May 24, 2014 (San Diego) – The San Diego County Grand Jury has issued a report “Say what you’ll do and then do what you say.” It urges the County Office of Education and the City of San Diego to each establish an implementation review committee. The report notes pointedly, “The 2013/2014 Grand Jury believes that all agencies within the county should be held accountable for implementing those Grand Jury recommendations to which they have agreed.”
Below is the text of the Grand Jury’s press release. To view the full report, click here.
“The Grand Jury reviews and evaluates procedures, methods, and systems utilized by government to determine whether they can be made more efficient and effective. It may examine any aspect of county government and city government, including special legislative districts and joint powers agencies, to ensure that the best interests of San Diego County citizens are being served.” So states the purpose and charter of the San Diego County Grand Jury. The Grand Jury is in effect a watchdog ensuring transparency in all that is done by government agencies, special legislative districts and joint powers agencies within the county.
Every year the Grand Jury investigates and makes recommendations on ways to improve the City of San Diego, the county’s 17 other municipalities, County agencies, schools, and jails within the County. Many of the recommendations are agreed to by the agency under review and are targeted for implementation.
The San Diego County Past Grand Jurors Association (PGJA), in conjunction with the County of San Diego Board of Supervisors, has sponsored the Past Grand Jury Association Implementation Review Committee since 1983 for the purpose of investigating and monitoring the recommendation implementation efforts by all County agencies. However, as a committee sponsored by the County, it has no jurisdiction over the other cities and schools districts in the County.
Many of the recommendations made to those agencies by the Grand Jury are accepted as viable for implementation, yet due to the limited scope of the County PGJA Implementation Review Committee, there has been no follow-up to determine whether the recommendations were, in fact, implemented.
The 2013/2014 Grand Jury believes that all agencies within the county should be held accountable for implementing those Grand Jury recommendations to which they have agreed. To that end the Grand Jury recommends that the County Office of Education establish an Implementation Review Committee patterned after the current San Diego County Past Grand Jury Implementation Review Committee. Further the Grand Jury recommends that the City of San Diego establish an Implementation Review Committee similar to the one established in 2007/2009. Both Implementation Review Committees should be patterned after the County’s PGJA Implementation Review Committee.
The complete report can also be found on the Grand Jury’s website: www.sdcounty.ca.gov/grandjury.
Comments
Does the new Grand Jury Report dated May 21, 2014 fall short?