Peralta Community College District:

Conclusions 3

• CL1
  Effective educational institutions that foster learning and achievement most often excel by delivering programs and services laser-focused on students. Per the ACCJC, ethical and effective leadership throughout an organization is an essential component that helps lead to such success. Over the better part of the last decade, Peralta’s Board of Trustees have lost sight of this with board members’ infighting and some treating executive leadership as the enemy while battling for control amongst themselves. While state educational authorities warned the institution was in threat of financial insolvency and its colleges were dangerously close to losing accreditation, the Peralta Board of Trustees failed to use a team approach to solve the problems it faced. In 2019, the board brought in a new chancellor who began to address many of the state’s financial concerns, yet individual trustees’ insistence on controlling the traditional roles delegated to the chancellor contributed to her resignation in less than nine months. The chancellor’s letter of resignation highlighted unhealthy board governance that had lasted for years. Controlling administrative hires, encouraging a culture of infighting, and disrespectful exchanges at meetings were common occurrences and confirmed by the grand jury. Black administrators felt as though the attacks were racially motivated. Claims of backroom dealing and secret meetings displayed abandonment of good governance and sound ethical standards. Renewed calls by state educational authorities to address governance required action. The grand jury acknowledges and commends the Peralta Board of Trustees for adopting a board Statement of Cooperation that was the culmination of a longer process of self-evaluation in 2020. It is also commendable that the board brought in FCMAT and consultants to develop 34 2020-2021 Alameda County Grand Jury Final Report ____________________________________________________________________________________ plans to address many of FCMAT’s recommendations for change. The board also moved quickly to fill the chancellor’s position after a series of resignations, yet there is significant concern by many that some key reforms may be abandoned. Problems related to long-term declining enrollment and fiscal instability demand leadership, vision, and collaboration between trustees and administrators. As one statewide educational expert warned, the Peralta board will continue to get in trouble, make small efforts to improve, then go back to their old ways. Within months of the adoption of the statement of cooperation, another chancellor, who was serving in an interim capacity, resigned and the grand jury found that some of the key ongoing board governance concerns have not been resolved. Cohesion, civility, trust, and mutual respect are critical elements of an effective governing board. Tension, poor communication, lack of unified goals, and divisive individual behavior at Peralta have resulted in the board's inability to fulfill its mandate effectively. Interference in the traditional roles of the chancellor, secret meetings, and backroom dealing destroy staff morale and the board’s relationship with the administrative team. Without reform or change in board behavior, Peralta’s students, so in need of this essential institution, will continue to suffer.
• CL2
  The legitimacy of any system of justice relies on broad public support. The “quality” or “effectiveness” of the justice system is traditionally understood in terms of crimes and punishments. The focus is on apprehending perpetrators and holding them accountable for the consequences of their wrongful acts. These are legitimate concerns of course, but the 49 2020-2021 Alameda County Grand Jury Final Report ____________________________________________________________________________________ traditional perspective tends to overlook the victims of crimes—understood not only as persons injured or damaged by criminal conduct, but also as key participants in the establishment and maintenance of justice in our communities. As with the justice system generally, assessments of police policy and conduct—including assessments of overt or systemic racial bias and inequity in law enforcement—must remember the victims. Further research is needed into the reasons for the disparate rates of cooperativeness and involvement denials for victim compensation. Greater emphasis by OPD and city officials on the programs mentioned in this report may lead not only to improved compliance with state mandates and progressive policing practices, but may also improve traditional measures of law enforcement performance, such as arrest and closure rates. Attention to these issues as part of a broader effort to address racial equity in law enforcement would likely improve community support for the police and would be an important step in improving fairness and equality in the criminal justice system.
• CL3
  For the reasons described above, the ballot questions we reviewed generally fell short of what voters have a right to expect. Although such outcomes are predictable based on the drafting processes used by government entities, and indeed have come to be expected by many voters used to reading ballot questions written in a style that has become commonplace, the grand jury believes such outcomes are not acceptable and should be resisted by all those with a role in observing the legal requirements for accuracy and impartiality. In our interviews, we found officials who are responsible for preparing questions to be sincere in their desire to meet the standards for accuracy and impartiality, even while their overarching goal in drafting the questions was to promote voter approval. All things considered, we understand how questions end up reading the way they do. As we have found, the root of the problem is inherent in the process by which questions are prepared, in combination with the standards applied in the event they are challenged. Given the dynamics of these processes, and the challenges faced by local governments who must appeal to voters to approve many of their plans and programs, it is difficult to imagine the problematic nature of ballot questions changing without some legislative or institutional initiative to spur improvement. 69 2020-2021 Alameda County Grand Jury Final Report ____________________________________________________________________________________ In recognition of these practical realities, the grand jury proposes that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors create an advisory commission composed of impartial and representative citizen volunteers committed to the ideals of accuracy and impartiality, who would review and rate ballot questions according to applicable legal standards as well as general principles of transparency and objectivity. Jurisdictions could submit questions for review on a voluntary basis, in parallel to the development of the questions. The commission would be empowered to develop a 0 to 10 rating or a simple “fair/unfair” or “pass/fail” rating, and would rate all questions in each election, after their adoption, regardless of whether a jurisdiction had submitted the question to the panel for review. In this way jurisdictions would have an incentive to have their questions reviewed prior to adoption, so as to obtain a favorable rating. The advisory panel would also assist jurisdictions in developing better questions, by serving as a neutral appraiser of questions for which there could be divergent views within a particular agency. By reviewing and rating questions based on uniform standards, the proposed panel would also promote greater uniformity in question language, facilitating voters’ understanding. The grand jury believes such a panel and process would improve the overall quality of ballot questions and enhance the legitimacy of elections in which ballot measures are approved or rejected. Alameda County could become the state’s leader for fairness and transparency in government.

No Responses Found 1

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