Supes approve ordinance change to allow payment for multiple meetings on the same day; compensation for 2012 will be $15 per day despite number of meetings
Supes approve ordinance change to allow payment for multiple meetings on the same day; compensation for 2012 will be $15 per day despite number of meetings
The San Benito County Supervisors approved an ordinance Tuesday that will resolve an issue of compensation for the 2011-12 grand jury members stemming from an unpaid invoice from last year.
The issue came to light on Jan. 17 when grand jury members presented concerns to supervisors that the most recent invoice submitted had been denied payment.
Don Dixon, one of the grand jury members, said at the Jan. 17 meeting that the members had agreed to hold multiple meetings on the same day to cut the cost of mileage reimbursements. When they filed their second reimbursement claim for the year, they were told that they could not be reimbursed for more than $15 a day – even if they held multiple meetings on the same day.
Rich Inman, the county administrative officer, explained why the reimbursement had yet to be paid. He said that the ordinance supporting the grand jury allows the members to be paid $15 a day – regardless of how many meetings are held on the same day. His office did not have the authority to approve the claims. His department then went to the court, which oversees the work of the grand jury, and asked for approval of the claims. Inman was informed that it is the board of supervisors who have authority over budget items so Inman said he would bring an agenda item before the board with a resolution to allow for the reimbursement to be paid.
The supervisors approved a revision to the ordinance to allow jury members to be paid more than $15 a day for multiple meetings on the same day for the period that had past. The ordinance was first reviewed at the Feb. 7 meeting and then approved this week.
At the Feb. 7 meeting, a staff member read the new ordinance that allows for the extra payments. The ordinance does note that moving forward in 2012, grand jury members will be paid only $15 a day “no matter how many committee meetings they attend.” The jury members will also be reimbursed for mileage to interviews or tours to conduct investigations, but not for mileage to and from normal grand jury meetings.
John Sitton, the president of the San Benito County Chapter of the California Grand Juror’s Association, spoke at the Jan. 17 and Feb. 7 meetings.
“One of my concerns is the fact that the grand jury is an independent group that is not responsible to the county,” he said. “It is an arm of the court. The way (the ordinance) is written now is saying they are responsible to the county. The ordinance doesn’t mention the court.”
The staff member said that the ordinance only deals with compensation for the grand jury, since it comes out of the county’s budget, but that the court still has the power over the grand jury.
At the January meeting, grand jury members also expressed concern over budget cuts to their yearly budget. They asked to be included in the budget hearing that other county departments go through each year.
“We have a request by the grand jury to meet with the finance committee and we are arranging that meeting,” Inman said at the Feb. 7 meeting.
