Siskiyou County Grand Jury

2015-2016

2 reports

Findings & Recommendations 7 findings
F1: “Some boards are not aware of or in compliance with AB1234 ethics training.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R1: “The Board of Supervisors should instruct County Counsel to ensure that all special district boards are aware of AB1234 ethics training requirements.” Response 1. “The Board of Supervisors partially disagrees. The County Counsel's primary statutory role is to represent and advise the Board of Supervisors and County departments and agencies, and dependent special districts within the county. While there is not statutory requirement that County Counsel represent or advise independent special districts, the Board agrees that supporting districts is important, including through County Counsel efforts and otherwise, to the extent feasible. The County currently offers annual training on variety of topics, including ethics training that is available to all special district board members. Each year the County Clerk also provides written information about the ethics-training requirement to those who attend the training, as well as the secretary of each district. Independent special districts can also avail themselves of and are encouraged to use self-study materials available through the Institute for Local Government. That organization presents the required AB1234 ethics training in a self-study format at http://www.ca-ilg.org/post/ab-1234- self-study.”
F2: “Next Step is applying for Drug Medi-Cal certification, which will provide funding for medical review of treatment plans, case management, family counseling and additional staffing.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R2: “The Civil Grand Jury is recommending the Board of Supervisors assist Next Step as needed during the application process for Drug Medi-Cal certification”.
F3: “Training sessions offered by County agencies for the benefit of district board members are not well attended.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R3: “The Board of Supervisors should direct those offices currently providing training for special district board members to develop a comprehensive curriculum to be offered in one session, on a weekday with alternate sessions offered during non-working hours.” Response 3. “The Board of Supervisors disagrees. The Board disagrees because three departments already provide training opportunities for special districts. Also, see the Response to Recommendation #1. Each year a Special District Seminar is hosted by County Counsel and the County Clerk. While the Auditor has not provided training since 2014, future trainings are anticipated and the office has provided individual training as needed. The Auditor reports that when offered, training is well attended. All such training is offered as courtesy to help support independent special districts, and is not mandated by law. Specifically, the County provides information on the Brown Act, Conflict of Interest, Form 700 filing requirements and notification processes, overview of election processes and appointment processes, financial matters such as sales & use tax, imprest and revolving accounts, debt, capital assets, payroll, special assessments, grant management, GASB 54, audits, tax information, endowments, accounts payable and receivables processing, budgeting, Financial Transaction Reporting, Ethics & Responsibility, etc. For the joint training, the Clerk's Office typically provides a 45 day to 60 day notice to the districts of the training and sends reminders to each district and to each office holder. Despite continuing County efforts to voluntarily conduct training for independent special districts in Siskiyou County, attendance has significantly waned over the past 16 years and some historically offered training sessions have been discontinued due to poor attendance. For example, the last after-hours session offered by Clerk and County Counsel had less than 10 attendees. It was discontinued after it was determined to be fiscally irresponsible due to the expense of renting a facility and paying staff overtime. In addition to the County training opportunities, the County Clerk encourages special districts to become familiar with the California Special Districts Association, a valuable resource that provides training in such areas of New Board Member Orientation, Ethics Training, preparing agendas, best practices in managing districts and dealing with personnel issues, etc.”
F4: “Training sessions offered by County agencies, the County Clerk, County Counsel, and the Auditor, do not include management functions and responsibilities.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R4: “The Board of Supervisors should direct those offices currently providing training for special district board members to develop a comprehensive curriculum to be offered in one session, on a weekday with alternate sessions offered during non-working hours.” Response 4. “The Board of Supervisors partially disagrees. See R-1 and R-3 responses. The Board of Supervisors partially agrees because comprehensive training opportunities are already provided to help support special districts. The County will continue to provide training support as requested and to the extent feasible and in light of affected special district interest and participation.”
F5: “There appears to be limited coordination among county agencies providing education and training for district board members.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R5: “The Board of Supervisors should direct those offices currently providing training for special district board members to develop a comprehensive curriculum to be offered in one session, on a weekday with alternate sessions offered during non-working hours.” Response 5. “The Board of Supervisors partially agrees. See R-4 response.”
F6: “The prohibitive cost of financial audits consumes a large portion of some district budgets.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R6: “The Board of Supervisors should exercise any influence they possess with the State Assembly to support the County Auditor's efforts to pass AB2613.” Response 6. “The Board of Supervisors agrees. The Board of Supervisors regularly evaluates and makes collective decisions on whether or not to support or oppose pending legislation. In part, the Board relies on the Department Heads to bring the legislation to their attention. The County Auditor did not request a letter of support from the Board of Supervisors; however, it was pleased to learn that the legislation was signed by the Governor in August.”
F7: “Proposed AB2613 is designed to alleviate some of the burden regarding financial audit costs for some of the districts.”
Related Recommendations (1)
R7: “The Board of Supervisors should exercise any influence they possess with the State Assembly to support the County Auditor's efforts to pass AB2613.” Response 7. “Board of Supervisors agrees. See R-6 response.” Siskiyou County Jail
Findings & Recommendations 1 findings
F1: Due to the efforts of Weed Recreation and Parks Department, the citizens of Weed and the surrounding communities are in the process of building a fully functional community center that will provide many needed services to a much broader segment of the public. DISCLAIMER Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Penal Code section 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury. 3