It’s a lot more work than voting, but local volunteers of the
civil grand jury say their one-year commitment and long hours of
investigation give them an unparalleled view into the operations of
local government.
Hollister – It’s a lot more work than voting, but local volunteers of the civil grand jury say their one-year commitment and long hours of investigation give them an unparalleled view into the operations of local government.
Concerned citizens have been performing their civic duty and keeping the powers that be in check by sitting on the civil grand jury since the ratification of the state’s constitution.
In San Benito County, a grand jury made up of 19 county residents is convened every July to investigate citizen complaints about any government body which receives public funding, according to Alex Calvo, San Benito County court executive officer.
Grand jury members apply for the position and after reviewing their qualifications – which consist of the basics such as being a citizen, being able to speak English and having no record of any felonies – the presiding judge impanels the jury, Calvo said.
The court rarely receives an excess of applicants, but squeaks by with the needed 19 every year, he said. Fortunately for the county, grand jury members may serve two consecutive terms to provide continuity so each jury doesn’t have to start from scratch, Calvo said.
The grand jury receives a number of citizen complaints every year – from complaints about police brutality, misappropriation of funds in the county school system to department heads’ misuse of their offices, said former grand jury member Irving Atlas.
Atlas served twice on the grand jury – last year and the year before. After moving to Hollister in 1999 from San Jose, he felt the need to learn more about the area and figured what better way than go behind the scenes and personally investigate governmental bodies.
His experience over the two-year period had a dramatic effect on his perception of local government and politics, he said.
“Did it ever!” Atlas said. “I learned how government operates in Hollister. It’s efficient in some ways and blindingly inefficient in others – just like state and federal government.”
The grand jurors are separated into subcommittees of four or five people and provided complaints to investigate over the one-year term. Atlas said a number of complaints are delivered throughout the year – about 20 to 25 when he served – and then the complaints are scrutinized and deemed warranted or not. The 2003-2004 grand jury, which Atlas served on, investigated eight claims but didn’t find any transgressions which required action. However, the jury made recommendations on a number of issues within departments, including that the county Environmental Health Department establish a program to combat the West Nile Virus and the staffing levels at the Hollister Police Department should be reassessed to accommodate a growing population, according to the report.
Current grand jury member and long-time county resident, Rita Appenzeller, joined the jury because she believed it was one of the most interesting ways to perform her civic duty. Appenzeller is prohibited from divulging information on the current grand jury’s investigations. But she gained experience by investigating city and county government and law enforcement issues during her stint as a juror last year.
She chose to sit on the Law and Justice and City and County government committees because they were the most intriguing to her, although her occupation as a Realtor didn’t provide any background knowledge on the subjects she was investigating, she said. Spending at least six hours a week conducting investigations or meeting with her committee members was intense, but worth it because of the knowledge she’s come away with, she said.
“It’s pretty heady but it’s enjoyable,” Appenzeller said. “You get to look at things from the inside – you can see the mechanics and why things are happening.”
The political atmosphere in San Benito County has been somewhat hostile as of late, and while rumor and innuendo can run rampant in a small community Appenzeller said serving on the grand jury forces one to open their mind and focus only on the facts.
“You can’t go by hearsay or what you read in the papers,” she said. “Everybody has a different opinion. You’ve got to have hard facts.”
The civil grand jury is also the sole avenue for removing an elected official from office.
District Attorney John Sarsfield, who is the target of a recall by one of his most vocal critics, restaurateur Ignacio Velazquez, has been admonished by the San Benito County Bar Association for misusing his office and trampling on citizen’s constitutional rights. The bar association sent a letter to the California State Bar and state Attorney General’s Office informing them of the local bar’s vote of “no confidence” in Sarsfield’s abilities as district attorney. But neither the State Bar nor the Attorney General can remove an elected official from office. Only the civil grand jury, prompted by a citizen-filed complaint, can investigate an elected official and file a motion to remove them for willful or corrupt misconduct in office, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Velazquez said last week that he has filed a complaint with the civil grand jury, but declined to comment on its contents.
Keeping an open mind, especially now, is imperative for grand jurors, Atlas said. But he conceded some people apply to be on the grand jury because they have an agenda and the position carries a certain amount of power with it.
“I’m glad I wasn’t on the grand jury this year, those poor people,” Atlas said. “I talk to them every once in awhile, and all they say is, oh my God do they have work to do. They say, ‘We’re just working our tails off.'”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
