On July 1, my service as 2024-25 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury Foreperson ended, our jury was discharged, and a new panel of 19 jurors was sworn in.
Last year’s jury issued 12 reports on investigations with significant implications for our community. Three of our reports addressed public health concerns:
Is the county prepared for the next big epidemic?
Have vaccination levels dropped so much that disease spread is a local worry?
Are sidewalk food vendors making customers ill with unsafe food prep?
Three more of our reports addressed separate cases in which jail-related deaths occurred. In all three cases, proper safety procedures were not followed. Our reports concluded that these ongoing deficiencies, which have been previously documented, contributed to fatal outcomes. To be clear, these are mistakes that cost lives.
Another one of our reports, an investigation of cannabis tax revenues and expenditures, was so prescient in identifying over-spending that the Board of Supervisors acted to implement our recommended budget reforms literally days before the year-long investigative report was published. No, there weren’t any leaks, the Board was simply doing its job, paying attention to the same data the Grand Jury identified as problematic. That’s a good example of the system working as intended.
Another such feel-good story was our report on the Santa Barbara County water management system. Most Grand Jury investigations concentrate on problems in government, and that is how this one started out, with a narrow initial focus. In the end, no problems were identified, but our jurors were so impressed with the overall performance of this sector of government that we issued a rare report commending its service to the public.
A recent KEYT story about the Grand Jury’s report on the local housing crisis quoted Supervisor Laura Capps as endorsing our recommendation that surplus government land be used for new affordable housing. This brings to mind another aspect of our community worth celebrating: our local media.
Some might say Santa Barbara is a news media desert, having lost our historic newspaper and being regularly overlooked by the L.A. Times. (Yep, we sent them all of our 12 press releases with zero results.) But there have been dozens of stories in recent weeks from a broad range of local news sources, including The Independent, Noozhawk, Edhat, KEYT, and KCLU, among others.
That news coverage has been accurate and professional, alerting county residents about issues that warrant their serious attention. As I said to one reporter in a note of appreciation, the Grand Jury’s informal motto is “Shine the Light” on government issues and shortcomings, and you are an important partner in that effort.
Will our reports matter? Will they lead to any improvements for local government? That’s mostly up to you who are reading this. If you ignore these issues because you are too busy to bother, as most people are, it makes it easier for government officials to do the same.
Fortunately, the law requires that investigated agencies must file a formal written response in 60 to 90 days following each Grand Jury report. They must specify whether or not they will implement our recommendations, and if not, explain why. Our news media will keep you informed, and if you let your officials know in advance that you support the need for reform, you increase the chance that such outcomes will occur.
Each Grand Juror devoted over 1,000 hours of their time during the past year on behalf of the citizens of Santa Barbara County. Their service is not as visible as uniformed police or firefighters, but it is just as diligent and is entirely voluntary. It reflects the extraordinary commitment of many local public servants of various stripes who make Santa Barbara County such a special place to live.
The Grand Jury is unique in its authority to hold public officials accountable, but that power only holds value if the public chooses to engage. We did our part; it’s your turn now.
