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Supervisors direct CCP and JJCC to continue public‑safety work; public voices concern about staffing for DA and public defenders
Summary
Following a countywide public safety discussion, the board voted to ask the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) and Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) to continue the work and report back in six months; public commenters and county prosecutors urged higher pay and staffing for DA and public defender offices.
Supervisor Long moved and the board approved returning the public‑safety discussion to standing committees for continued work and reporting. “I would like to make a motion that staff bring back discussion on the public safety topic we talked about last night and possibly, kind of assigning this to CCP … and JJCC … and report back to our board,” Long said, describing the intent to create ongoing oversight and six‑month updates from those bodies. The motion was seconded and approved by a 5‑0 vote.
The motion followed a March 24 public safety meeting (referenced by multiple supervisors) that included presentations from local law‑enforcement and justice agencies. Several public commenters at the March 25 meeting urged the board to address staffing shortages in prosecution and defense offices. Deputy district attorneys Brian Ziegler and David Stewart both told the board their offices face statewide recruitment pressures and heavy workloads; Ziegler said salary differences are a key factor in retention: “The simple math is that we need more attorneys and to get more attorneys we need a competitive wage,” he said.
Members of the public and other speakers described consequences of limited staffing, increased workloads, and the work created by recent legislative changes (for example, SB 1437 and Proposition 57 were cited by a commenter as increasing post‑conviction workloads). Several speakers urged that the board prioritize retention and recruitment funding for both the district attorney and public defender offices.
Supervisor Long’s motion asked CCP and JJCC to continue the public‑safety narrative, prepare six‑month updates and return findings to the board; the board approved the request 5‑0. The board did not adopt an immediate funding package on March 25, but several supervisors and public speakers called for budgetary attention to recruitment, retention and workload relief for justice system offices.
