San Benito County Grand Jury
• 2022-2023
2022 / 2023 San Benito County - Civil Grand Jury Final Report*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 5 findings
F1
Changes to local roadways, including speedbumps, roundabouts, realignment and "traffic calming measures" have an impact on emergency response times, and may potentially increase damage and maintenance to emergency response vehicles.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
2019 California Fire Code (CFC) Section 503.4.1 states that "Traffic calming devices shall be prohibited unless approved by the Fire Code Official". The city, county and Hollister Fire administration must communicate and work collaboratively on any changes to local roads in order to minimize negative impacts to fire and emergency response personnel and the community.
F2
Over 12 months ago, the Fire Department Union members voted to implement the "48/96" schedule plan. This plan is favored especially by those staff with significant commute times. Additionally, it will likely have a positive effect on the ability to recruit as well as retain firefighting staff.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The "48/96" scheduling management plan, as approved by the union, should be implemented as soon as possible and certainly within the next 6 months, including necessary updates and modifications to the policy and procedure manual.
F3
Emergency personnel are exceptionally exposed to both physical and mental health stressors. Staff are highly aware of the toll their chosen career exacts on the body and mind. Mental health services and peer support are available however participation is not encouraged, and resources are underutilized.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Mental health services, critical incident stress management and a formal peer support team should be implemented as the highest priority. Mental health professionals must be incorporated into regular stress management debriefing. Discontinue the current practice of using ranking staff to conduct stress management debriefs, a practice that is deeply contrary to internationally recognized CISM standards because it fails to create an environment in which personnel can speak freely.
F4
Policy and Procedure manuals are not updated, maintained, clear and available to all personnel. Management lacks continuity between shifts as well as stations causing dissent amongst personnel. As staff members are promoted to management positions, there is a lack of training and mentoring for those newly promoted persons.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Policy and Procedure manuals should be clear, regularly maintained, and readily available to all personnel. The Chief and Battalion Chiefs should reference these materials to support their troops and the mission regularly. The Chief and Battalion Chiefs would benefit from additional leadership training courses.
F5
Collectively the CSA residents don't have a voice for CSA concerns and are not advised of scheduling of when service projects are to be performed.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The CSA Coordinator should create a forum, either semi-annually or quarterly, to inform CSA homeowners when the service projects will be scheduled and completed, and post information to the County website so residents of CSAs can find information regarding their CSA without having to rely on staff. Response Required: California Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that a response to the recommendations found in this final report be delivered to the presiding judge of San Benito County Superior Court. The Grand Jury request responses as follows: From the San Benito County Board of Supervisors Affected Agencies: San Benito County Supervisors San Benito County RMA Director Attached Exhibit: San Benito County Approved Fiscal Budget for 2022/2023. ÷ HOLLISTER A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A COUNTY OF SAN BENITO ADOPTED BUDGET
* 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.