Supervisors mull grand jury report
Friday, June 26, 2009
By Roger Phelps
 
  
Answers from several safety agencies to allegations in a grand jury report must arrive within a three-month timeline that began Tuesday.

Amador County supervisors received the report Tuesday. They govern the Jackson Valley Board of Directors, which governs the Jackson Valley Fire Protection District.

In a summary published in May, an Amador Grand Jury report accuses several agencies of ignoring a threat to public safety - namely, a Jackson Valley Fire Protection District chief allegedly arriving drunk at fire calls.

Agencies named in the report range from the local level to the state level, including Jackson Valley, the city of Ione and the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The report calls for removal from office of both the chief of the fire department and the chairman of the department's board of directors.

"I'm speaking more as a citizen than as a grand juror," foreman Vince Murdock told supervisors. "We received an anonymous complaint last year. It mentioned members of the Jackson Valley Fire Department and expressed grave concerns over public safety.

"We interviewed 25 people," Murdock continued. "I was appalled at the amount of people who gave false or misleading testimony. I was staring into space. It kind of blew me away - people sacrificing themselves to protect others, a code of silence. When they were finally given a chance to speak, they misled us."

Board Chairman Ted Novelli said he had spoken to the county counsel and the district attorney about the allegations in the report.

District 2 Supervisor Richard Forster said, "We'll try to make the responses that are required and make sense."

The fire chief's position is held by Thom Reed. The board chairman's position is held by Jake Herfel.

All parties named have said they will respond in a timely manner. Murdock noted that as a state-level agency, technically CAL FIRE, the department need not respond.