The Mariposa County Grand Jury has issued its official report for the 2009-10 year. It is considerably more brief than in the past several years. The jury only responded to four citizen complaints during its tenure.

The grand jury is a body of 11 citizens who volunteer and are appointed by the presiding judge of the Mariposa County Superior Court. It is impaneled for a one-year period, beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30.

The grand jury is an investigative body created to examine the workings of county government, special districts or joint powers agencies and public officials. It also receives complaints from citizens alleging mistreatment, misconduct or governmental inefficiencies.

Every decision the grand jury makes requires concurrence of at least eight of the 11 jurors. This year’s jurors were Bruce Carlton, Carol Hart, Dorothy Bruen, Herb Jones, Irma Keheley, Kathleen O’Shell, Raymond Collier, Raymond Westmoreland, Tiffany Newberry, Tom Phillips and Thomas Margrave.

The first complaint the jury dealt with was actually one that was held over from the 2008-09 jury. Two members of that panel alleged that the Mariposa County Unified School District had used “stalling tactics” when officials were asked to provide the audit for the fiscal year ending June, 2008. The allegation said that such action prevented the 2008-09 grand jury from thoroughly investigating the school district. At that time the school district was headed by former Superintendent Randy Panietz.

The jury found that at the time of the investigation, MCUSD had been trying to fill the business director position for over a year. “Lack of a fulltime department head may have contributed to the perception of ‘stalling tactics.’ We did not find anyone who was uncooperative,” the report reads.

The jury concluded, “No malfeasance, errors nor omission on the part of the school district’s budget and financial reporting system were found.”

A second complaint involved ignition interlock devices which are sometimes court-ordered after drunk driving convictions. The jury’s report said that the IIDs are selected and approved at the state level, thereby not within its jurisdiction.

The jury voted to investigate a complaint filed by a mental health worker on behalf of a client. It involved the emergency room staff at John C. Fremont Hospital and a Mariposa County Sheriff’s deputy.

The complaint was twofold. It alleged violation of the patient’s rights. The investigation revealed that the client’s mental state at the time of the hospital incident was “questionable.” Further, it found that the client was too “fragile” to be interviewed as part of the investigation.

The jury concluded that the county lacks a state-mandated patient rights’ advocate, although the County has been trying to recruit one, to no avail. “The grand jury strongly recommends that Mariposa County continue to look for an independent patients’ right advocate,” the report states.

The final complaint alleged that the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District (LDPCS) board of directors was responsible for partial redirection of raw water, intended for golf course irrigation, to private residential irrigation. The jury found “no evidence of a raw water connection for residential irrigation use.” The irrigation system in question appeared to be from a private well.

While the jury found no evidence of wrongdoing by the board of directors, it did make a recommendation. “The grand jury recommends that the Lake Don Pedro Community Services Board be more careful concerning rules of order,” the report states. “In particular, the board should respect the Brown Act rules. Compliance with the Brown Act is valuable for preserving the trust of the public.”

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