Shasta Area Safety Communications Agency Reason for Inquiry:

The Ralph M. Brown Act is California’s open meeting law for local governmental bodies. The Act is found in sections 54950, et seq., of the Government Code and requires, in general terms, that governing bodies of local public entities, including joint powers agencies, must maximize public access to and involvement in the governing bodies’ meetings by posting their agendas and holding their meetings in locations freely accessible to the public. The Brown Act further prohibits the governing body from placing conditions on attendance at the board’s meetings, including a prohibition against requiring attendees to register. The Grand Jury attended the January 12, 2004 meeting of the SHASCOM Board of Directors. This meeting was held in SHASCOM’s facility, which is surrounded by gated security fencing. In order to enter the facility, the public must request permission to enter the locked parking lot by speaker box. Access to the building itself is gained by requesting the door be unlocked. In order to attend the meeting, a visitor is required to sign a visitor’s log. The SHASCOM Board of Director’s posts its agendas inside its facility, a location that is not freely accessible to the general public. As part of its investigation, the Grand Jury confirmed by interviews that since 2002, SHASCOM’s Board of Directors meetings have been held in the secured building, that their agendas were posted inside the building and that persons were required to sign a visitor’s log. These practices are still on going.

SHASCOM has implemented Reverse 911 as recommended by the 2000/2001 Grand Jury. Reverse 911 allows SHASCOM to notify citizens by telephone in a specific geographic area of an existing or impending emergency.

There are only 19 active dispatchers out of the 34 allocated positions. The reasons for this shortage are an inability to obtain qualified trainees, stress, mandatory overtime, on-call requirements and salaries that are not high enough to attract lateral transfers from other 911 dispatch centers.

Mandatory overtime is a condition of employment.

SHASCOM has a budget surplus of approximately $280,000 for the 2003/2004 fiscal year and an estimated $80,000 surplus for the 2004/2005 fiscal year. These surpluses are scheduled to be refunded to the user agencies at the end of each fiscal year.

SHASCOM uses five radio channels: Redding Police, Shasta County Sheriff, Services Channel, Fire and Emergency Medical Services. All dispatchers are required to be proficient on either the Redding Police or Shasta County Sheriff Office channel, plus the Services Channel, the Fire Channel and the Emergency Medical Services Channel. Six dispatchers are cross-trained on both RPD and SCSO Channels and receive a 5 % pay increase for being proficient on both.

SHASCOM Board of Directors has four voting members. This means there is no tie- breaking vote.

SHASCOM offers a $500 hiring bonus to potential lateral transfers.