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EDHCSD at odds with grand jury Sel Richard Staff writer El Dorado Hills Community Services District board members accused the El Dorado County Grand Jury of subpar performance in a draft of its formal response to an investigation regarding the CSD’s management of Landscape and Lighting Assessment Districts. “…the district expresses its dismay at the slipshod manner in which the grand jury conducted and concluded its investigation,” the 16-page letter reads. The term “strategically forced ignorance” is being suggested as a possible edit. “Both the oral testimony and the documentation provided by the district demonstrated the inaccuracy of many of the inquiries made by the grand jury during its investigation.” Released June 30, the grand jury report focused on calculation of assessment amounts, the appeals process, rental income credits and possible conflicts of interest between the CSD and LLADs. “This is a work of fiction,” declared board member Sean Hansen, calling the report “obnoxious and egregiously wrong.” Though the CSD disagrees with 10 of the report’s 13 findings, Hansen “This is a work admits two are interesting. “For example, LLADs sharing in of fiction.” revenue for field rental programming … it’s a good idea,” he — EDHCSD Director conceded. Sean Hansen The other finding the CSD approved of involved the impact of outsourced contract services on LLAD assessments to which the letter noted could be in the favor of the LLAD members. The CSD agreed all information concerning LLADs is not consolidated on the CSD’s webpage for LLADs. Hansen took exception to the jury’s reference to conflicts of interest. “This definition by the grand jury is fiction,” he reiterated. “They made it up. There’s a disagreement, not a conflict of interest.” In addition, the letter attests to the destruction of records relating to the investigation less than a month following the issuance of the report. “Most distressing of all, however, is the admission by the current grand jury foreperson, Marisa Nickles, in an email to District General Manager Kevin Loewen dated July 17, that ‘[a] ll records related to the 2021-22 grand jury investigations have been destroyed,’” the letter revealed. “What the statute says is that a request can be made for all non-privileged materials on which the grand jury relied in rendering its report,” noted CSD legal counsel David Tyra, who pointed out that there is no prohibition in the code against the destruction of records. “The time period from the date of the report to the recognition in communication to GM Loewen that stated that the records had been destroyed — that was a less than 30-day time period. That seemed odd.” Board member Noelle Mattock voiced concerns
Village Life photos by Sel Richard
For years Joann Weber has delivered lunch and a smile to Brooks Elementary School students. The 86-year-old said she loves her interactions with the kids.
Lovely Lunch Lady serves up smiles
Sel Richard Staff writer
W
ith her twinkling brown eyes and mischievous grin, it’s no wonder Joann Weber is a hit in the Brooks Elementary School lunchroom — and the feeling is mutual. Just shy of her 87th birthday, Weber is overjoyed school is back in session, often greeting the children by name. Weber began her 22 years in the Buckeye Union School District at Brooks Elementary as a playground monitor and has enjoyed jobs at Silva Valley Elementary, Rolling Hills Middle School and Blue Oak Elementary. Now back in the Brooks cafeteria, she supervises breakfast and serves lunch daily. To her delight, she was named the 2021-22 Classified n
See Weber, page A4
Joann Weber was named the 2021-22 Classified Employee of the Year.
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See Response, page A4
INSIDE NEWS Vol. 29
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issue no. 34
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