County Press Releases

 Placerville, CA–The 2013-2014 El Dorado County Civil Grand Jury issued a report on Thursday, June 19^th with 20 findings and recommendations concerning the overall operation of El Dorado County. 

Over the course of the first 8 to 9 months of its term, the Grand Jury began to see a thread of dysfunction running through El Dorado County government.  This became the catalyst for the last report of the 20 published. Titled “The El Dorado County Charter: Prescription for Dysfunction,” the report produced a recommendation to limit the elected department head positions in the County to state-mandated offices. The Grand Jury heard repeated testimony of practices, which would seriously jeopardize efficiency in any organization and are especially troublesome in an organization with the complexity, varied duties and size of El Dorado County government.  The three main findings are as follows:

1. Elected officials can refuse to cooperate with both the Board of Supervisors and the County’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).

2. Department heads both elected and appointed went around the CAO directly to the Board of Supervisors in support of their own positions to the detriment of the County as a whole.

3. Individual members of the Board of Supervisors interfered in the day to day administration of the County.

“The timing of this report is apropos considering the Charter Review Committee convened its first meeting last week and discussed these very issues,” said Grand Jury foreman Neil Cunningham.  “We are encouraged that a review of the report is agenized for the next scheduled meeting.”  The Charter Review Committee will meet tomorrow, Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 5:00pm at the County offices.

The Jury also reported on poor work environments within the county’s South Lake Tahoe Probation Department and continued toxic waste flowing into Webber Creek from a long ago closed lime plant with nothing being done to mitigate the pollution. The Grand Jury also received multiple complaints about improper grading on private property that affected other properties. Investigations led the Jury to conclude that there was a pattern and practice of failing to comply with the County Grading Ordinance.

The El Dorado County SuperiorCourtselects19El Dorado County citizensto serveayeartermas CivilGrand Jurors. The Jury has theauthority toinvestigate County governmentand inspect records,interview officials, and receive relevantinformationfromthe public. At the end of its inquiries, the Jury issues a report outlining its findings, and recommendations to address them. County agencies identified in the report receive copies and must respond with an agreement to implement the recommendations in whole or in part, or to not accept them. The Board of Supervisors conducts a public hearing on each Civil Grand Jury report.

The public may view the reports online at:
http://www.edcgov.us/Government/GrandJury/2013-2014_Grand_Jury_Report.aspx

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