Members of the civil grand jury reviewed the operations of the
San Benito County Health Care District, the juvenile hall and the
county Jail. They also scrutinized the City of Hollister Police
Department and the Hollister Animal Shelter.
Hollister
The 2007-08 San Benito County Civil Grand Jury report was completed and made available to the public on Friday.
Members of the civil grand jury reviewed the operations of the San Benito County Health Care District, the juvenile hall and the county Jail. They also scrutinized the City of Hollister Police Department and the Hollister Animal Shelter.
The grand jury was made up of 19 community members who serve as watchdogs of city and county government, the criminal justice system, education and health and welfare.
The jury even checks back on previous reports’ findings, as they did this year by examining recommendations made to the local health care district and the Hollister Animal Shelter in the 2006-2007 report.
It found that morale and staffing had improved at the establishment, that reports are being made in a timely manner and that a requested audit discovered a deficit of $80,000 in the expenditures-to-income ratio.
The report suggests closing the shelter one day a week and opening on Saturday to better accommodate the public’s needs.
The jury also recommended that the shelter provide an annual report of the number of animals being processed in order to enhance public awareness of the shelter’s operations.
A similar checkup on recommendations made to the San Benito County Health Care District found that all suggestions had been followed by the agency.
Among these followed recommendations were such items as increasing patient privacy, better assessing project costs, and meeting performance ratings for the treatment of heart failure, pneumonia and surgical infection.
After a tour of the county jail, the jury commended the commander and staff as well as the sheriff’s office for maintaining a safe and healthy facility.
The jury advised the jail staff to consider additional signage on Highways 25 and 156 and Flynn and San Felipe roads.
A better method of observing suicidal inmates also was recommended as well as bus service for inmates who are released without a means to leave the property.
A similar check of juvenile hall noted that, “while the jail is clean, bright and neat, the juvenile hall is dilapidated, messy and cluttered.”
The jury made many recommendations to rectify the situation.
When the grand jury inspected the property room of the police department, it found that it was clean and orderly, but understaffed and not large enough.
During a similar inspection of the sheriff’s office property room, several problems were noted. Among these is that there were several unconnected property rooms that seemed unorganized, that only one staff member was responsible for all rooms, and that the room is poorly lit and ventilated.
In addition, the jury reported that guns were seen placed on the floor and drug evidence was present in areas where inmates perform custodial work.
Finally, the jury took a look at current staffing challenges in the police department, recommending that it hire at least 8 more sworn officers with Measure T funds over the next two fiscal years.
The jury further advised the department to seek grants and other funds in order to bring back many canceled law enforcement programs.
