Page 6 - Sanger Herald 5-2-19 E-edition

SANGER HERALD 6A THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019
Would you like to be a member of the Fresno County Grand Jury?
The 2019-2020 grand jury will be sworn in next month and you might be on it if you go through the selection process
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
It's time to start thinking about becoming a member of the next Fresno County Grand Jury.
Next month, 19 Fresno County residents will be sworn as civil grand jurors for 12 months of service.
If you're interested in serving, you can contact the juror services manager at the Fresno County Courthouse, 1100 Van Ness Avenue in Fresno or call (559) 457-1605 for more information and instructions on how to apply.
We've discovered with each of the four grand jury investigations that have taken place in Sanger over the past 10 years that there's a lot of confusion about what a grand jury is, what it does and how much or how little power it has to enforce its findings and recommendations.
Each year when it's time to apply for the grand jury, we refer back to a story writ-
ten in 2009 by Vanessa Rakis-Garabedian because it offers such clear explanations of the things you need to know if you're thinking about trying to become a grand jury member.
And there's also lots of information about thegrandjuryonitswebsiteat: http://www. fresno.courts.ca.gov/jury/grand_jury/.
Here's the story by Vanessa:
A grand jury is a ‘watchdog’ group over county governmental agencies
The grand jury is as old as the state con- stitution, but it may be one of the least under- stood facets of the governmental system.
The grand jury is an important part of the government that the public doesn’t know enough about, according to the 2009 Fresno County Jury and Public Services Manager Sherry Spears.
The grand jury has two arms: one that works as a civil grand jury and is in session at all times, and one that works as a criminal grand jury that is only in session on a case- by-case basis.
The civil grand jury is often referred to as a “watchdog” for governmental agencies, said retired Superior Court Judge Robert Oliver.
“The grand jury is a constitutionally
mandated body that investigates and reports on civil matters dealing with government in Fresno County,” said Oliver.
The grand jury is one avenue through which citizens can voice their concerns and try to hold their government in check.
Investigations and reports from the grand jury can impact the community in a positive way, Oliver said.
The grand jury can influence how public funds are spent, prescribe how spending is documented, improve public service, save taxpayer dollars and hand out commenda- tions to well-managed departments.
“The grand jury is the linkage between the citizens and their government,” said Robert Gutierrez, the 2009 chairman of promotion and publicity for the California Grand Jurors’ Association. “It’s the watchdog over govern- mental affairs. It makes the local government more effective and efficient. It’s an essential component of American politics.”
The civil grand jury consists of 19 Fresno County citizens who serve for one full year starting July 1 and ending June 30.
During the year, jurors serve from 40 to 80 hours per month.
Once the grand jury is formed, the group divides into subcommittees according to subjects under investigation. For example, a committee may be dedicated to budget mat- ters or issues involving detention facilities. (One committee of the 2017-2018 grand jury was dedicated to investigating issues with Sanger's Measure S public safety tax fund.)
The grand jury receives complaints and comments from the public, often through an online form that citizens can fill out and sub- mit, and investigates accordingly. Investiga- tions can also be initiated from an individual grand juror.
Complaint forms are also available at the Sanger Herald, 740 N St.
To conduct an investigation a subcommit- tee interviews involved parties and gathers information.
“They (grand jurors) are not told how to do it or guided in things that they should or shouldn’t look at,” Oliver said.
The grand jury is not accountable to elected officials or government employees and its recommendations and findings should be unbiased and impartial, Oliver said.
After a subcommittee conducts an inves-
tigation and writes a report with its findings and recommendations, the report must be adopted by the entire grand jury before it is released.
Once the grand jury releases a report, the agency or parties involved have 60 days to respond if a governmental agency or 90 days if a non-governmental group.
“The real power of the grand jury comes when they can release a report to the public,” the 2009 jury and public services manager Sherry Spears said. “But sometimes just by investigating the changes may come about.”
Candidates for the grand jury can be nominated by a current grand jury member, by a judge or they can nominate themselves.
Grand jury applications are available at www.fresno.courts.ca.gov or by calling the Fresno Superior Court juror services man- ager at (559) 457-1605.
In order to be eligible for the grand jury applicants must: be a citizen of the United States; be 18 years of age or older; be a resident of Fresno County for at least one year prior to selection; be in possession of natural faculties, ordinary intelligence, sound judgment, fair character; have sufficient knowledge of the English language.
The jury and public services manager sets up interviews for each qualified applicant with a committee of superior court judges.
The superior court judges decide on a group of 30 nominees to be placed into a random drawing and 19 names are pulled to be members of the grand jury.
Grand jurors serve a one-year period with the option to apply for an additional consecu- tive term.
Because they devote up to 80 hours each month to grand jury business, they receive nominal compensation as well as mileage reimbursement.
The civil grand juries and the criminal grand juries do not overlap, Oliver said.
The two work separately and never in tandem, but the civil grand jury could issue a report that would interest the district at- torney to the point he or she files charges or seeks a criminal indictment.
A criminal grand jury only goes into ses- sion when the district attorney or the state Attorney General’s office seeks an indict- ment for a particular case. An indictment is a formal, written charge.
Once the request for an indictment is made, a criminal grand jury is selected just as a traditional jury would be. The grand jury decides to either issue the indictment or deny it based on whether or not the jury believes there is cause to make the charge.
Most of the criminal grand jury cases in California are either high profile or involve some special circumstance where the tradi- tional means of filing charges is bypassed, said USC law professor Rebecca Lonergan.
“They avoid being political by being backed by a grand jury to issue an indict- ment,” Lonergan said.
A district attorney might choose to avoid the politics of a given case, possibly one involving corruption or an important com- munity figure, by seeking an indictment rather than trying to file for charges in the traditional way.
For example, grand juries in other juris- dictions have considered hot-potato cases, like whether to indict a homeowner who shoots and kills someone he thinks is break- ing into his home.
Editor's note: There is at least one Sanger resident serving on the current Fresno County Grand Jury.
When he has completed his term we'll ask him how he became interested in the grand jury, his experience with the application and selection process and how he enjoyed his
GOVERNING boards and commissions
City Council
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Sanger City Council will be at 6 p.m. today, May 2, following a closed ses- sion meeting of the council starting at 5 p.m.
A public forum at 5 p.m. provides an opportunity to com- ment on the only item on the closed session agenda, labor negotiations.
The regular meeting agenda includes three ceremonial items: a National Day of Prayer proclamation; recognition of the recreation department's spring intern Wendy Xiong; and recognition of "Honoring Sanger" for its donation to the recre- ation department's swim program.
The "Consent Calendar" that lists items considered routine and are enacted by one motion and one vote includes the regular minutes, warrants and payroll data and recommen- dations that the council approve: an $81,672 contract for a curb ramp project; and letters of support for senator Melissa Hurtado's request for state budget appropriations that pro- vide funding for Sanger projects.
The action agenda called "Department Reports" contains only two items, staff recommendations for the council to ap- prove: a Measure S 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 fiscal year bud- gets and a Measure S 10 year spending plan; and a resolution authorizing a budget amendment that would add $71,000 for construction of Phase I improvements at Sanger's Veterans Memorial Plaza.
Mayor Frank Gonzalez will request a medicinal cannabis dispensary presentation be added to the May 16 city council agenda.
There will be a public hearing at the June 6 meeting to seek public input on a state ordered affordable housing rezon- ing issue.
The council regularly meets at 6 p.m. on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month in the council chamber at city hall, 1700 7th St.
Staff reports on what is to be discussed at each meeting will be available to the public at least three days prior to the meeting and may be reviewed at city hall at 1700 7th Street or on the City’s website at www.ci.sanger.ca.us.
The city council consists of five elected members.
The mayor is elected at large. The other members of the council are elected by districts. The mayor pro tem may change every other year in December. It is decided by a vote of the council members during a council reorganization meet- ing.
Planning Commission
The Sanger Planning Commission will hold a special meeting on May 15 to take input from the public and to agree on a recommendation to the city council about a state ordered affordable housing rezoning issue.
The location has not been announced.
Staff reports on what is to be discussed at each meeting will be available to the public at least three days prior to the meeting and may be reviewed at city hall at 1700 7th Street or on the City’s website at www.ci.sanger.ca.us.
The planning commission meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the 4th Thursday of each month in the council chamber at city hall, 1700 7th St.
The Sanger Planning Commission is comprised of seven members appointed by the city council and is a permanent advisory body to the council on matters related to planning and development. The commission holds regularly scheduled public meetings to consider land use and zoning matters pre- sented by staff.
Measure S
Citizens Oversight Committee
The next meeting of the Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee will be at 6 p.m. on May 7.
Staff reports on what is to be discussed at the meeting will be available to the public at least three days prior to each meeting and may be reviewed at city hall at 1700 7th Street or on the City’s website at www.ci.sanger.ca.us.
The oversight committee regularly meets at 6 p.m. on the 1st Tuesday of each month in the council chamber at city hall, 1700 7th St.
The Citizen's Oversight Committee is made up of five members serving two-year terms.
They are selected through an application process with the
city council making the final selection and appointment. All committee members must be residents of Sanger.
Sanger Unified School District
Board of Trustees
The next meeting of the Sanger Unified School District Board of Trustees will be at 7 p.m. on May 14.
The board meets at 7 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month in the board room at the district office, 1905 7th St.
Staff reports on what is to be discussed at the meeting will be available to the public at least three days prior to the meet- ing and may be reviewed on the district's website at www. sanger.k12.ca.us/
The board consists of seven elected members. The presi- dent of the board is selected by the other board members.
SUSD Personnel Commission
The next meeting of the Sanger Unified School District Classified Employee Personnel Commission will be at 5 p.m. on May 20.
The commission meets on the third Monday of each month in the board room of the district office, 1905 7th St.
The commission consists of 3 members, one selected by the district, one selected by California School Employees As- sociation and one selected jointly.
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