What They Don't Want You To Know
Here is some information that El Dorado County officials do NOT want you to know when making your decision on the pros and cons of incorporating the City of El Dorado Hills:
- Why did the El Dorado Hills Fire Department (Chief Larry Fry)
choose to make a public stand against the incorporation of the
City of El Dorado Hills? The answer is simply that Chief Fry is a member
of the “good old boy” network in El Dorado County and
does not want to have to answer to the El Dorado Hills City Council.
He may have to do his job properly for a change.
Note: There is NO IMPACT to the El Dorado Hills Fire Department as the result of incorporation. The EDHFD would still be a county entity and there is no neutrality with respect to wild fires. - Bob Dorr, the leader of the “No” on P campaign, has
a long-term relationship with major developer Sammy Cemos. Moreover,
Dorr received funds from the El Dorado Hills business park developers
and landlords. What is pertinent here is that 95% of El Dorado
Hills was already approved and processed through the El Dorado County
Planning
Department and the El Dorado County Building Department. Our county
officials, including our county supervisors (none of whom live
in El Dorado Hills), all worked together with (or for?) the major land
developers. It is a done deal. Did El Dorado Hills residents have
anything to say about it?
- NOT ONE of our county’s local representatives, the decision-makers
for our community’s planning, policies, and fiscal responsibilities,
lives in El Dorado Hills, including our Board of Supervisors, Charlie
Payne, Helen Baumann, Rusty Dupray, and Jack Sweeny, the head of
the Board of Supervisors. Is it any wonder that Bob Dorr and Jack
Sweeny, whose political self-interests mirror the shrill opposition
to the incorporation of the City of El Dorado Hills?
- The El Dorado County Republican Central Committee, comprised
of individuals outside our community and based in Shingle Springs,
has opposed Measure P, regardless of popular opinion of republicans
who live in El Dorado Hills. Their obvious self-interests do
not reflect the majority interests of El Dorado Hills residents. What
is the Committee’s real motivation? Who, besides District
Attorney Gary Lacy, influences their decisions?
- It takes an estimated 45 minutes to two hours for a 911-response
to a burglary or theft. There are only two sheriff deputies assigned
to El Dorado Hills and surrounding communities. Any lack of professionalism
and customer care is further evidence that WE NEED our own police
force to assure better protection and efficient, quality care by
law enforcement within our community.
- El Dorado County District Attorney Gary Lacy has a history and practice of not prosecuting “real” criminals, particularly when they are related to his family and/or friends. Interestingly, over a quarter of the assistant DA’s have recently left the El Dorado County District DA’s Office. Why?
Here are some interesting findings made by the El Dorado County Civil
Grand Jury which investigated our illustrious county officials:
1. El Dorado County Sheriff Jeff Neves
In the 2002 Sheriff’s election, two citizens' complaints
were received alleging inappropriate and unprofessional election
campaign conduct by Sheriff’s Department employees. Both
candidates for the office of Sheriff and their respective supporters
were accused of inappropriate campaign conduct, such as misuse
of county time and pressuring merchants to put up their campaign
signs.
There other ongoing investigations regarding the sick leave claimed by high ranking members of the EDCSD. Makes you wonder how your tax money is being spent.
Refer to the following links:
Sheriff Sick Leave Response (pdf)
2. El Dorado County District Attorney Gary Lacy
As most of you are well aware, the EDCDA in the past has not been shy about using his office to enrich himself and/or protect his interests at the expense of the public. In Citizen Complaint No. C34-02/03, the EDCDA was accused of inappropriate behavior. The grand jury who investigated the matter found the EDCDA guilty of: “Favoritism and nepotism, inappropriate professional relationships, failure to observe own evidentiary procedures which included the keeping of ‘Friend’s’ handgun in his office safe, engaging in inappropriate ex-parte communications with a Court Commissioner, misleading a Court Commissioner with a false statement of fact, misrepresentation of facts regarding his communication with the Commissioner to the California State Bar, and most significantly that the sworn testimony of the El Dorado County District Attorney and other witnesses conflicted in important and significant details.” This led the grand jury to conclude that portions of the EDCDA’s sworn testimony and documentation were found to be “lacking in truth and veracity.” The EDCDA’s answer to the grand jury’s report was that someone was out to get him and that the grand jury did not know what it was doing. It is incomprehensible that Mr. Lacy is still serving as the DA for El Dorado County.
Refer to the following links:
District Attorney Action (pdf)
District Attorney Action Response (pdf)
In another complaint, Citizen Complaint No. C41-02/03, the EDCDA was found to have failed to perform his job, because he willfully refused to prosecute the alleged leader of an organization which perpetrated a multi-million dollar pyramid scheme in the greater Sacramento area. Is there any truth to the allegations that DA Lacy’s girlfriend in connection with other county officials’ wives and relations, including friends and relatives of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department (EDCSD), were also involved in the Women Helping Women scheme? It is any one’s guess how much “real” money was generated by the “ladies on the hill.” Did any criminal investigation take place to review bank statements and to document their involvement in these highly publicized illegal practices?
Refer to the following links:
District Attorney Non-Action (pdf)
District Attorney Non-Action Response (pdf)
3. Dysfunction in El Dorado County Government
The 2003/2004 Grand Jury received numerous complaints regarding mismanagement of county employees that evolved into an investigation concerning the competence, practices and procedures of all levels of county government.
Refer to the following link:
The 1999-2000 Grand Jury concluded in their investigation of County
Government that: “Grand Jury investigation of various departments
of the El Dorado government indicates department heads (directors)
failed to properly direct operations or properly oversee operations
within their departments.” Little, if any, changes have been
made since that report. There were repeated allegations to the
Grand Jury of incompetence and lack of leadership. It is not clear
if the problems were a result of: policy-setting, hiring procedures,
misdirected promotions, improper delegation of responsibility,
lack of training, or a combination of all of the above. In any
case, the issue demands immediate correction.
THE FACTS:
- There is excessive turnover in department directors.
- There
are numerous incidents of general and specific employee abuses, such
as: arriving late and leaving early, long lunch hours,
incidents of favoritism, wasted assets and wasted time.
- Management
has failed to document policy/procedure violations.
- Management has failed
to discipline documented violations.
- Management has used flex hours
as a reward and punishment tool.
- There has been improper personal use
of county computers, telephones, and vehicles.
- There is general unrest
and uncertainty among county employees and management due to numerous
abuses of authority, intimidation,
lack of procedures, and duplication of effort through lack of technology.
- There
is a lack of communication and cooperation between managers of various
departments and the Human Resources Department.
- The Human Resources
Department has lost its ability to function effectively.
- Standards of
employee performance and behavior are “loose”,
nonexistent, or are not enforced.
- The number of abuses overwhelmingly indicates a lack of leadership
and ability to manage.
- Business operations of El Dorado County are very poorly run,
and all problems and lack of management in the county are a
direct result of poor leadership from the top down.
- The county has not
taken full advantage of available technology to integrate, streamline
and modernize its operation. (See
IT report)
- The county negotiated away employee performance
evaluations during county/union
contract negotiations.
- There is lack of training.
- The county compensation package is inadequate.
Findings:
- There are county employees, at all levels, who do not acknowledge
that they are part of the county’s dysfunction.
- County departments generally operate
as separate entities having little regard or communications with
other departments.
- The Office of the Chief Administrative
Officer has not always had strong support from all department directors
and the Board
of Supervisors.
- Department directors do not meeting regularly to
discuss and resolve interdepartmental and county-wide issues.
- The
Human Resources Department does not have a strong labor relations
commitment.
- Without regular meaningful performance evaluations, the
county lacks the ability to evaluate employees for promotion
or discipline. Evaluations would also provide feed-back to the employees.
- Training
is often neglected due to budget limitations.
- The Human Resources
Department leadership, along with other county department leaders,
are not enforcing policies and procedures. This lack of leadership
fosters
violations and misconduct by county employees.
- The County does not attract
sufficient qualified applicants due to lack of positive working environment
and competitive
compensation policies.
- Electronic technology is
not being utilized to its fullest.
- Workplace values, such as pride, respect, responsibility, and professionalism are not always held in high regard.
Recommendations
- For anything to change, there must first be a county-wide recognition
and acknowledgement of the county dysfunction. Employees at all
levels must critique
themselves for improvement.
- The Board of Supervisors and department
directors must provide strong support for the Chief Administrative
Officer in consolidating and streamlining county government.
- The Chief Administrative Officer and department directors
must meet monthly to set goals, make plans, review progress,
and establish priorities.
- The Board
of Supervisors must direct the Chief Administrative Officer to establish
a strong labor relations program.
- Meaningful performance evaluations must
be done regularly. Each department director
must establish standards and goals that actually measure the effectiveness of their
department with time frames to meet these requirements.
- Provide training
programs for newly hired, recently promoted, and present employees.
Training must include department basics, leadership, and communications.
- County-wide codes of behavior, conduct
and dress must be developed by Human Resources with cooperation of
the union officials. Empower the Human Resources
Department to enforce these rules and provide these rules to employees.
- Explore and develop a clear policy
for employee promotion.
- Review and upgrade compensation policies to
allow the county to be competitive.
- Major software companies should
be consulted to review county operations and make recommendations
for improvement. See IT report for additional recommendations.
- The Board of Supervisors, department directors and employees, must support important workplace values, such as pride, respect, responsibility, and professionalism.
4. Dysfunction Due To Poor Planning and Irresponsible Leadership
The 2001-2002 Grand Jury with the Board of Supervisors approval, at a cost of about $12,325, contracted for an independent management audit which found the county did not have a long range strategic plan. The Board of Supervisors agreed with the findings and responded that the recommendations would be “implemented in the future.” This Grand Jury found that no strategic plan has been started or implemented to date.
Refer to the following link:
SAY NO TO DYSFUNCTIONAL
COUNTY GOVERNMENT!!!!!
More information to follow...
For more information please email cwinston@cwforcitycouncil.org
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