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| California County Audit Doesn't Back Sheriff's Bid to Oversee Jail |
| By San Jose Mercury |
| Published: 05/23/2002 |
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A six-month, $275,000 audit into who should run Santa Clara County's jails found little wrong with the way the county's department of correction is doing the job. The findings outraged Sheriff Laurie Smith, who called the audit weak and asked the county's board of supervisors to reject its conclusions and recommendations. 'I think they didn't look at the things they should have looked at or ask the tough questions,'' said Smith, who wants the department dismantled and the jails placed back under the sheriff's control. 'I think it's very, very naive for them to say it's functioning well because I clearly don't think it is.'' Supervisors commissioned the report in part to end an ongoing debate over whether the sheriff or a county-appointed chief should oversee the jail. The audit looked at the department of correction's relationship with the sheriff's department, and it evaluated the department of correction's management and staff productivity. 'The audit served its purpose,'' said Supervisor Don Gage, who chairs the board. 'It pointed out areas that need to be corrected, but it didn't show any major flaws in the operation -- so we'll tweak it and make it better.'' Gage acknowledged ongoing problems with the jails, including escapes by inmates and labor-related strife among its officers. He said the board would not seek a permanent replacement for former department of correction Chief Timothy Ryan -- who left in February to take a similar post in Florida -- until it digests the results of the management audit. The audit, conducted by DMG-Maximus of Massachusetts, concluded that the relationship between the sheriff's department and the department of correction 'can work and generally has worked effectively.'' And it made more than 50 recommendations regarding staffing and other issues inside the jails, including: Change some correctional-officer positions to 'custody support assistant'' positions in some control rooms and booking areas, a change auditors concluded could save the county $573,000. Add two additional sergeant positions 'to ensure proper oversight'' of correctional officers, a change that could cost the county $189,000. Hire clerical workers to perform some paperwork in the booking unit. Using correctional officers for these tasks results in ``records inaccuracy, errors and the need to do additional clerical work.'' The supervisors commissioned the audit at Smith's request and framed it based on her suggestions. Smith said that in the end, the audit largely missed the point. Smith charged that the auditors didn't look closely at the fiscal implications of having a separate department of correction. 'They looked at the symptoms of the problems within the structure without really evaluating the structure of the department,'' she said. |
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