Sacramento County Grand Jury
2010-2011
From the annual report
The consolidated year-end volume. The individual investigations it contains are listed separately below.
📑 Year-End Report
The full consolidated volume; individual reports are listed below.
Individual reports (7)
Findings & Recommendations
2 findings
F1:
0 The basis for the California State Community Care Licensing Division's refusal to continue granting waivers to the thirty day limit on the Children’s Receiving Home's service to some children under six years of age has not been documented.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
1 That the Children’s Receiving Home continue to press the California State Community Care Licensing Division for a written statement of their reasons for terminating the approval of waivers in selected cases.
F2:
0 The current thirty day limit to the Children’s Receiving Home's service to all children under six is not in the best interests of some of these children.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
1 That once the California State Community Care Licensing Division's reasoning has been explained, the Children’s Receiving Home develop its case for renewing waivers and, if necessary, seek any statutory and regulatory changes required to make that possible. Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to indicated
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Findings & Recommendations
14 findings
F1:
0 Measure B promised the voters the new district would have a streamlined administration and the cost savings would allow for more dollars for students in the classrooms. When compared to other large school districts in Sacramento County, the grand jury has found Twin Rivers has a higher number of administrators.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
1 Twin Rivers must immediately reduce the number and expense of top level administrators and put the savings into classrooms.
F2:
0 Measure B promised the voters the district would have an articulated pre K– 12 curriculum. After three years, some curriculum has been aligned using existing materials from the four districts and is fragmented at best, with little or no social studies or science being taught in elementary schools.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
1 Twin Rivers must immediately develop, fund and implement a comprehensive pre K–12 articulated curriculum plan for all core subjects, including social studies and science.
F3:
0 The decision to hire a superintendent without unification experience, without secondary school leadership experience and without construction management experience has impeded the unification goals of Twin Rivers.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3:
1 Prior to the contract expiration of the present superintendent, a nationwide search should be conducted for a superintendent with the qualifications that include experience in unification, secondary school leadership and construction management.
F4:
0 The history of unification attempts and testimony to the grand jury clearly shows animosity and negativity towards the former Grant district and its employees.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4:
1 The Twin Rivers Board and superintendent must take responsibility for creating a more diverse group of key personnel from all four of the unifying districts, including Grant.
F5:
0 The Board of Trustees has acquired additional property for its district office, in the form of a 99 year lease and at a cost of $14M, despite the availability of existing district property.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5:
1 The Board of Trustees must better utilize existing buildings, and be more judicious in the spending of scarce district funds.
F6:
0 The Board of Trustees voted to stop the ENEC project resulting in approximately a $60M closure cost. 72 -2011
Related Recommendations (1)
R6:
1 Twin Rivers must immediately develop and implement a short and long term plan for the use of ENEC, as well as a timeline and budget for the project.
F7:
0 As of April 1, 2011, the storage and insurance costs for some building materials is $132,000 and continues at $3,000 per month. The security and utility bill for the closed ENEC project is $12,500 per month. This does not include unknown amounts for storage costs of building materials in Texas.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7:
1 The Board of Trustees should be informed of the ongoing storage costs and must immediately work to resolve this financial drain on the district.
F8:
0 After almost three years as a unified school district, the district has not merged equipment inventories nor has it completed a physical inventory of the four unifying districts.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
1 The district must immediately complete a comprehensive physical inventory and merge equipment inventories from the four unifying districts.
F9:
0 In the opinion of the grand jury, the use of outside counsel hired by the Twin Rivers Board of Trustees has consumed too much general fund money.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9:
1 The Board of Trustees must analyze and evaluate the costs of using outside counsel in comparison to the cost of hiring in-house legal staff.
F10:
0 Twin Rivers Board of Trustees’ decision to file four lawsuits against former Grant district personnel and companies that have done business with the Grant district, led to the spending of nearly $1M of general fund money to date.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10:
1 The Board of Trustees must conduct a monthly review of the status and costs of each lawsuit involving Twin Rivers.
F11:
0 The Sacramento County Grand Jury questions whether it is illegal or, at best, ill-advised for Fund 24 bond money to be used in the litigation against a party that is not engaged in construction projects. Twin Rivers Unified School District: Lack of Trust + Lost Opportunities = Children’s Loss 73
Related Recommendations (1)
R11:
1 The Board of Trustees must stop using Fund 24 bond money as a source of funds for Twin Rivers v. CFS, et al.
F12:
0 According to witness testimony to the grand jury, geographic and ethnic communities are not being adequately represented by board members who are elected at large by the entire district.
Related Recommendations (1)
R12:
1 A more equitable election process would provide that the trustees be elected directly from their individual districts rather than at large.
F13:
0 Many sixth grade students transitioning to middle school have not been afforded the opportunity to select from the various middle school options, because the district office has limited the invitations to special programs.
Related Recommendations (1)
R13:
1 The Board of Trustees, using a wide variety of strategies and resources, must insure that parents of all students are made aware of all programs offered to students by the district, including those programs offered by dependent charter schools.
F14:
0 Some community members from various ethnic groups do not believe they are respected by the Board of Trustees and the Twin Rivers Superintendent. These community members have stated that the needs and concerns they have repeatedly expressed continue to be disregarded.
Related Recommendations (1)
R14:
1 The Board of Trustees and the Twin Rivers Superintendent should engage in active listening and consistent responsive communications, and encourage the involvement of all members of the Twin Rivers communities.
Findings & Recommendations
9 findings
F1:
1 There was no evidence of criminal activity by Sacramento County employees or undue influence held by Ingentra over Sacramento County employees.
F2:
1 There was no comprehensive assessment or worst case analysis of the financial risk the county could incur with the proposed contract during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
1 Involve risk management and the County Counsel while developing the RFP specifications for “special” contracts. A “special” contract is one that is the first of its kind for Sacramento County, a materially significant contract because of the amount of money involved in the transaction, or a complex contract.
F3:
1 There was no mechanism for recognizing the significance of exceptions to or from the specifications offered by bidders.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3:
1 Bid evaluators should be instructed to bring any exception or variance from the established specifications to the attention of the purchasing department. The “purchasing department” refers to the purchasing department in whichever county agency originates the RFP process, not just the Purchasing Department contained within the Department of General Services.
F4:
1 The RFP process did not adequately check the backgrounds and reliability of bidders in special contracts, as defined in Recommendation 2.1, or when the bidder is a small corporation or business like Ingentra.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4:
1 Reference checking should include credit and asset checks of the bidders plus litigation searches to look for lawsuits against the bidder and/or bidders’ principals in jurisdictions in which the bidder has done or is doing business.
F5:
1 There was no requirement that the bidders carry employee dishonesty and computer fraud insurance.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5:
1 Require employee dishonesty and computer fraud insurance in all cases in which the contractor handles public funds and makes payments to third parties. Require Sacramento County to be named an additional insured in the policies.
F6:
1 Sacramento County used no mechanism to determine if the IRS or the California taxing agencies actually received the proper amount of withheld payroll taxes. 30 -2011
Related Recommendations (1)
R6:
1 For any payroll services contract, or any contract involving a third party payee, the user departments or agencies should verify receipt of payment directly from any applicable third party payee.
F7:
1 The contract with Ingentra did not require any financial or performance audit.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7:
1 Special contracts should be subject to performance audits and the contractor should be required to have a financial statement audit in addition to standard computer audits.
F8:
1 The contract renewal process was inadequate.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
1 Before any “special” contract, as defined in
F9:
1 The final Ingentra contract renewal was for a term longer than that authorized by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9:
1 Any proposed extension of a contract that exceeds the term authorized by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors must be specifically approved by the Board. Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to indicated
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Findings & Recommendations
2 findings
F1:
0 The program manager did forge signatures on voucher purchases but there was no evidence of other Child Protective Services employees doing the same thing.
F2:
0 The CPS procedures allowed discovery of the forgeries in a reasonable period of time and those procedures are currently being expanded.
Additional Recommendations
2
Not linked to specific findings.
R1:
1 None, since the individual involved has already been discharged.
R2:
1 CPS should complete the expansion of control procedures and monitor future transactions continuously. Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to indicated
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Findings & Recommendations
2 findings
F1:
0 The California Department of Social Services issued an "All County Information Notice" to clarify definition and procedures in the safely surrendered baby program on November 2, 2010.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
1 Sacramento County Health and Human Services should review procedures of agencies that provide "Safely Surrender Baby "sites to check that their procedures conform to state law, and to ensure the integrity of the process, so that the rights of the child and surrendering parent are preserved.
F2:
0 None of the agencies in Sacramento County that are designated as safe surrender sites provide that information on their websites.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
1 Sacramento County, Sacramento area fire departments and hospitals should prominently display information about the locations of their "safe surrender sites" on their websites, or provide referral information on their websites if they are not "safe surrender" program participants. Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to indicated
Findings & Recommendations
2 findings
F1:
0 The program manager did forge signatures on voucher purchases but there was no evidence of other Child Protective Services employees doing the same thing.
F2:
0 The CPS procedures allowed discovery of the forgeries in a reasonable period of time and those procedures are currently being expanded.
Additional Recommendations
2
Not linked to specific findings.
R1:
1 None, since the individual involved has already been discharged.
R2:
1 CPS should complete the expansion of control procedures and monitor future transactions continuously. Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to indicated
Findings & Recommendations
11 findings
F1:
0 The Board of Directors lacks vision and does not exercise appropriate oversight of the District.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1:
1 The Board of Directors should undergo formalized management training.
F2:
0 Decisions of the Board of Directors are not adequately documented.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2:
1 Minutes of the board meetings should be finalized in a timely fashion. At a minimum, minutes should be available for approval at the next scheduled board meeting. Recommendations 2.2 Minutes and resolutions should be posted on the District’s website in a timely fashion.
F3:
0 The Board has repeatedly failed to hire and retain a qualified general manager.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3:
1 The Board should create a supportive climate within the District so that the general manager can function effectively.
F4:
0 Protracted labor negotiations and disputed job descriptions cause disruption of normal staff operations and damage the working relationship between management and staff.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4:
1 The District should conduct a survey of water districts to determine appropriate staffing requirements and fair wages and benefits for comparable work.
F5:
0 The general work environment at the District is contentious and unpleasant. Staff members have not always worked in the best interest of the District. Trust and respect among staff, management, and Board of Directors is lacking.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5:
1 The Board, general manager and staff should make it a priority to restore mutual respect, trust and confidence.
F6:
0 The financial status of the District is unclear.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6:
1 The District should hire and retain an experienced qualified bookkeeper.
F7:
0 The Board is not receiving up to date financial information that will permit informed decisions.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7:
1 The District should prepare realistic budgets and update them at least quarterly.
F8:
0 The District does not have an accounting policies and procedures manual.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
1 The District should prepare and follow a comprehensive manual. The manual should be kept current.
F9:
0 Oversight of the district’s finances was so lax that the door was open for fraud and abuse.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9:
1 The district should conduct a forensic audit of its bank records.
F10:
0 Both CDPH and LAFCo are actively trying to help RLECWD solve its problems and properly serve the ratepayers.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10:
1 CDPH and LAFCo should continue to use their combined influence and authority to assist the RLECWD to become a financially sound and capable provider of safe and adequate water.
F11:
0 The District is clearly operating in a substandard manner that impedes success in attaining the stated mission of “…supplying water to existing and future customers in a cost effective manner while operating the District in a financially sound manner.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R11:
1 If District operations do not show substantial signs of improvement by December 31, 2011, the Board should institute voluntary receivership proceedings, undertake to reorganize into a neighboring water district, or allow itself to be sold. Rio Linda/Elverta Community Water District - Legacy of Dysfunction 49