Los Angeles County Grand Jury • 1970-1971

Los Angeles County Grand Jury 1970*

Published: ∼ June 30, 1970 74 pages
Ver PDF original

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F19, F20, F21, F22, F23, F24, F25, F26, F27, F28, F29, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37, F38, F39, F40, F41, F42, F43, F44, F45, F46, F47, F48, F49, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57, F58, F59, F60, F61, F62, F63, F64, F65, F66, F67, F68, F69, F70, F71, F72, F73, F74, F75, F76, F77, F78, F79, F80, F81, F82, F83, F84, F85, F86, F87, F88, F89, F90, F91, F92, F93, F94, F95, F96, F97, F98, F99, F100, F101, F102, F103, F104, F105, F106, F107, F108, F109, F110, F111, F112, F113, F114, F115, F116, F117, F118, F119, F120, F121, F122, F123, F124, F125, F126, F127, F128, F129, F130, F131, F132, F133, F134, F135, F136, F137, F138, F139, F140, F141, F142, F143, F144, F145, F146, F147, F148, F149, F150, F151, F152, F153, F154, F155, F156, F157, F158, F159, F160, F161, F162, F163, F164, F165, F166, F167, F168, F169, F170, F171, F172, F173, F174, F175, F176, F177, F178, F179, F180, F181, F182, F183, F184, F185, F186, F187, F188, F189, F190, F191, F192, F193, F194, F195, F196, F197, F198, F199, F200, F201, F202, F203, F204, F205, F206, F207, F208, F209, F210, F211, F212, F213, F214, F215, F216, F217, F218, F219, F220, F221, F222, F223, F224, F225, F226, F227, F228, F229, F230, F231, F232, F233, F234, F235, F236, F237, F238, F239, F240, F241, F242, F243, F244, F245, F246, F247, F248, F249, F250, F251, F252, F253, F254, F255, F256, F257, F258, F259, F260, F261, F262, F263, F264, F265, F266, F267, F268, F269, F270, F271, F272, F273, F274, F275, F276, F277, F278, F279, F280, F281, F282, F283, F284, F285, F286, F287, F288, F289, F290, F291, F292, F293, F294, F295, F296, F297, F298, F299, F300, F301, F302, F303, F304, F305, F306, F307, F308, F309, F310, F311, F312, F313, F314, F315, F316, F317, F318, F319, F320, F321, F322, F323, F324, F325, F326, F327, F328, F329, F330, F331, F332, F333, F334, F335, F336, F337, F338, F339, F340, F341, F342, F343, F344, F345, F346, F347, F348, F349, F350, F351, F352, F353, F354, F355, F356, F357, F358, F359, F360, F361, F362, F363, F364, F365, F366, F367, F368, F369, F370, F371, F372, F373, F374, F375, F376, F377, F378, F379, F380, F381, F382, F383, F384, F385, F386, F387, F388, F389, F390, F391, F392, F393, F394, F395, F396, F397, F398, F399, F400, F401, F402, F403, F404, F405, F406, F407, F408, F409, F410, F411, F412, F413, F414, F415, F416, F417, F418, F419, F420, F421, F422, F423, F424, F425, F426, F427, F428, F429, F430, F431, F432, F433, F434, F435, F436, F437, F438, F439, F440, F441, F442, F443, F444, F445, F446, F447, F448, F449, F450, F451, F452, F453, F454, F455, F456, F457, F458, F459, F460, F461, F462, F463, F464, F465, F466, F467, F468, F469, F470, F471, F472, F473, F474, F475, F476, F477, F478, F479, F480, F481, F482, F483, F484, F485, F486, F487, F488, F489, F490, F491, F492, F493, F494, F495, F496, F497, F498, F499, F500, F501, F502, F503, F504, F505, F506, F507, F508, F509, F510, F511, F512, F513, F514, F515, F516, F517, F518, F519, F520, F521, F522, F523, F524, F525, F526, F527, F528, F529, F530, F531, F532, F533, F534, F535, F536, F537, F538, F539, F540, F541, F542, F543, F544, F545, F546, F547, F548, F549, F550, F551, F552, F553, F554, F555, F556, F557, F558, F559, F560, F561, F562, F563, F564, F565, F566, F567, F568, F569, F570, F571, F572, F573, F574, F575, F576, F577, F578, F579, F580, F581, F582, F583, F584, F585, F586, F587, F588, F589, F590, F591, F592, F593, F594, F595, F596, F597, F598, F599, F600, F601, F602, F603, F604, F605, F606, F607, F608, F609, F610, F611, F612, F613, F614, F615, F616, F617, F618, F619, F620, F621, F622, F623, F624, F625, F626, F627, F628, F629, F630, F631, F632, F633, F634, F635, F636, F637, F638, F639, F640, F641, F642, F643, F644, F645, F646, F647, F648, F649, F650, F651, F652, F653, F654, F655, F656, F657, F658, F659, F660, F661, F662, F663, F664, F665, F666, F667, F668, F669, F670, F671, F672, F673, F674, F675, F676, F677, F678, F679, F680, F681, F682, F683, F684, F685, F686, F687, F688, F689, F690, F691, F692, F693, F694, F695, F696, F697, F698, F699, F700, F701, F702, F703, F704, F705, F706, F707, F708, F709, F710, F711, F712, F713, F714, F715, F716, F717, F718, F719, F720, F721, F722, F723, F724, F725, F726, F727, F728, F729, F730, F731, F732, F733, F734, F735, F736, F737, F738, F739, F740, F741, F742, F743, F744, F745, F746, F747, F748, F749, F750, F751, F752, F753, F754, F755, F756, F757, F758, F759, F760, F761, F762, F763, F764, F765, F766, F767, F768, F769, F770, F771, F772, F773, F774, F775, F776, F777, F778, F779, F780, F781, F782, F783, F784, F785, F786, F787, F788, F789, F790, F791, F792, F793, F794, F795, F796, F797, F798, F799, F800, F801, F802, F803, F804, F805, F806, F807, F808, F809, F810, F811, F812, F813, F814, F815, F816, F817, F818, F819, F820, F821, F822, F823, F824, F825, F826, F827, F828, F829, F830, F831, F832, F833, F834, F835, F836, F837, F838, F839, F840, F841, F842, F843, F844, F845, F846, F847, F848, F849, F850, F851, F852, F853, F854, F855, F856, F857, F858, F859, F860, F861, F862, F863, F864, F865, F866, F867, F868, F869, F870, F871, F872, F873, F874, F875, F876, F877, F878, F879, F880, F881, F882, F883, F884, F885, F886, F887, F888, F889, F890, F891, F892, F893, F894, F895, F896, F897, F898, F899, F900, F901, F902, F903, F904, F905, F906, F907, F908, F909, F910, F911, F912, F913, F914, F915, F916, F917, F918, F919, F920, F921, F922, F923, F924, F925, F926, F927, F928, F929, F930, F931, F932, F933, F934, F935, F936, F937, F938, F939, F940, F941, F942, F943, F944, F945, F946, F947, F948, F949, F950, F951, F952, F953, F954, F955, F956, F957, F958, F959, F960, F961, F962, F963, F964, F965, F966, F967, F968, F969, F970, F971, F972, F973, F974, F975, F976, F977, F978, F979, F980, F981, F982, F983, F984, F985, F986, F987, F988, F989, F990, F991, F992, F993, F994, F995, F996, F997, F998, F999, F1000, F1001, F1002, F1003, F1004, F1005, F1006, F1007, F1008, F1009, F1010, F1011, F1012, F1013, F1014, F1015, F1016, F1017, F1018, F1019, F1020, F1021, F1022, F1023, F1024, F1025, F1026, F1027, F1028, F1029, F1030, F1031, F1032, F1033, F1034, F1035, F1036, F1037, F1038, F1039, F1040, F1041, F1042, F1043, F1044, F1045, F1046, F1047, F1048, F1049, F1050, F1051, F1052, F1053, F1054, F1055, F1056, F1057, F1058, F1059, F1060, F1061, F1062, F1063, F1064, F1065, F1066, F1067, F1068, F1069, F1070, F1071, F1072, F1073, F1074, F1075, F1076, F1077, F1078, F1079, F1080, F1081, F1082, F1083, F1084, F1085, F1086, F1087, F1088, F1089, F1090, F1091, F1092, F1093, F1094, F1095, F1096, F1097, F1098, F1099, F1100, F1101, F1102, F1103, F1104, F1105, F1106, F1107, F1108, F1109, F1110, F1111, F1112, F1113, F1114, F1115, F1116, F1117, F1118, F1119, F1120, F1121, F1122, F1123, F1124, F1125, F1126, F1127, F1128, F1129, F1130, F1131, F1132, F1133, F1134, F1135, F1136, F1137, F1138, F1139, F1140, F1141, F1142, F1143, F1144, F1145, F1146, F1147, F1148, F1149, F1150, F1151, F1152, F1153, F1154, F1155, F1156, F1157, F1158, F1159, F1160, F1161, F1162, F1163, F1164, F1165, F1166, F1167, F1168, F1169, F1170, F1171, F1172, F1173, F1174, F1175, F1176, F1177, F1178, F1179, F1180, F1181, F1182, F1183, F1184, F1185, F1186, F1187, F1188, F1189, F1190, F1191, F1192, F1193, F1194, F1195, F1196, F1197, F1198, F1199, F1200, F1201, F1202, F1203, F1204, F1205, F1206, F1207, F1208, F1209, F1210, F1211, F1212, F1213, F1214, F1215, F1216, F1217, F1218, F1219, F1220, F1221, F1222, F1223, F1224, F1225, F1226, F1227, F1228, F1229, F1230, F1231, F1232, F1233, F1234, F1235, F1236, F1237, F1238, F1239, F1240, F1241, F1242, F1243, F1244, F1245, F1246, F1247, F1248, F1249, F1250, F1251, F1252, F1253, F1254, F1255, F1256, F1257, F1258, F1259, F1260, F1261, F1262, F1263, F1264, F1265, F1266, F1267, F1268, F1269, F1270, F1271, F1272, F1273, F1274, F1275, F1276, F1277, F1278, F1279, F1280, F1281, F1282, F1283, F1284, F1285, F1286, F1287, F1288, F1289, F1290, F1291, F1292, F1293, F1294, F1295, F1296, F1297, F1298, F1299, F1300, F1301, F1302, F1303, F1304, F1305, F1306, F1307, F1308, F1309, F1310, F1311, F1312, F1313, F1314, F1315, F1316, F1317, F1318, F1319, F1320, F1321, F1322, F1323, F1324, F1325, F1326, F1327, F1328, F1329, F1330, F1331, F1332, F1333, F1334, F1335, F1336, F1337, F1338, F1339, F1340, F1341, F1342, F1343, F1344, F1345, F1346, F1347, F1348, F1349, F1350, F1351, F1352, F1353, F1354, F1355, F1356, F1357, F1358, F1359, F1360, F1361, F1362, F1363, F1364, F1365, F1366, F1367, F1368, F1369, F1370, F1371, F1372, F1373, F1374, F1375, F1376, F1377, F1378, F1379, F1380, F1381, F1382, F1383, F1384, F1385, F1386, F1387, F1388, F1389, F1390, F1391, F1392, F1393, F1394, F1395, F1396, F1397, F1398, F1399, F1400, F1401, F1402, F1403, F1404, F1405, F1406, F1407, F1408, F1409, F1410, F1411, F1412, F1413, F1414, F1415, F1416, F1417, F1418, F1419, F1420, F1421, F1422, F1423, F1424, F1425, F1426, F1427, F1428, F1429, F1430, F1431, F1432, F1433, F1434, F1435, F1436, F1437, F1438, F1439, F1440, F1441, F1442, F1443, F1444, F1445, F1446, F1447, F1448, F1449, F1450, F1451, F1452, F1453, F1454, F1455, F1456, F1457, F1458, F1459, F1460, F1461, F1462, F1463, F1464, F1465, F1466, F1467, F1468, F1469, F1470, F1471, F1472, F1473, F1474, F1475, F1476, F1477, F1478, F1479, F1480, F1481, F1482, F1483, F1484, F1485, F1486, F1487, F1488, F1489, F1490, F1491, F1492, F1493, F1494, F1495, F1496, F1497, F1498, F1499, F1500, F1501, F1502, F1503, F1504, F1505, F1506, F1507, F1508, F1509, F1510, F1511, F1512, F1513, F1514, F1515, F1516, F1517, F1518, F1519, F1520, F1521, F1522, F1523, F1524, F1525, F1526, F1527, F1528, F1529, F1530, F1531, F1532, F1533, F1534, F1535, F1536, F1537, F1538, F1539, F1540, F1541, F1542, F1543, F1544, F1545, F1546, F1547, F1548, F1549, F1550, F1551, F1552, F1553, F1554, F1555, F1556, F1557, F1558, F1559, F1560, F1561, F1562, F1563, F1564, F1565, F1566, F1567, F1568, F1569, F1570, F1571, F1572, F1573, F1574, F1575, F1576, F1577, F1578, F1579, F1580, F1581, F1582, F1583, F1584, F1585, F1586, F1587, F1588, F1589, F1590, F1591, F1592, F1593, F1594, F1595, F1596, F1597, F1598, F1599, F1600, F1601, F1602, F1603, F1604, F1605, F1606, F1607, F1608, F1609, F1610, F1611, F1612, F1613, F1614, F1615, F1616, F1617, F1618, F1619, F1620, F1621, F1622, F1623, F1624, F1625, F1626, F1627, F1628, F1629, F1630, F1631, F1632, F1633, F1634, F1635, F1636, F1637, F1638, F1639, F1640, F1641, F1642, F1643, F1644, F1645, F1646, F1647, F1648, F1649, F1650, F1651, F1652, F1653, F1654, F1655, F1656, F1657, F1658, F1659, F1660, F1661, F1662, F1663, F1664, F1665, F1666, F1667, F1668, F1669, F1670, F1671, F1672, F1673, F1674, F1675, F1676, F1677, F1678, F1679, F1680, F1681, F1682, F1683, F1684, F1685, F1686, F1687, F1688, F1689, F1690, F1691, F1692, F1693, F1694, F1695, F1696, F1697, F1698, F1699, F1700, F1701, F1702, F1703, F1704, F1705, F1706, F1707, F1708, F1709, F1710, F1711, F1712, F1713, F1714, F1715, F1716, F1717, F1718, F1719, F1720, F1721, F1722, F1723, F1724, F1725, F1726, F1727, F1728, F1729, F1730, F1731, F1732, F1733, F1734, F1735, F1736, F1737, F1738, F1739, F1740, F1741, F1742, F1743, F1744, F1745, F1746, F1747, F1748, F1749, F1750, F1751, F1752, F1753, F1754, F1755, F1756, F1757, F1758, F1759, F1760, F1761, F1762, F1763, F1764, F1765, F1766, F1767, F1768, F1769, F1770, F1771, F1772, F1773, F1774, F1775, F1776, F1777, F1778, F1779, F1780, F1781, F1782, F1783, F1784, F1785, F1786, F1787, F1788, F1789, F1790, F1791, F1792, F1793, F1794, F1795, F1796, F1797, F1798, F1799, F1800, F1801, F1802, F1803, F1804, F1805, F1806, F1807, F1808, F1809, F1810, F1811, F1812, F1813, F1814, F1815, F1816, F1817, F1818, F1819, F1820, F1821, F1822, F1823, F1824, F1825, F1826, F1827, F1828, F1829, F1830, F1831, F1832, F1833, F1834, F1835, F1836, F1837, F1838, F1839, F1840, F1841, F1842, F1843, F1844, F1845, F1846, F1847, F1848, F1849, F1850, F1851, F1852, F1853, F1854, F1855, F1856, F1857, F1858, F1859, F1860, F1861, F1862, F1863, F1864, F1865, F1866, F1867, F1868, F1869, F1870, F1871, F1872, F1873, F1874, F1875, F1876, F1877, F1878, F1879, F1880, F1881, F1882, F1883, F1884, F1885, F1886, F1887, F1888, F1889, F1890, F1891, F1892, F1893, F1894, F1895, F1896, F1897, F1898, F1899, F1900, F1901, F1902, F1903, F1904, F1905, F1906, F1907, F1908, F1909, F1910, F1911, F1912, F1913, F1914, F1915, F1916, F1917, F1918, F1919, F1920, F1921, F1922, F1923, F1924, F1925, F1926, F1927, F1928, F1929, F1930, F1931, F1932, F1933, F1934, F1935, F1936, F1937, F1938, F1939, F1940, F1941, F1942, F1943, F1944, F1945, F1946, F1947, F1948, F1949, F1950, F1951, F1952, F1953, F1954, F1955, F1956, F1957, F1958, F1959, F1960, F1961, F1962, F1963, F1964, F1965, F1966, F1967, F1968, F1969

Findings and Recommendations 7 findings

F1
early adequate education for prevention
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Those letters which can be answered easily and with little delay should be completed ed immediately.
F2
early, sustained corrective treatment for the offender
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Those complaints which need further investigation and for which no quick answer was ·e possible will be sent a letter acknowledging receipt and proposed action. Some letters were summarized to the whole jury if the content seemed to justify this procedure. A few of the letters resulted in considerable discussion as to the best procedure to follow. Many were not within Grand Jury responsibility and were referred to other authority. To expedite action on the letters, the committee received excellent assistance from the office staff, ct legal advisor and investigator. They were diligent and objective in giving counsel and advice to committee members. Gerald A. Calhoun, Chairman, Criminal Complaints Committee Approved by Grand Jury November 30, 1970 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT Standing: Addison Quarles Lloyd Dickey Dan Donohue Turner Alexander Seated: Christine Mather Lucille Deasy, Secretary Ray Dodds, Chairman Patricia Krogstad Voris Marker For several years, a Smog Committee has been a part of each Los Angeles County Grand Jury This committee has attended a hearing before the Los Angeles Zoning Commission in regard to noise at International Airport. The committee was represented at the Mayor of Los Angeles Anti- pollution Conference. A meeting was held with Mr. Fuller just prior to his retirement as head of the Air Pollution Control District. A tour of the Long Beach and San Pedro Harbors in the city-owned launch, "Angelina", was made by the committee. An investigation into the chemistry of detergents was begun by a special task force and continued by the committee. It was learned that all detergents made in the United States since 1965 are biode- gradable. They break down in the sewage disposal plant into such components as to reduce the con- tamination of the bodies of water into which they flow. There is a difference of opinion as to the results in home cesspools. The Grand Jury took no affirmative action concerning the committee's resolution against oil drilling in San Pedro Harbor; it endorsed the committee's opinion that California should take part in the civil suit against the major automobile manufacturers, claiming collusion to prevent cleaner running engines. Letters concerning this action were sent to Governor Reagan and Attorney General Thomas J. Lynch. The committee has recognized that there is no simple answer to the problems of environmental control. Its hope is to help disseminate the basic truth that the so-called CONSUMER does not exist – there are only USERS. Nothing is ever destroyed, it only changes in form; the waste material is usually equivalent in volume to the original product. This is strikingly demonstrated by the old automobiles that clutter the It's a small world; all the extractive industries are working on an exhaustible supply. It is our plan and purpose to help set the processes of recycling and recovery in motion. On August 24th the Environmental Control Committee did another inspection of the harbors, this time as guests of the Los Angeles City Fire Department aboard a Fire Boat. In addition to the crew, who was very cooperative and informative, Mr. Roy Hampson of the State Water Quality Control Board was along to point out the factors that contribute to the problem. It was a pleasure to hear him say that their efforts had met with considerable success. The best evidence is that the water will again support some fish and animal life. Anchovies and seals have returned to the harbor and are present in considerable quantities. However, he pointed out a number of sources of pollution which indicated that their job is not complete. It seemed evident that a satisfactory patrol of the harbors and coast of the County, with the numerous sources of possible pollution, requires more than the two assigned to the task. The committee wrote to the Director to that effect. Consistent with the committee's previous position of opposing oil drilling in San Pedro Harbor, a state- ment was issued opposing exploratory core-hole drilling at Pacific Palisades Beach. With the approval of the Grand Jury, statements of this opinion were sent to the Board of Zoning Appeals and other interested parties. In pursuance of the subject of oil pollution, it was learned that Los Angeles City Ordinances allow an exploratory core-drilling permit without a public hearing. They also require that only owners of prop- erty within 300 feet of the site shall be notified. A recent change in the administrative rules of the City Department of Building and Safety requires an interested citizen to deposit $1,000 in cash or cashier's check and pay $20.00 per hour — minimum fee $20.00 - for the privilege of examining and drawing or blueprint on file. It is even being applied to plot plans. Both of these matters are, in the opinion of the committee, detrimental to the public welfare and the public knowledge so necessary to environmental control. All involved and interested parties have been so advised. Mr. Robert Chass, the new head of APCD, accepted the invitation to address the Grand Jury on Thurs- day, November 5. In reviewing the year, it seems that contributions toward improving the environment were miniscule. The committee hopes that it has aroused a few more people to the size and urgency of the problem, and that future Grand Juries will see the need to continue this task. RECOMMENDATIONS 1) A strong and sustained program should be instituted to educate people to the advan- tages of living near their work. The establishment of communities by industries could be a part of the plan.
F3
stiff enforcement of laws to get the seller for profit out of circulation and off the streets
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
That there be an annual management audit of the county which would reveal inefficiencies, waste and duplications not brought to light by the bookkeeping audit currently provided for by Statute. (See 1970 Grand Jury Contract Auditors Report.) 4) That when civil service salaries are set to be on a par with private, corporate salaries, such comparisons allow fully for the additional work security and other benefits accompanying civil service employment. Turner Alexander Catherine Corbin Curtis L. Mick Accepted by Grand Jury November 18, 1970 GRAND JURY FEES The three-member Task Force on Grand Jury fees investigated the present per diem ($10.00) in relation to present-day inflation, federal grand jury fees, and its historical purpose. The Task Force recommended and the Grand Jury accepted the following motion: "The 1970 Grand Jury recommends to the Board of Supervisors an amendment to the appropriate statute increasing the fee for grand jurors from $10.00 to $20.00 for each day's attendance." Lloyd Dickey, Chairman Daniel Donohue Don C. Seare Accepted by the Grand Jury September 28, 1970 GRAND JURY - GENERAL CONCERN This three-member Task Force researched, studied, and investigated the statutory and administrative provisions for the selecting, nominating, and installing the Los Angeles County Grand Jury. Further, it acted upon pending and anticipated legislation relative to holdover jurors (AB 197). The Grand Jury accepted the following report and motions on recommendations of this Task Force: 1) That the State Legislature and Governor be advised of this Grand Jury's opposition to AB 197 - three holdover grand jurors to be chosen by the presiding judge of the Superior Court for service on next year's jury. (The Governor vetoed this bill) 2) That the two drawings for grand jurors each year be advanced by one month (time of assuming duties not to be changed). Thus the final twenty-three jurors would be drawn the first Tuesday in December giving each juror time to study the necessary materials and re-arrange his schedule. 3) That the "Charge to the Grand Jury" be revised annually so as to contain the latest statutory provisions, and that all statutory
F4
regulation and control of production, distribution, importation of dangerous drugs and narcotics
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
An annual audit of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association's financial statements is performed by the Auditor-Controller's Audit Division. The audit includes a test count of securities held by the County Treasurer for the Retire- ment Association. However, no frequent test counts are made of the securities held by the Treasurer for the Los Angeles Unified or Los Angeles Junior College retirement funds. We believe the Auditor-Controller should periodically review and test the custodial functions performed by the Treasurer for these school district retirement funds. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Suggestions A) A standard format should be adopted so that all departments and institutions report the same kind of information to the Auditor-Controller. B) The information reported should include the name of the debtor, the name of the account receivable, the aging of the amount receivable, the classification (nature) of the receivable, and space for comments relating to its collectibility. C) Clear deadlines must be established and enforced for receipt of the accounts receivable information in the Auditor-Controller's office and a policy adopted whereby each depart- ment must submit a report. D) Procedures must be established to insure that all departments have included in their accounts receivable:
F5
Identify groups whose tasks are really carried out, or should be, by county or other governmental units.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The inventory activity reports prepared by Mechanical should be quarterly rather than annually so that action can be taken in a timely manner.
F6
Re-evaluate the need-effectiveness-cost of the groups." On November 15, 1967, "the CAO was instructed to periodically review the Board-appointed committees and commissions and report the results . . . to the members of the Board for their consideration." The CAO advised the 1968 \bar{G}rand Jury Audit Committee that" . . . we have made initial contact with 18 committees, . . ." and that "we plan to complete our review by September 30, 1969." In September 1970, the CAO wrote to the 1970 Contract Auditor that "...a limited amount of activity with regard to county commissions and committees has taken place since our last correspondence to you on November 18, 1968." The Contract Auditor advised this Audit Committee of the "limited progress in the making of periodic reviews and evaluations of these groups." From the lists supplied by the CAO, the Contract Auditor reports that: "1) Two commissions have been combined into one.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
We believe it incorrect to omit hospital inventories from County financial LAND, STRUCTURES AND IMPROVEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT: Corrective and Improvement Actions Suggested
F1970
Replies received (85% of dollar requests mailed) indicated that the Department's records were correct except for one account: The State Department of Water Resources contested a June 1969 billing for $545,642.74, of which the State had no record. A copy of the invoice is being resubmitted The Department's policy is to send unpaid accounts of government agencies or large corporations to the Road Fiscal Officer for review and action; however, it appears that there was insufficient followup on this particular invoice. We recommend that the Department make periodic reviews of the open invoice files to insure that all old invoices are investigated promptly for proper followup. REVENUES OF DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH: Suggestions A) We recommend that the Department take action to facilitate receipt of documents from its various facilities and/or use estimates based on best available information in order to insure that billings are made promptly. B) More aggressive collection action is indicated. REVENUES AND ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE - FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT: Suggestions A) At fiscal year-end the District should record its unbilled reimbursable expenditures as "unbilled receivables," with offsets to appropriate revenue accounts, and should record amounts collected in advance of related expenditures as "deferred credits" to revenue. B) A cost accounting system should be developed to segregate reimbursable expenditures from nonreimbursable expenditures at the point of origin whenever possible. This would expedite the billing process by eliminating to a great degree the tedious and time-consuming task of reviewing expenditure ledgers each time a billing is prepared. C) The District should fix the responsibility for insuring that all provisions of betterment agreements are complied with, including timely final accountings. EXPENDITURES FOR PAYROLLS: Corrective Actions Suggested 1) Steps should be taken to force compliance by departments with deadlines for reporting payroll information, so that it may be routinely processed through the computer. 2) Delays in the transmission of change information from departmental personnel and payroll sections should be eliminated by the establishment and enforcement of dead- line dates. Forms for the submission of information from personnel section to the payroll section of a department should be prenumbered so that they can be accounted To expedite changes into payroll system, consideration should be given to the possibil- ity of having change in status reports prepared by departmental personnel sections for direct submission to Special Claims, with copies to the departmental payroll sections and to the County Personnel Department. 3) Existing deadlines on the submission of absence reports by departments to Special Claims should be enforced. Departmental time clerks should report absences daily so that the departmental payroll sections will have the necessary information for the timely preparation of absence reports. Before a final salary check is given to a teminating employee, the salary rate used by 4) 3 the departmental payroll section should be verified by Special Claims. 5) A policy should be established and enforced for the timely reporting of overtime to be paid for. Computer programs should be modified to provide for automatic verification of pay rates and computation of overtime pay. 6) Regulations of the Internal Revenue relating to retention of withholding exemption certificates should be followed. 7) The problem of duplicate employee numbers is due to the use of five-digit maximum employee number (99,999 is the highest available) for approximately 85,000 different employees paid during each year. The high level of turnover requires frequent reuse of old employee numbers. By adjusting the programs to accept a six-digit number, 999,999 numbers would be available, the reuse of numbers eliminated for many years. If this suggestion presents a major problem in redesigning the computer system, an alternative is to use an alphabetical character as the first digit of the employee number. This would expand the available numbers to approximately 260,000. As a minimum procedure, an edit step should be added to the computer program to check its file for duplicate numbers every time the payroll is processed. If the County desires to continue issuing their former numbers to rehired employees, the computer would catch duplicates as soon as they enter the system and corrective action can be taken. 8) For better control of unclaimed warrants, consideration sould be given to the use of a te suspense control account with a periodic detailed listing of the warrants. Release of an unclaimed warrant should be only upon the written approval of a responsible Special Claims employee, and the unclaimed warrants on hand should be compared at surprise intervals with the detail listing. 9) We recommend a change in the method of computing deductions from pay for un- excused absences to a system which is based upon annualized working days rather than calendar days in the month of occurrence. 10) To minimize the possibility of human error and to eliminate the cost and time re- quired for the manual computation of monthly salary rates, we suggest the incorpora- tion of the required factors into the computer program so that the monthly salary g rate for each employee can be computed automatically and placed in the computer master file. Special pay rates for certain employees could also be built into the system. 11) Meaningful controls should be built into the computer program. Hours worked and gross and net pay would seem to be the logical control totals. For example, routines could be built into existing programs to compare the number of overtime or total hours input to some reasonable limit. Any item exceeding this amount would give rise to an exception listing which would be forwarded to the control group for resolution prior to the distribution of payroll checks. The same approach could be taken with regard to both gross and net pay. In this manner, any unreasonable salary (and hours) would be flagged for closer scrutiny. 12) We think meaningful control totals (such as document counts or total number of hours and/or days absent) could be used to minimize the chances of data loss or conversion error during the master file updating process for employee absence information. The need for control totals during updating is emphasized by the fact that once information is placed on the master file the pay calculation is directly affected. Batch control totals would facilitate location of potential errors. 13) Magnetic tapes in use should not be available to computer room personnel. While it may not be economically feasible to have a library area and librarian for the Admin- istrative Data Center alone (the volume of tapes is not that great), it would seem reasonable to bring the files for the Property, Justice and Administrative Data Center utilize the library and librarian of one of the two adjoining centers. Closing Comments It is apparent from our findings that many of the problems in processing the County's huge payroll are due to the handling of paperwork at the individual departmental level by both a personnel section and a payroll section. When the proposed computerized PPBR (Personnel, Payroll, Budget and Retirement) system is installed, perhaps a year and a half from now, it is to be hoped that many of the functions of the departmental personnel and payroll sections can be eliminated and that these sections will be consol- idated so that duplicate handling (and cost) of data before transmission to the Auditor-Controller's Special Claims section can be avoided. BUREAU OF RESOURCES AND COLLECTIONS: Corrections Indicated A) The BRC receivable records should be computerized to aid in controlling accounts and to provide more timely and analytical information on the accounts receivable. B) BRC should upgrade the security of its records. C) Outstanding field receipt forms should be audited by either the Auditor-Controller or BRC on a frequent and surprise basis. WELFARE EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES: Corrective Actions Needed 1) To guard against the entry of false data into the system that produces automatic pay- ment warrants, we recommend that a daily listing be prepared by the Data Center of all new cases entered into data processing by teletype from each District Office. These listings should be sent to and reviewed by district supervisors, and the information should be verified to case files on a test basis. 2) Cash payments made at district offices should be eliminated. A pilot program of writing checks in lieu of cash payments is currently being tested at two District Offices. We recommend that check writing be initiated at all District Offices, eliminating the need for cash payments and providing the basis for State and Federal sharing of these payments. 3) We recommend that controls be established so that automatic payments are stopped pending periodic redeterminations of eligibility. 4) Although conclusions should not be drawn from the very limited number of payment warrants and case files we examined, the results were not encouraging and do lead to a suspicion that welfare disbursements may not be well controlled. The Auditor- Controller's Audit Division staff may want to pick up our testing of warrants and case files to determine if controls are in fact as poor as they at first appear to be. 5) We again suggest that a checklist be established in DPSS to control the receipt of billings from other County departments, to insure that all expenses are included in reimbursement claims and on a timely basis. 6) Welfare Data Center: We believe that our suggestions for the Data Center are self-evident within the fore- going comments under "Findings". 7) Develop and implement the necessary controls to prevent fraudulent conspiracies so that there cannot be a reoccurrence of the kinds of situations which led to the recent Grand Jury indictments. As this report goes to press, formal replies are being received or will shortly be received by the Commit- tee from the Chief Administrative Officer, the Auditor-Controller, and the various County department heads to whom we distributed the Contract Auditor's report.* These replies will be evaluated by the Contract Auditor and the Audit Committee and will be included or summarized in the Contract Auditor's final composite report, to be issued under date of November 10, 1970. In addition to the audit of the County's financial statements discussed in the preceding paragraphs, we requested the Contract Auditor to follow and report back to us on significant prior years' Grand Jury examination recommendations and unsettled points in a number of County departments. In general, the Contract Auditor's reports to us on the current status or on action completed or action taken on the various items which we asked him to follow indicated to us that County departments, after a period of time and internal investigation and reverification, usually adopt the majority of Grand Jury examination-oriented recommendations. We also directed the Contract Auditor to make a brief review of recent annual financial statements of self-governing special-purpose districts within the County. No unusual or significant problems appeared from that review. For detailed information on specific findings refer to our Contract Auditor's Final Report for 1970 on file with the Grand Jury. Douglas A. White Chairman Audit Committee *Honorable Joseph A. Wapner : Citizens Economy and Efficiency Committee Presiding Judge, Superior Court Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Honorable George M. Dell Town Hall Judge, Superior Court Property Owners Tax Association of California Each Member of the Board of Supervisors California Taxpayers' Association Clerk, Board of Supervisors Chief Administrative Officer Auditor-Controller Approved by the Grand Jury November 12, 1970 CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE REPORT Standing: Don Seare Harmon Bennett Ray Dodds Turner Alexander Seated: Lucille Deasy Olive Jackson, Secretary Gerald Calhoun, Chairman Grace Wiener Christine Mather The 1970 Criminal Complaints Committee consisted of nine members who met each Tuesday morning in advance of the general meeting to hear requests for hearings by the complete jury. It was felt that nine was the optimum number. A larger number might have proved unwieldy. A majority vote was necessary to have the request placed on the calendar. The presentation of known facts by either a Deputy Attorney General or Deputy District Attorney was followed by discussion and vote. The calendar dates and a brief summary were given to the full jury when they convened. The eleven months covered in this report resulted in 54 requests for hearings, all of which were presented to the Grand Jury. Of these hearings, 51 resulted in indictments. In 6 cases there was no indictment returned against a total of 9 persons. The time involved in these hearings ranged from one hour to seven days. A total of 102 days was spent on criminal hearings up to December 1. These 102 days were from a total of 173 working sessions of the full jury, or 60% of Grand Jury time. A total of 412 counts were charged in the indictments against 172 persons. Two cases were presented by a Deputy Attorney General, the other 52 by members of the District Attorney's staff. Of the 102 days spent on criminal hearings, five days were given to a special investigation by the District Attorney's office. In this instance, no indictments have been returned, and the investigation is continu- ing into December. In addition to those listed above, there were five hearings scheduled for November and December. These hearings are tentatively scheduled for a total of ten days. A similar caseload is anticipated in the remaining weeks of the year. The indictments returned may be summarized under the following headings: Crime Number of Indictments Filed 6 Murder Robbery 1 Assault (by police) 1 Assault and Battery 2 Bribery and Conspiracy to Bribe 3 Fraud (Real Estate) 1 Fraud (Welfare) 2 Fraud (Corporation) 1 Extortion 2 Kidnapping and Burglary 2 Abortion and Conspiracy to Violate Abortion Laws 1 Narcotics 6 Numbers Conspiracy 1 Shoplifting Conspiracy 1 Grand Theft, Conspiracy and Forgery 15 Arson 1 Grand Theft (Real Estate) 1 Grand Theft (Trade Secrets) 1 Illegal Possession Weapons, Explosives and Conspiracy to Commit Murder 2 Burglary, Forgery, and Receiving Stolen Property 1 Letters from citizens and civic organizations to the Criminal Complaints Committee have totaled 176 to date. A letter-reading sub-committee was used to read and evaluate the content and to assist in answering. If this sub-committee or committee members felt that the content merited further investigation, such investigation was conducted by the jury's investigator. Findings were then returned to the committee Chairman and reported to other members. By vote of the committee, the answering policy was expedited in the following manner: 1. Those letters which can be answered easily and with little delay should be completed ed immediately.
No recommendations for this finding

Additional Recommendations 9

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

Conclusions 10

* 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.