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Public urges Mendocino supervisors to act on grand jury report and clarify responses
Summary
Public commenters at the July 8 Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting pressed the board to treat a recent grand jury report on planning and building services as regular calendar business, to provide clear, timely responses to specific recommendations and to include implementation details required by state law.
Residents urged Mendocino County supervisors on July 8 to move promptly on findings in a recent grand jury report about the Department of Planning and Building Services and to provide clearer responses that meet requirements of state law.
Dee Palace, a resident of District 5, told the board the grand jury report — published June 11, 2025 — includes specific recommendations with near-term deadlines and should not be hidden on the consent calendar. “How hard is it to direct staff to follow the law?” Palace said, noting recommendations with July 1 deadlines and urging the board to show transparency by discussing at least three recommendations publicly.
The issue resurfaced later in public comment when another speaker reviewed the grand jury's continuity report and its finding that the board's prior response did not include a required summary of implementation for Recommendation 10. That commenter cited Penal Code section 933.05 and said the county's earlier responses lacked details such as staffing, timelines, roles and policies that the statute requires. The commenter urged the board to use the statute's clarification process and said the presiding judge's signature on the report suggests noncompliance.
The board moved that an ad hoc committee would prepare a more comprehensive response and, in the meeting's consent discussion, supervisors said they had formed an ad hoc committee to develop a comprehensive response to the continuity report. Chair remarks acknowledged that the committee had been working to reconcile what the grand jury sought with the county's restructuring and quality-assurance efforts.
Why it matters: Penal Code section 933.05 requires local agencies to provide a written response to grand jury recommendations that, among other things, describe actions taken or a timeline for implementation. Public commenters said the county's prior replies omitted those implementation details and asked the board to bring specific recommendations to the regular calendar rather than handling them on the consent calendar.
Board members and staff did not adopt any new, formal policy on the record at the July 8 meeting beyond continuing ad hoc work on the response; the public record indicates follow-up and further clarification with the grand jury will be needed.
Ending: The board indicated supervisors Williams and Mulhern are serving on the ad hoc committee to refine the response and will continue to communicate with grand jury staff. The board also left the grand jury-related consent item on the regular calendar for continued consideration.
