Board committee accepts civil grand jury continuity report responses, moves resolutions to full Board

The Government Audits & Oversight Committee took testimony Sept. 30 on the civil grand jury’s continuity report and the administration’s consolidated responses, then amended and forwarded a resolution responding to the presiding judge.

Ellie Shaffer, foreperson of the 2020–21 San Francisco civil grand jury, summarized the jury’s work and said that while most departmental responses were timely and compliant there were instances of noncompliance, open recommendations and conflicting agency replies. Dr. Donna Hurwitz, chair of the continuity committee, said the committee’s review of prior years found that 11% of responses lacked explicit timeframes and that 24% of recommendations remained open.

Ashley Grafenberger of the Mayor’s Office said the administration coordinates with executive departments to improve compliance with California Penal Code requirements for civil grand jury response timelines, but acknowledged challenges when responses touch multiple agencies or independent oversight bodies.

Chair Supervisor Dean Preston read proposed board responses (agree/partially agree/disagree as appropriate) on the record and moved to amend the resolution to include those responses. The committee voted unanimously to amend and forward the resolution to the full Board of Supervisors for consideration on Oct. 5.

The clerk noted that departmental responses marked "requires further analysis" will require follow-up and that the continuity committee and controller have mechanisms to track overdue or ambiguous responses.