials have continually passed the buck. The “buck” needs to stop somewhere.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
By June 30, 2023, the City Council should complete the bidding process and hire a private contractor to finish the water line replacements. (Finding 4)
F5
The current City Council and the City Manager believe, the “buck” must stop with them. They are in the process of adopting a good plan that will eventually complete all the water line replacements.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
To describe Cal City’s general ledger and financial position as unauditable is shocking. Cal City must move on from past mismanagement and solve this dilemma.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Under the direction of a qualified Finance Director, the City Council should assure Cal City’s General Ledger is organized (per Generally Accepted Accounting Practices), so an independent financial audit can be completed by the end of every fiscal year. (Finding 6)
F7
The TDS golf course may be an unrealistic dream. However, dreams must be separated from reality. Mired in debt and low green fee revenue, a grass-roots effort from the community may be needed to save it. As it stands, TDS may not be salvageable.
Related Recommendations (2)
R6
By March 1, 2023, the City Council should commission a feasibility study to determine adequate green fees to charge TDS users. The study should also determine if private sponsorships and government/corporate grants are available. (Finding 7)
R7
By March 2024, if the TDS financial picture is not on an upward trend, Cal City should prepare to lease, sell, or divest itself from the property. (Finding 7)
F8
It appears the land purchase for the WWTP expansion was done on a rumor that local prison expansion was imminent; that the WWTP expansion was necessary to accommodate its growth. In essence, an if we build it, they will come reasoning was incorporated into the land purchase.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The $3 million in wrongful termination settlements and attorney fees paid by Cal City demonstrates a major shortcoming in Cal City’s hiring and termination policies. Cal City management and the City Council would benefit from basic Human Resource law training.
Related Recommendations (2)
R8
By March 2023, the City Council should complete an ethics course in human resource law and training in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Fair Labor Standard Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Finding 9)
R9
By December 31, 2022, the City Council should contract with a private agency that specializes in human resource/personnel matters, to advise their human resource employment and termination practices. (Findings 9 and 10) NOTES: • The City of California City should post a copy of this report where it will be available for public review. • Persons wishing to receive an email notification of newly released reports may sign up at: 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 RESPONSES ARE REQUIRED PURSUANT TO CAL. PENAL CODE § 933, SUBD. (C) AND 933.05 WITHIN 90 DAYS TO:  PRESIDING JUDGE KERN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 1415 TRUXTUN AVENUE, SUITE 212 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301  TRUXTUN AVENUE, SUITE 600 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301 Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Cal. Penal Code § 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury.
F10
The lack of an experienced Human Resources Director has contributed to the large wrongful termination settlements. COMMENTS: In this report, three previous Grand Jury reports were referenced; a fourth is needed for context and balance. The 2018-2019 Grand Jury report, THE CITY OF CALIFORNIA CITY, “A Time to Come Together,” looked into resident complaints of fraud and collusion regarding the Measure “C” parcel tax election. The Grand Jury conducted numerous interviews, researched election law, and traveled to Cal City to observe the ballot counting procedure, and concluded Cal City ran a well-organized, legal, stand-alone election. Resident complaints of fraud and collusion, although well intended, were unfounded. It must be stressed, communication between concerned residents and City Officials must improve in order to separate fact from anger and emotion. The subtitle for this current report is, “A Time to Come Together, 2.0.” The City Manager’s office and the City Council realize the “buck” must stop with them—they must make every effort to respond to each complaint they receive. Equally, the residents of Cal City, especially those who regularly criticize and complain, must agree to thoroughly listen and give the new City Manager and new department heads a chance to rectify the problems Cal City faces.
No recommendations for this finding

Comments 3

No Responses Found 2

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

California City City
Kern County County