Executive Summary The 2018/2019 San Diego County Grand Jury (Grand Jury) found that the process set

Findings 3 findings

F01

Elected officials who set their own compensation and pensions may have an inherent conflict of interest. Fact: A proposed charter amendment requires a majority vote of the registered voters to be enacted. Fact: Changing the process for setting the compensation for the Board of Supervisors requires an amendment to the county charter. Fact: Supervisors in General Law Counties establish their salaries by ordinance which is subject to a referendum of the electorate. Fact: In California, 6 of the other 13 Charter Counties in California have provisions in their charters which limit their supervisors’ ability to increase their compensation without a vote of the people.

F02

A charter amendment to limit the ability of elected officials to set their own compensation would eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest.

F03

A charter amendment would give voters the ability to influence the compensation of their elected officials.

Recommendations 4

R4

San Francisco: Charter mandates that salary be set by the independent Civil Service Commission
R5

San Mateo: Charter provides that raises cannot exceed the increase in the Consumer Price Index for the Bay Area, up to a maximum of 5% per year
R6

Tehama: Charter establishes a flat salary for members of the Board of Supervisors Witness Interviews: The Grand Jury interviewed representatives from local taxpayer advocacy and voter education groups. While there was no consensus on specific limitations that might be applied, the witnesses all agreed that some restrictions should be adopted to place limits on Supervisors for setting their own salary. One of the suggestions requires that a proposed charter amendment be drafted and put on a future ballot for voter approval. The Grand Jury interviewed a majority of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. There was consensus that the salary increases were deserved and commensurate with the county’s budget and population. At the same time, they indicated that the process of voting for their own salaries put them in a difficult position. Although they all believed that the current formula would not be changed anytime soon, and that a charter amendment would not be necessary, two supervisors said they could support a charter amendment that would limit their ability to set their own salary. Suggested Charter Amendment Options: In light of the above, the Grand Jury is suggesting a charter amendment that would limit the ability of Supervisors to determine their own salary and give voters some influence on the process. There is a precedent for such an amendment, since six other charter counties have charter provisions limiting their supervisors’ salaries. The Grand Jury is proposing that the Board consider the three following options for a charter amendment and consider placing at least one of them on an upcoming ballot: Option A: Add a sentence to Charter Section 402, requiring that any proposed ordinance changing the formula used to determine supervisor salaries, be submitted by the board to the people for enactment by popular vote, under Elections Code Section
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Consider placing on an upcoming ballot an amendment to

Agency Responses 3

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

County of San Diego

July 29, 2019 • 28 pages • 3 responses • Score: +1 (+2, 0, -1) View Details ▾

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3 responses to findings and recommendations

F01

Elected officials who set their own compensation and pensions may have an inherent conflict of interest. Fact: A proposed charter amendment requires a majority vote of the registered voters to be enacted. Fact: Changing the process for setting the compensation for the Board of Supervisors requires an amendment to the county charter. Fact: Supervisors in General Law Counties establish their salaries by ordinance which is subject to a referendum of the electorate. Fact: In California, 6 of the oth...

Response: Disagree Score: -1

The County of San Diego remains committed to building upon existing work to expand long-term residential bed capacity, with concrete plans to add more beds, which allows individuals to move to a lower level of care when appropriate. These critical steps, along with broader planning across the continuum of care, all create opportunities to reduce administrative days. Finding 04: There are facilities within San Diego County that purposely limit their psychiatric beds to 16 to comply with the Medi-Cal IMD Exclusion. Response: The County of San Diego Chief Administrative Officer disagrees with thi...

F02

A charter amendment to limit the ability of elected officials to set their own compensation would eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest.

Response: Agree Score: +1

The County of San Diego Chief Administrative Officer agrees with . this finding. It is prudent to ensure patients are in the most appropriate level of care and that care costs align with their needs. Unnecessary administrative day costs can occur when a patient remains in a setting that delivers high-intensity services when transfer to a lower level of care is not available and discharge back to home or community is not appropriate.

F03

A charter amendment would give voters the ability to influence the compensation of their elected officials.

Response: Agree Score: +1

The County of San Diego Chief Administrative Officer agrees with this finding. Additional step-down facilities could create opportunities to reduce administrative days however this is not the only answer. Developing other services, especially lower intensity outpatient services, offers a connection to ongoing support which may prevent individuals from entering an inpatient setting to begin with, thus supporting the broader goal of chronic illness management as noted in the Response to

San Diego City Council

December 11, 2019 • 12 pages • 3 responses • Score: +1 (+1, 0, 0) View Details ▾

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3 responses to findings and recommendations

F01

Elected officials who set their own compensation and pensions may have an inherent conflict of interest. Fact: A proposed charter amendment requires a majority vote of the registered voters to be enacted. Fact: Changing the process for setting the compensation for the Board of Supervisors requires an amendment to the county charter. Fact: Supervisors in General Law Counties establish their salaries by ordinance which is subject to a referendum of the electorate. Fact: In California, 6 of the oth...

Response: Unknown Score: 0

, the City has installed hundreds of scooter/SMD corrals, and there have been recent collections efforts by scooter companies to deal with improper scooter staging. The City is also implementing enforcement measures as discussed in the

F02

A charter amendment to limit the ability of elected officials to set their own compensation would eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest.

Response: Unknown Score: 0

; Notices of Violation (NOVs) sent to Bird, JUMP, Lime, Lyft, and Skip on August ٠ 8, 2019; issuance to-date of six Administrative Citations (ACs) to SMD companies for ٠ improper staging of SMDs; and initiation of a non-compliance proceeding and a Notice of Intent to Revoke the SMD permit from Lime, dated August 16, 2019. A related Administrative Hearing began October 24, 2019 and was continued to October 28. Once the hearing is completed, the Hearing Officer will have 30 days to render findings. Ongoing efforts related to enforcement of scooter/SMD regulations include: The City has retained S...

F03

A charter amendment would give voters the ability to influence the compensation of their elected officials.

Response: Agree Score: +1

The City Council agrees with the Grand Jury's finding.

San Diego Sheriff Department

July 31, 2019 • 14 pages • 3 responses • Score: +1 (+1, 2, 0) View Details ▾

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3 responses to findings and recommendations

F01

Elected officials who set their own compensation and pensions may have an inherent conflict of interest. Fact: A proposed charter amendment requires a majority vote of the registered voters to be enacted. Fact: Changing the process for setting the compensation for the Board of Supervisors requires an amendment to the county charter. Fact: Supervisors in General Law Counties establish their salaries by ordinance which is subject to a referendum of the electorate. Fact: In California, 6 of the oth...

Response: Disagree Partially Score: 0

The Sheriff's Department disagrees in part with the finding. Not all suicides can be prevented, as noted by the Grand Jury's citation to an inmate using food to suffocate himself. However, the Sheriff's Department is constantly trying to minimize the mechanisms that an inmate might utilize to attempt suicide. The Department agrees that altering the vents, in individual cells, by reducing the diameter of the ventilation opening from a half inch square to a hole three sixteenths of an inch would make it more difficult for an inmate to utilize the vent to commit suicide. <b>

F02

A charter amendment to limit the ability of elected officials to set their own compensation would eliminate any perception of a conflict of interest.

Response: Disagree Partially Score: 0

The Sheriff's Department disagrees in part with this finding. The Sheriff's Department agrees that it provides mental health services to an increasing number of inmates. However, we disagree with the Grand Jury's finding that some inmates could be better rehabilitated in other facilities. The Sheriff's Department has allocated mental health personnel in all detention facilities. We continue to expand our mental health services for those who are legally required to remain in our custody, and we facilitate the transfer of those legally ordered to other mental health facilities within the State o...

F03

A charter amendment would give voters the ability to influence the compensation of their elected officials.

Response: Agree Score: +1

The Sheriff's Department agrees with this finding. Our Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility is the only one of our seven facilities built within the past twenty years. Its design utilized the latest in detentions design elements and supports our post criminal justice realignment population. All the other detention facilities are at least twenty years old, however; they were considered state of the art at the time they were built. Over a period of time, advancements in technology and design, coupled with a new older and more criminally sophisticated population, increase the rate at which ...

No Responses Found 4

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

San Diego County Assessor Elected County Office

San Diego County County Clerk-Recorder Elected County Office

San Diego County District Attorney Elected County Office

San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Elected County Office