The San Benito County Grand Jury released its 2011-12 report, which includes recommendations on Measure T, staffing levels at the jail, recommendations for local schools and a review of the John Smith Landfill.
The grand jury included 14 volunteers last year who conducted the investigations of public entities through interviews, visits to facilities and researching news articles related to topics. The grand jury investigates complaints by private citizens, local government officials and local government employees regarding the actions and performance of public officials. The members are also charged with conducting an annual review of the county jail and juvenile hall facilities each year.
In this year’s report, the members of the community included a “nonpartisan” review on the Measure T extension. In the 2010-11 report, the grand jury members had encouraged residents to begin weighing the pros and cons of extending Measure T. This year, the members compiled some facts about the local economy, along with information about the city’s general fund revenues and expenses.
“Our community needs to define what services we require, their respective priorities, and the funding sources to maintain them on a sustainable basis,” the report reads. “Conceptually, this seems simple; but in reality, it is very difficult to do. Some may perceive this as an ideological debate, with austerity and sacrifice on one side, versus growth and investment on the other.”
The report said hard choices would need to be made and soon. Voters will see Measure E, which would extend the 1 percent city sales tax for five years, on the Nov. 6 ballot.
As they do each year, members of the grand jury visited San Benito County’s Juvenile Hall and county jail. While they had no recommendations for juvenile hall and found it to be running in good order, they recommended the hiring of four additional corrections deputies to work in the jail.
When they toured the facility in 2011, they found there was a ratio of one deputy to every 40 inmates. They reported the jail was short six positions between budget cuts and layoffs. The report also noted the jail is operating at its maximum capacity.
In addition to recommending additional staff members, they recommended a larger space for the Medical Services office as it was “extremely cramped.”
While visiting many of the schools in San Benito County, which has 19 schools and 11 school districts, they had some recommendations countywide and for individual schools.
They suggested all schools make plans for or budget for surveillance cameras, as many of the schools did not have them installed. They also suggested school districts consider consolidation to reduce educational costs countywide.
In the report, they noted many of the schools have limited library services or have eliminated services entirely. While they found that volunteers were willing to provide some of the services, they were informed by school officials volunteers cannot be used to conduct work formerly done by employees because of unions. The grand jury recommended the Hollister School District attempt to negotiate with employee unions “to allow volunteers to run programs that are not funded to allow shortfalls in educational programs to be filled.”
At San Benito High School, there were several recommendations related to safety. They again suggested the campus install a public address system for security issues, as the grand jury from 2010-11 had noted it as a possible concern. As grand jury members visited during a lockdown drill at the high school, they recommended the staff members develop a plan for dealing with tardy or late-arriving students who arrive after a lock down has started. The last recommendation was that the high school staff members develop a policy that requires relatives or visitors to sign in at the office. During a visit, they said they saw someone who did not have a visitor’s pass waiting on campus for a student.
In regards to John Smith Landfill, their recommendation included “Encourage the public to support the permits required to open new areas of the landfill.”
Those agencies that were reviewed by the grand jury have 60-90 days from the time they received the report to respond to the recommendations.
