WEATWE DON'T KNOW COULD HURT USTheNeed orA Wh stleblower rogramIn Sonoma ountv
SUNi,IARYWhistleblower Tip Nets IRS$20Mi[ionrGlaxcoSmith Kline PaysS750MillionzTenetHealthcarePals$62,550,m03$6.89Billion Returnedto the U.S. Treasur/It's no secret hat waste, raudand abuse xist, as widenced ntherecentnewsexposdsistad above.All
oftherccoveredmoney isted abovewas he resultofwhistleblowers coming forwardto expose he waste, raud orabuse ncompanies nd./orovernmentntities.Awhisdeblower s apersonwhoexposeswrongdoingaboutan
employer,busin€ss rgovernmedentity o the publicor to those n the organization,whoar€napositionofauthority and who can affect change.Wlistleblowing"is an activity that requireshe utrnoslconfidentialityand ust. Abs€dthe conJid€ntiallyand rustthat thenformationwill be well handled,whistleblowingwill notoccur and mportanl nformationneeded o effeetivelyoonfrontwas1e,taudand abusewillnotbe available.nthgsecaseswe can expect hat what wedon't know could hurt us asaitizensand a\payers.Gettingwhistleblowernformation s also a matterof convenience nd accuacy. That s,the ability to makea.epod atthe right momentand having he abilityto conveyverbal or written infomationacculatelyandefiiciently. TheStateofCalifornia offers a centralwhistlablowqhotline, which requirespublicemploye$topublicizehotline contact nfomationand alsoprohibitsworkplace elaliation.However,using he statesystem,the callingpar5'is likely toberedirectedo one or more ocalagencieswhere he complainantsmust repeatodlymakeheir caseand whereconJidentialityanbe lost.Manypublicentities n Califomia havecreatedheir own whistleblowerprogramsas a way toprovid€ greateravailability, responsivenessndanonymity or employees ndcitizenswhomakecomplaintswithin eachcounty.Webelieve hat hepublicentities nSonomaCounrywouldbe well sewedby implementinga single,central, ocalFogram.This GrandJury report s concemedwilhimproving he mechanismsor receivingand dealingwith complaintsfromemployees r citizensabout raud,wasteor abuseofauthority againstany regularlyconstituteddistrict,courcil, board,commissionor agency hatprovidesservices o the citizensofSonomaCounty and s fundedthrough ocallycollected ees,specialassessmentsr t&\es.TheGrandJury recommendshatallgovemmentalnits withinSonomaCounrycooperatively nstituteandpublicizeone nclusive whistleblowerprogramhatwouldprovideal anonymous otline,an annual cportingsystemand he assurancehat considemtion fthe complaintwill result romasinglephon€call. AbsentsuchaI$.\lav.satodav.om04-08-11),w*w ny'times.om10-26-10)r$ww.hirst-chanler.com/1.htmIawwwohilliosandcohen.com
program,herearemanypossibilitiesoreither suppressing riticalinformationand/or or career-alteringretaliationagainstawhisdeblowerBACKGROUNDCalifomiaGovemment odeection547et. seq. ndLaborCode ection 102.5 stablish histleblowerlegislationhatprotectsemployeeswhocomplainagainst heir employe$. Section8547 et. seq.,known
as heCalifomia WhistleblowerProteatiol Act, provideshat"stateemployees houldbefreeoreportwaste, iau4abuseofauthodty, violationoflaw, or thrcat opublichealthwithout fearofretibution."S€ction1102.5provideshat"noemployershall retaliateagainstanemployee ordisclosingDformationo agovemmentorlaw enforcementgency,whefe he employeehas easonableauseo bglieve hat he info.mation disclosesviolation ofstate or federalstatute,or violation or noncompliancewith a stateor federal egulation."Duringits investigadon, heGrandJury called he statehotline number odetemine how complaintsarereceivedand hardled. Employeesforganizationsother han stateagencies anphone[ or email heircomplaint o the SfateAttomey Genelal'sofiice, while complaints elated oslateagencies redirected o theStat€Auditor/Controller'swhistleblowerhotline.
In either case, he receivingoffice attempts o understandhenatweofthe complaintand hendirccts h€ ndividual to the appropate agencyat the stateor local level. Thecomplaining ndividualsubsequentlymust contactanotheroffice togetthe complaintheard.It is likely that thiscomplicatedprocesseterspeoplewith valid complaints tom followingthroughwith contactingmorehan oneagency.Also, individualswho havecomplaintsabouta countyor city employeemay view the state'shotlingastoofatremovedrom the cityor couno', heleby decreasinghechanceshat heir complaintswill beactedupon.Thereforea single,county-widehotline wouldaddresshisissue.If one of severalavailabiecommercialhotlinesewiceswereused,accessibility
would be extended 0"2417365," afi, informatiorcaphred would be completeandacaurate ecawe he caller would speakwithatainedpercon notan answeringmachine).Multiple(40+)languageswouldbe accommodated,nonymitywouldbe assweda.rdcostsest.esshan$5,000,1,15wouldbefar lesshan attemptingosta.f oneormoresimilar functions ocally.INVESTIGATIVEPPROACHTheGrandJurygatheredoformationon whistleblower egislation nthe S1a1ef Califomia- Inaddition,eachofCalifomia's58 countieswasconlacted o determile its whistleblowerapproach.As detailedbeloq atleast11countieshave nstitutedheir own whistleblowerprograms.Adninishato$ andel€ctedofiiaials in SonomaCountywere nterviewedogatherhisto calperspectivesnd current hinking regardinga counry-basedwhistleblowerprogram.TheGrandJury researched vailablecommercialethicshotlinecompanies nd heircasemanagementrognms.
Dtscussr0N
A locallyadministered,ndependentnd colfidential whistleblowerprogamfor allof SonomaCountywouldprovide govemmentalmploye€s, lectedboardmembersnd citizens he assurancehat allegationsoffraud,wasteor abuseof authorirycanbe anonymously eportedand resolvedwithout the thrcat of retaliation.Twooptionswere consideredy the GrandJury.The firstoption is the CountyAuditor/Contrcller'sofficecould administera centIal whistleblowerprogramandthat anygovemmentalnits withinSonomaCounty couldagee toparticipate/cooperate.heCountyAuditor/
5Basedn a writtenquoterom a nationalompany.
Controller's officecunentlyhas an employee omplaintevaluationsystemkoughits"InappropriateAationsCommittee,"which could be erpanded nto a full-fledged whistleblowerprogram.Thecomplexitywould comeingettingvohultaryparticipationrom othergovemmentalnits operatingwithin county borders.Thereare
nwnerousexamples f similaxpro$amsat the county or evencity level arould the statebirt thesegenerallydonot reachaoossgovemmentaloudaries. ASINCLE, CENTRAIreportillg ocationn SonomaCounty wouldgeatlyenlance heassurance fimpartiality,confidentiality and citizenaccountability.The secondoption s for SonomaCounty'sCivil GrandJury to administer he whistleblowerprog1am.TheCivil GrandJury s citizen-based,udiciallysuperuised nd empoweredwithspeaialaccess nd confidentiality.Although hesearepowerfuladvantages,he GrandJury alsohassignificant imitations
n termsof invesfigative.esoucesard the requiredannual umover ofmembership.Nevertheless,he GIandJury,as he aentralcollectionpointin a countywidewhistleblowerprogram,couldprovidean umbrella hat comfortablycoversa1lgovemmentalnits and offers a high levelofconfidentiality and iust forthe employees nd citizens. naddition, he GrandJuIy couldgiveassurancehat complaintsare not forgottenby using asummaryn regularannual€portso thegeneralpublic.Regardlessfthe option chosen,egalguidancewould be neededas owhcthq issuesmay havecriminalcontent.Credibl€ eports,or complaints,wouldbe referred o appropriale evelsofgovemment,withtheunderstandinghat status cporfswould be requiredand hat a centralopen ile wouldbe maintained,endingfinalresolution.The role of thecentraladministator for a whistleblowerprogramwould be toprovidean additional ayerofsecurityandconfidentiality and o erlendtheprogram'seach o includearygovemmentalnit witlinthecourty. TheGrandJuly may be better suited orthis role becauset alreadyhasa mandate orgovemmentaloyersightand t hasestablishednvestigativepowers,ncludinghe ability to usesubpoenaogainaccessoofficialsand records.Owinvestigationevealedhat he following countieshavenstitut€d heir ownlocal whistleblowerprcgnms:Alameda,Los Angeles,Orange,Sacramento,anBemardino,SanFmncisco,
SanMateo, Sa a Cla.a,SantaCruz,Solano,and Stanislaus. listof the websites or theseprogramssprovidedn AppendixLTheGrald Jury foundthatmanyof the countieshadhotlinesavailable24 hours,7
daysaweek. Othe6 hadlines availableonly during business ours.Variationswere nthe administrationoftheprogramsandwhetherornotthey were nclusiveon a regionalbasis.TheAuditor-Corftoller's IntemalAudit Diyisionwas a stongchoiceoinvestigatelaimsaswashe CounryAdministativ€Officer and CountyCounsel.Most Califomiacounti€sdo not havewhistl€blowerpro$amsinplace.Complaintsare eceivedby HumanResoucesandreferredo the corespondingd€partmena.The nnmberofcomplaints receivedby these ocalprogramsseemedovarywithpopulation.Ortecounty hadonly 20complaints n ayear,whilea largepopulationcouoty reportedhaving 600+ pendingcomplaints. f\reassumehat hesenumbersare ypical, then aSonomaCountyprogrammightexpect o rcceiveabout 50+complaintsper year.Allofthe localprogramsncludedprovisionsor annual eportsistingthenumberofcomplaintseceived,how manywere nvestigatednd he resultsofthe investigations.Althoughbetter han simply relyingon the StateWhistleblowerHotline, mostof theseprogramsarget€ountyernployeesnd are imitedto complaintsaboutcountygovemment.As a resullcitizens,municipalities,schooldistricts,and otherspecialdistricts are still not wellserved.Therefotewe recommendhat a SonomaCountyWhistleblowerprogramncludeall cities, districtsand agencies peraiingwithinthe county. A list ofthe
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
More From This User
Notes
Load more
