Amador County – Sutter Creek released on Monday a final draft of its response to the 2009-2010 Grand Jury Report, with many agreements, but also some disagreements. The draft was written by Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy, acting City Manager Sean Rabe and city attorney Derek Cole. The response agrees with the bulk of the Grand Jury findings and recommendations, many of which have been initiated. The draft will be considered by the city council in a special meeting 7 p.m. Monday (August 30th). The response is due September 1st. The draft points out what it calls an error in the Grand Jury Report introduction, which said the “City Council should have been aware of the issues and taken action prior to the start of this investigation.” The response said: “This implies that if it were not for the Grand Jury Report many of these issues would never have been revealed or corrected.” The response calls that “incorrect, especially regarding the Finance, Administration and Personnel section of the report,” saying that the “city council has taken very significant actions to correct many of these issues long before they were referred to the Grand Jury.” Some were handled in 2008 and others in 2009, the response said, and the public may not have been aware, “since many of the actions were part of confidential personnel performance discussions. However, the city council’s efforts to address these issues are a matter of public record which the Grand Jury should have considered prior to beginning their investigation.” The draft response lists a disagreement with the Grand Jury recommendation to have the city finance director answer directly to the city council, rather than the city manager, saying that “could undermine the city manager’s ability to control this key aspect of their job responsibilities.” The response also rejects the recommendation that the city “renegotiate contracts so that only the employer’s portion” of retirement and Social Security are paid by the city. The response calls it a matter for the “collective bargaining process rather than the Grand Jury.” The response also criticizes part of a final recommendation that urges citizens to “become actively involved with the city council.” The city draft response said: “Active participation by the public is critical to the local democratic process,” but the “closing sentiment” urging that the public “help city government avoid defaulting to continued mismanagement,” was “an unwarranted insult and below the professional standard expected of a Grand Jury recommendation.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.-
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Amador County – Sutter Creek released on Monday a final draft of its response to the 2009-2010 Grand Jury Report, with many agreements, but also some disagreements. The draft was written by Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy, acting City Manager Sean Rabe and city attorney Derek Cole. The response agrees with the bulk of the Grand Jury findings and recommendations, many of which have been initiated. The draft will be considered by the city council in a special meeting 7 p.m. Monday (August 30th). The response is due September 1st. The draft points out what it calls an error in the Grand Jury Report introduction, which said the “City Council should have been aware of the issues and taken action prior to the start of this investigation.” The response said: “This implies that if it were not for the Grand Jury Report many of these issues would never have been revealed or corrected.” The response calls that “incorrect, especially regarding the Finance, Administration and Personnel section of the report,” saying that the “city council has taken very significant actions to correct many of these issues long before they were referred to the Grand Jury.” Some were handled in 2008 and others in 2009, the response said, and the public may not have been aware, “since many of the actions were part of confidential personnel performance discussions. However, the city council’s efforts to address these issues are a matter of public record which the Grand Jury should have considered prior to beginning their investigation.” The draft response lists a disagreement with the Grand Jury recommendation to have the city finance director answer directly to the city council, rather than the city manager, saying that “could undermine the city manager’s ability to control this key aspect of their job responsibilities.” The response also rejects the recommendation that the city “renegotiate contracts so that only the employer’s portion” of retirement and Social Security are paid by the city. The response calls it a matter for the “collective bargaining process rather than the Grand Jury.” The response also criticizes part of a final recommendation that urges citizens to “become actively involved with the city council.” The city draft response said: “Active participation by the public is critical to the local democratic process,” but the “closing sentiment” urging that the public “help city government avoid defaulting to continued mismanagement,” was “an unwarranted insult and below the professional standard expected of a Grand Jury recommendation.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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