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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinal Grand Jury Report for 2016-2017 „y T S [p•v r� 4 Y SUPERIOR COURT F ` LIQ' Irt"'r�'dY C(.?VJM1' A DMI NIS I KA'I`E6 Dlr1 COUNTY OF BUTTS a fi. ,SUN 12 2017 L1 l tette Cotittty C'aurtlroitse U 7 North Butte COU[It)�Cpt1rlhOLISe r One Court Street 1775 Concord Avenue ORO vaj,1,1,CATJ h Nry or n Oroville,CA 95965 Chico,CA 95928 (530)532-7002 (530)532-7002 June 8, 2017 Butte County Board of Supervisors Butte County Board Of Supervisors 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200 Oroville, CA 95965 Dear Butte County board of Supervisors: The final Deport of the 201.6-201.7 Butte County Grand Jury was filed Oil June 6, 2017 and will be released to the public at the 2017-2018 Grand.fury hrrpanelment ceremony on,lune 23,2017, Per Penal Code §933.05(f)- "A grand jury shall provide to the affected agency a copy of the portion of the grand jury report relating to that person or entity two working days prior to its public release and after the approval of the presiding judge. No officer, agency, department, or governing body of a public agency shall disclose any contents of the report prior to the public release of the final report." As an affected person or entity manned in the Final Report,please find enclosed a copy of the relevant sections of the report. This information remains confidential until the public release of the re port in its entirety at the 2017-2018 Grand Ju Irn pa nelrnent caer+emony,scheduled for Friday,June 23r 201.7 at 9.00 a.m. The complete report will be posted to the Butte County website Cor viewing. Please note that all agencies listed as Required R sj)tart lehlt'.rs�trust adhere to the requirements of"Penal Code§933/933.05. Please direct responses to: Hon,Robert A. Clusmaln,Presiding Judge c/o Court Administration Superior Court of California,County of Butte One Court Street,Oroville,CA 95965 Sinc-rely, Kim Dionne Court Set-vices Specialist Superior Court ofCalifornia, County of"Butte Enc. Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 BUTTE COUNTY INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIC PLAN SUMMARY There is an old saying that, "If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there?" Strategic planning can serve as a road map to help "get there." A well-designed strategic plan provides guidelines as to how the department will develop and sustain its organizational mission. An annual review and updates help the plan remain relevant and assists with preparations for technological and other unexpected changes. The 2016-2017 Grand Jury conducted a review of previous Grand Jury reports regarding the Information Systems Department's (ISD) lack of a strategic plan. Included in the reports were recommendations regarding the development of the Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP). It was determined that no formal plan had been developed. In this age of rapidly evolving and changing technology, a strategic plan is very important to Butte County's governmental departments. They are all reliant on various levels of technology and support functions which allow them to better serve the needs of other Butte County departments and residents. For these reasons, the 2016-2017 Grand Jury concluded that a review of the ISD was warranted to provide the public with an update on the status of this vital plan. Information Systems Department 29 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 GLOSSARY • CGJA: California Grand Jury Association • FY: Fiscal Year • GTS: Geographic Information Systems • IS: Information Systems • ISD: Information Systems Department • ITSP: Information Technology Strategic Plan • VOIP: Voice Over Internet Protocol BACKGROUND The following timeline was prepared and reviewed: 1. Grand Jury Report Fiscal Year FY 2009-2010: The 2005 strategic plan is outdated. The recommendation to develop a new plan will be implemented in the future. Work has started on an updated plan and should be completed by November 2010. 2. Grand Jury Reports FY 2010-2011, 2011-2012 & 2012-2013: For three years the reports did not contain an ISD review/report. 3. Grand Jury Report FY 2013-2014: This report found that the 2005 strategic plan was outdated and recommended that ISD develop an ITSP to "...reflect new technology developments and new support services needed. It should be reviewed annually in order to respond to any unanticipated need or development opportunity." The Respondent agreed with the Grand Jury's finding and indicated that the recommendation "...has not yet been http://www.buttecounty.net/administration/GrandJuryReportforFiscalYear2009-2010,aspx Information Systems Department 30 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 implemented, but will be in FY 2014-2015." It will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis to ensure relevance to the business needs of the county.2 4. Grand Jury Report FY 2014-2015: No ISD strategic plan was mentioned in this report. 5. May 2015-Sept. 2015: During this time period, correspondence between the Butte County Chapter of the California Grand Jury Association (CGJA) a non- governmental organization, and the ISD, indicated that no action had been taken regarding preparation of the strategic plan. The Butte County Chapter of CGJA requested that ISD inform them when this action was completed. 6. Grand Jury Report FY 2015-2016: No ISD strategic plan was mentioned in this report. APPROACH The 2016-2017 Grand Jury conducted multiple interviews with ISD and county administration to discuss the lack of the ITSP. The Grand Jury also toured the ISD facility. DISCUSSION The ISD is currently divided into four sections. There is a total department staff of twenty-seven employees. It is their mission to provide efficient, secure, consistent, cost effective and reliable communication infrastructure that encompasses high- speed digital data, telecommunication and radio networks for the Butte County governmental organization. '-http://www.buttecounty.net/administration/Grat]dJuryReportforFiscalYear20l3-2014.aspx Information Systems Department 31 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-201.7 Section 1: ISD Administration Administration provides support, leadership and management of all ISD activities. The focus of ISD in FY 20162017 includes: • Modernization of the radio system • Modernization of the data network • Implementation of the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) Section 2: Information Systems (IS)/Communications IS is responsible for designing and maintaining the digital network infrastructure and enterprise system. The IS team provides the following enterprise services to all 23 county departments: • Electronic messaging • Web content management • Database management • Local and wide area network management • Server virtualization • Document management • Network security The enterprise system also helps to ensure that information can be shared across all functional and management levels. The IS section is the point of contact between departments and telecommunication suppliers. All products and suppliers or vendors are selected using competitive bid contracts. Information Systems Department 32 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 Communications is also the E-9-1-1 coordinator to all of the Public Safety Answering Points within the Butte Operational Area along with cellular phones, pagers and other telephone services.3 Section 3: Radio Services Butte County radio technicians manage and maintain radio infrastructure supporting Butte County departments: Sheriff, Fire, Public Works, Public Health, Probation, District Attorney and Office of Emergency Management. The infrastructure includes numerous radio sites, mobile equipment in vehicles and portable equipment carried by individuals. Section 4: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) BUTTE C:oustq ap,Ca[ifornia L3 r'_f ' '= A Butte County Map showing _ ,o �svili q , the county boundaries, county "ich<,nns :'--- ; °Meadows, �'� �� seat, mayor cities, highways, F roads, rail network, airport and r.'�Coh�sset� �� r'Innias j points of interest. This is just Forest Cf„co' ° 5tiiling 'T : I one example of the many Mun:URiclsardson City ' _ t °tea I• Arlt. sprsNagalEa > -i varieties of maps produced Crameil Nod t Cahf SY Q �• �t y .RrverSpv s Univ Chico S', Pulga .�4 ? GIS. ParadLh ao[co ti asdiiell, 191 i y lanslon Interactive Map Viewers: D�rhamg8°tte Cherokee . Feather f hlelso o ,Valley 19 robvijle-,falls r,;v� € Interactive map viewers allow r-­ Therrnalho ; Aria "0,6111pperMills the user to identify, query, ,chvaieo sD8 t52 Ylo . �1.. �rX � rorbesrown i zoom and pan on map layers r tG 4RQVILLE eWyand�tte Citi Biggs° i Palermo ackerby and the records contained r Bangor l f-. ! within them. L�0.-14 Gridley � HcAS ,i www.biittecounty.net/gis/home.aspx t { ii�covr.nM 0,su,1 compara Infoaasv Limited a www.buttecounty.net/is/home Information Systems Department 33 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 GIS shares data and coordinates with regional groups and agencies such as Butte County Association of Governments, Local Agency Formation Commission, CAL FIRE, incorporated municipalities within Butte County and similar agencies in adjacent counties to create, display, manage and analyze geographic information. The GIS also provides data integral to county business processes and to the public. Primary users are: Development Services, Public Health, Office of Emergency Management, Water and Resource Conservation, Communications and Public Works, along with law enforcement and fire support.' During subsequent Grand Jury interviews additional information was provided: 1) A SharePoint website for developing the plan has been established. Individuals, teams and organizations are able to produce, share and collaborate on content in one place. It allows all personnel to have access and is user friendly. 2) The Grand Jury was informed that the ISD is satisfied with the support of county administration and the approved funding received from the FY 2016- 2017 budget. Budget approval permitted the ISD to fulfill their largest planned infrastructure projects, i.e. radio towers, network switching and modernization of the radio system. 3) Radios have been delivered from the manufacturer, Motorola, to Delta Wireless, the implementation vendor. The radios still need to be inventoried in Sacramento, operationally tested, preprogrammed and then delivered. No equipment has been shipped to Butte County for use at this point. With regard to the network infrastructure, approximately 30% of the new network ¢https://www.buttecounty.net/Portals/lBudget/FY16-17Rccommended/Information_Systems.pdf Information Systems Department 34 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 equipment has been installed. More equipment is being readied for installation, but has not yet been placed. 4) ISD is moving ahead with the radio modernization site preparation. The manufacturer will have a team visiting each of the sites to formally assess their readiness for the new equipment. The site visits will focus on the implementation and "turning up" the full 700 MHz system in January 2019. A detailed design review has been scheduled. The focus for this review is to work on the specific details of the implementation in Butte County. 5) Unified communication between county departments is vital for the ability to conduct county business remotely and securely. One aspect of the proposed strategic plan involves adding cloud based apps in order to become more efficient. What was formerly referred to as outsourced is now called the cloud. The cloud is able to provide more storage, is easy to access, requires less onsite storage and can save money. The ISD ensures that Butte County governmental organizations are able to perform their functions to the best of their abilities by providing efficient, secure, consistent, cost effective and reliable communication infrastructure. This infrastructure also allows the departments to more effectively serve a wide variety of needs of Butte County residents. Throughout the past few years, despite the lack of a strategic plan, the Grand Jury recognizes the ISD is well managed and effectively serves Butte County departments. There is a supportive working relationship within the department as evidenced by the results of interviews with ISD employees. Maintaining a positive atmosphere helps retain valuable employees. This is a very important factor since Information Systems Department 35 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 hiring trained, knowledgeable employees is a problem in many areas of Butte County government. FINDINGS F1. The 2005 ITSP was the last plan available and is presently obsolete. F2. The ISD is developing a current strategic plan, with regularly scheduled department meetings and employee input. The newly completed plan should help forecast expenditures, ensure better use of resources and help manage unexpected changes in technology and staffing needs. This is to be completed prior to the end of the FY 2016-2017. RECOMMENDATIONS R1. The ISD should ensure they have developed and implemented a strategic plan for Board of Supervisors review prior to the end of 2017. R2. Beginning with FY 2017-2018, yearly plan updates should be scheduled to keep up with the rapid changes in technology, unexpected department needs and staffing. R3. ISD should notify the Butte County Chapter of CGJA regarding the completion of the department's FY 2016-2017 strategic plan as previously requested. R4. The Butte County Administration Office and Board of Supervisors should provide continued annual support for ISD funding, staffing requests and the continuation and regular updating of the newly developed ITSP. Information Systems Department 36 Butte County Grand Jury 20162017 RESPONSES Pursuant to Penal Code section 933.05, the following response is required: • Information Systems Department Director: respond to F1, F2, R1, R2 and R3 within 90 days The Grand Jury invites the following responses: • Butte County Administration Office, Chief Administrative Officer: respond to F1, F2, R1 and R4 within 60 days • Butte County Board of Supervisors: respond to F1, F2, R1 and R4 within 60 days Information Systems Department 37 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 BUTTE COUNTY CLERK-RECORDER/REGISTRAR OF VOTERS REVIEW Butte County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Building 155 Nelson Avenue, Oroville, CA 95965 SUMMARY The current Grand Jury visited the Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters to discuss department functions prior to the November 8th, 2016 election. All services offered by the Clerk-Recorder's Office are now under one roof. Previously they were in three different offices. Construction began in July 2014 and the new building opened December 21, 2015. The Clerk-Recorder's Office is responsible for at least 122 different types of records where collectively they are preserved and publicly available to view. Butte County, as one of the founding counties in California, has records dating back to the Gold Rush. Clerk-Recorder 41 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 BACKGROUND The County Clerk-Recorder, as the Chief Election Official/Registrar of Voters, administers and conducts all federal, state, county, city, school and special district elections. The current Butte County Clerk-Recorder is the longest tenured Clerk- Recorder in California. This accomplishment speaks to the stability of the office. The Clerk-Recorder Office is responsible for the following: • Maintaining voter files for the County of Butte • Promoting and encouraging voter registration • Processing and certifying initiative referendum, recall and candidate nomination petitions • Processing and maintaining election records and candidate filings • Precinct and district boundary maintenance • Providing vote by mail balloting services • Locating polling places that are accessible to the elderly and disabled voters • Recruiting, appointing and training election-day workers • Programming/testing ballot count system • Tally/certification of ballots cast • Conducts official canvass of the vote and any recounts The County Clerk-Recorder is also the official filing officer for campaign disclosures and statements of economic interests as provided by state and local laws. APPROACH The Grand Jury held interviews with the department during which the election process was explained from beginning to end including counting, machinery, Clerk-Recorder 42 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 security, staffing and trained volunteer positions. The staff is split between the Clerk-Recorder department (15) and Election office (6) for a total of 21 employees. A tour of the facility was conducted which involved explanations and visuals regarding the purpose of numerous pieces of equipment to be used. In addition to the meeting and tour of the department, the Grand Jury also received the training and informational documents listed below: • Voting System Specialist Handbook • Precinct Officer Handbook • AccuVote Voting System • Report to the Retired Public Employee Assoc. • Secretary of State Voter Fraud Protection Handbook DISCUSSION Pre-Election During the election process, approximately 500-600 county residents volunteer their services. Positions available are: Precinct Inspector, Voting Systems Specialist, Chief Inspector, Traffic Director and Clerk. Once selected, they are required to attend classroom training in Oroville. Approximately 85% of volunteers are 65 and older. Students 16 years of age or older with a grade point average of 2.5 or better are encouraged to volunteer and participate in the election process. They must have permission from a parent and a teacher. The students are a huge asset to the election process and it also provides them with an important learning experience. Three Grand Jury members volunteered and were trained to be on the Logic and Accuracy Board/Election Observer Panel. The purpose of the panel was to observe Clerk-Recorder 43 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 all procedures of the ballot counting process and to verify that the program accurately tallies the logic and accuracy test ballot cards. The members of the panel performed random testing on voting system equipment to be used. The random test allowed each member to select a voting precinct, where they tested touch screen, vote by mail and polling place paper ballots. The Logic and Accuracy Panel helps to ensure the accuracy of the election and to facilitate voter confidence in the process. On election night, the panel observes the ballot count and remains throughout the evening until all ballots are counted. Approximately 70% of Butte County residents vote by mail. Post-Election The Grand Jury held an additional interview to discuss the post-election summary which was created to help determine problems that may have surfaced during the election. These issues will be evaluated and addressed for future elections. The day before the election, a call center is set up to log all calls regarding issues and concerns from poll workers and the public. Precinct Officers also provide feedback regarding problems and improvements. The information is compiled and the Post-Election Summary is created to prioritize needed changes and improvements for future elections. Some issues collected from the 2016 election are listed below: • Inactive voters • Absent precinct employees • Not enough "I Voted" stickers • Need more supplies, i.e. pens, paper, provisional ballots, etc. Clerk-Recorder 44 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 • Extra paper for touch screens • Need more County Chief Inspectors to volunteer and be available to answer questions • Electioneering near precincts - individuals need to stay 100 ft. away from entrance door and are not to pass out information or interfere with lines and voters • Better regulation of building temperature • A lack of comfortable chairs at precincts • Residency issues In order for the Election Office to protect the integrity of the process and to operate more effectively, there is a need for an additional staff member. In view of the large number of responsibilities they have, the office is currently understaffed. During the review, it was pointed out that the majority of voting equipment is approximately ten years old and considered outdated. In view of the advances in technology that can improve the efficiency of the voting equipment, replacement of the outdated equipment is advisable in the near future. Advanced planning for the costly replacements will be needed. Notwithstanding these deficits, the Butte County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters department shows a history of being well managed and is-committed to improving and streamlining election processes. The Grand Jury also acknowledges their hard work and diligence in ensuring the accuracy and security of the 2016 election. Clerk-Recorder 45 Butte County Grand Jury 2016-2017 FINDINGS F1. The majority of voting equipment is technologically outdated. F2. Election office is understaffed. RECOMMENDATIONS R1. It is recommended that the Butte County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters request a budget category for the future replacement of outdated voting equipment within the 2017-2018 fiscal year budget. R2. It is recommended that management conduct a labor and staffing review for additional staff by the end of FY 2017-2018. RESPONSES Pursuant to Penal Code section 933.05, the following response is required: • Butte County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters respond to F1, F2, R1 and R2 within 90 days The Grand Jury invites the Butte County Board of Supervisors to respond to: • F1, F2, R1 and R2 within 60 days Clerk-Recorder 46 1 2 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA 3 COUNTY OF BUTTE supwiorCoud of Wontla 4 CrAjntV6f0i]ffe— I L JUN lel 6 100 L E 19moarly Flener,Clark D 6 epLft 7 In The Matter of the 2016-2017 ORDER FOR FILING AND 8 Grand Jury for Butte County RELEASE OF GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 9 10 The 2016-2017 Grand Jury of the County of Butte having submitted its 2016-2017 Final I I Report pursuant to section 933(a) of the Plena] Code, and the Presiding Judge of the Superior 12 Court having reviewed said final report, the Court finds that said report is in compliance with 13 Part Il, 'I'itle 4 of the Penal Code, commencing with section 888. 14 GOOD CAUSE APPEARING THEREFORE,IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that a copy of 15 the report is to be placed on file with, and is to remain on file with,the Office of the Clerk of the 16 Court as provided in Penal Code section 933(b):. 17 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the 2016-2017 Final Report is to be kept confidential 18 until released to the public by the Grand Jury of the County of Butte on June 23,2017. 19 V- IT IS SO ORDERED this day of June,2017. 20 21 22 23 Hon. Robert A. Glusman, Presiding Judge 24 25 26