June 4, 2012
ISSUE: 9
Greetings! 

Announcing the First Meeting of the
Contra Costa County CaLBOC Chapter 
Saturday June 23, 2012 - 10 am to 12noon
Everyone is invited! This will be the first meeting of the Contra Costa County CaLBOC Chapter. Organization of this group and the 2012 CCC Grand Jury Report on School Bond Oversight Committees will be discussed. This 13 page report requires nine districts to respond to the Findings and Recommendations within 60 days. See partial list of Findings in article below.
To register for this meeting and more info: REGISTER HERE
Link to Grand Jury Report PDF (1.5MB): CCCGJ1208.pdf

Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report 1208 School Bond Oversight Committees

Raising the Bar 

Report by the 2011-2012 CCC Grand Jury, May 10, 2012

 

FINDINGS (partial list - 7 of 16 Findings)

  1. The Grand Jury commends the many citizens who serve on bond oversight committees and devote considerable time and effort to the task, without any compensation.
  2. Ballot language that is overly general in identifying specific projects, and fails to indicate priorities and at least a realistic estimate of project costs, impedes meaningful and effective oversight and accountability.
  3. Bond proceeds are sometimes used to provide General Fund relief in various ways, which even if lawful, may not have always been fully disclosed to voters in the ballot language.
  4. District boards have an inherent conflict of interest in selecting, and in some cases, having the power to remove with or without cause, the members of the oversight committee who are required to oversee the district's spending of bond funds.
  5. Districts do not consistently reach out to the legally-mandated organizations, to local professional associations, community groups, or to district residents generally, to seek independent, qualified and motivated nominees for their bond oversight committees.
  6. There does not always appear to be a consistent and transparent process for interested persons to be nominated, apply for, and be appointed to membership on oversight committees, or disclosure of any previous employment by, or other prior involvement or business relationship with, the district.
  7. Districts do not consistently provide timely, adequate and independent training or resource materials for members of their bond oversight committees that explain their role, duties and functions, or provide training in the skills needed to analyze the kinds of fmancial data that bond oversight committee members are asked to review. 
Topics included in the CCC Grand Jury Report 1208:
Summary

Background

Overview of Proposition 39

Required Ballot Language

Recruitment and Selection of Committee Members

Training and Orientation of New Committee Members

Committee Websites and Public Meetings

Active Review of Expenditures

Independent Performance Audits

Reports to the Public

FINDINGS

RECOMMENDATIONS

REQUIRED RESPONSES 

 

13 page CCC Grand Jury Report (1.5MB PDF)CCCGJ1208.pdf
First Annual CaLBOC Conference Handouts, May 11, 2012
 
20 page handout that accompanied presentations (1.8MB):  

calboc_handouts_20pages.pdf

 

Preserving the Public Trust: Case Studies in Technical Financial Analysis

Lori Raineri, President of Government Financial Strategies

Raineri_handout_14pgs.pdf  *  www.gfsi.com

 

Forensic Accounting Tips

Alicia Minyen, CPA, CFE, CaLBOC Board Member

Detecting waste and illegal misuses of bond proceeds.

In This Issue
Grand Jury Report on School Bond Oversight Committees
CaLBOC Conference Handouts Links
First Meeting of CCC CaLBOC Chapter
Archived CaLBOC Newsletters

Contra Costa

County CaLBOC Chapter

First Meeting

June 23, 2012
10 AM - 12 PM

Location TBA

TOPICS:
Organization of CCC
CaLBOC Chapter
 
The Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report   
The report is addressed to
The Governing Boards of: Acalanes Union High School
Antioch Unified School District, Byron Union School District, Contra Costa Community College District, John Swett Unified School District, Martinez Unified School District, Mt. Diablo Unified School District, Pittsburg Unified School District, West Contra Costa Unified School District.
 

The Next CaLBOC

Board Meeting is 

November 9, 2012 

10 am -  3 pm

Sacramento

  

Conference call service will be available.

Mission Statement 
What is Our Mission  

To promote school district accountability by improving the training and resources available to California's Proposition 39 School Bond Oversight Committees and educating the state legislature, local school boards and the public about the oversight and reporting powers these Citizens' Bond Oversight Committees (CBOCs) have, and to advocate on a state level, where appropriate, on issues of common concern to all CBOCs.

Join Our Mailing List!
Archived CaLBOC Newsletters
www.CaLBOC.org 
We encourage you to post and comment on our CaLBOC Blog 
California League of Bond Oversight Committees, 510-799-1141, [email protected]