County of Tuolumne Grand Jury 12855 Justice Center Drive

Commendations 4

• CM1 Page 12
  Review of Responses to the Tuolumne County Dambacher Detention Center Summary California Penal Code §919(b) mandates that the Grand Jury in each county inspect the condition of all public prisons every year. California Penal Codes §919(a), 925 and 925(a) authorize the Grand Jury to investigate city and county jails and other detention facilities. The Dambacher Detention Center is named after Sheriff J.H. Dambacher, the county's longest serving sheriff. The construction of this facility was completed in October 2020; all inmates were moved in January 2021. The new jail facility is designed with safety, efficiency, and improvements that will provide a better overall working environment and facility. The Grand Jury found the new facility to be state of the art and impressive yet not excessive. For safety reasons, all interviews were conducted virtually. The live site tour was deferred until the COVID-19 cases in the county were at a level deemed safe.
• CM2 Page 16
  Review of Responses to the Tuolumne County Employee and Public Safety Report Summary The Grand Jury initiated this investigation due to a citizen complaint regarding employee health and safety, which suggested a lack of leadership by Tuolumne County executives concerning compliance with state safety laws, regulations, and procedures. During the investigation, the Grand Jury found functional deficiencies in the County administration that contributed not just to deficiencies in safety documentation, but other aspects of employee safety and the safety of County residents at large. It was determined that the County does not have a document control system for safety documents, a Safety Management System, or functioning safety committee. The administration lacks a culture that recognizes the importance of safety and that prioritizes, requires, and rewards maintenance of procedures and safety information sharing. During the investigation, it was also found that the Tuolumne County Administrative Officer (CAO) has not followed through with the commitment to release the updated County Personnel Rules and Regulations which was inconsistent with current human resource practices. Also, the Grand Jury observed a lack of adherence to or knowledge of the Code of Conduct and Resolution No. 23-15, that establishes rules and regulations of the Board of Supervisors (Board), leading the Grand Jury to recommend improvements. The Grand Jury is a non-political body whose purpose is to improve the effectiveness of local government and while it does not review or critique policy, it does involve itself in the effects of policy. Based on our investigation, the Grand Jury is concerned about the lack of a united front from all County officials at the beginning of the pandemic, and discord among Supervisors concerning vaccines, testing, and COVID- 19 treatments; and suggests this may have compromised our community's health. Our County has lost 183 citizens to the current pandemic. The Grand Jury hopes that the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors and County Administration will have the discussion: Could we have done better? It is the Grand Jury’s hope that Tuolumne County will have a more robust Risk Management Program and functioning Safety Management System in place to provide the service and guidance the community will require before the next pandemic or when disaster strikes, as well as to promote day-to-day prevention of injury and illness. The Grand Jury extends its gratitude to the many people interviewed during this investigation. The respondents were forthright and respectful. Their dedication to the county and its citizens was apparent. The responses are recorded in two sections: (1) Safety Planning and Documentation and (2) County Leadership Effectiveness and Support to Employee and Public Safety. 16 Safety Planning and Documentation:
• CM3 Page 27
  Review of Responses to the Tuolumne Utilities District Report Summary The county’s largest supplier of water, Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD), was formed in 1992 and has consolidated other water systems and inherited infrastructure, some of which dates to the Gold Rush. This process of consolidation and acquisition continues as TUD is negotiating the acquisition of historic water rights and infrastructure from Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) that would include reservoirs, power generating equipment, and the Tuolumne Main Canal. The 2020–2022 Tuolumne County Grand Jury investigated TUD to better understand its plans and operations. TUD has been the subject of past Tuolumne County Grand Jury reports, most recently in 2020; however, multiple topics including: TUD’s aging and historic infrastructure, personnel issues, the proposed PG&E acquisition, and the question of securing water rights to serve users in Tuolumne County have not been comprehensively addressed by grand juries in recent years. Some of the findings and
• CM4 Page 30
  “TUD staff should be commended for their efforts to facilitate new connections, despite the challenges of geography and infrastructure in its service area.” Personnel and Leadership Changes

No Responses Found 3

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