Civil Grand Jurors' Association of California

4 days ago

Grand Jury Tackles County Radio Communications
www.montereyherald.com/2026/05/04/grand-jury-report-calls-for-more-resources-for-first-responder-...

By Kyarra Harris
kharris@montereyherald.com
A new civil grand jury report details gaps in emergency radio coverage across Monterey County, raising concerns about communication failures during fires and other emergencies.

The report, released Friday, examined radio communication systems used by fire agencies serving unincorporated areas and found that challenging terrain, limited funding and delayed adoption of newer technology have contributed to inconsistent coverage.

According to the findings, large portions of the county experience unreliable radio signals. Radio signals also may not be available in their area. Digital radio coverage, which is widely used for clearer communication, does not reach about 42 percent of the county’s geographic area. Analog radio, which has broader reach but lower quality, still leaves about 18 percent of the county without coverage.

The report states that these gaps create a risk for both residents and emergency responders, particularly during life-threatening situations where communication is critical.

Investigators identified several areas with limited or no coverage, including parts of North Salinas, Prunedale, Carmel Valley Village, Big Sur and south Monterey County. Coverage issues also extend indoors, where buildings can block radio signals.

Monterey County’s geography was cited as a major factor. The region spans more than two million acres, with elevations ranging from sea level to over 5,800 feet, creating natural barriers that interfere with radio transmission.

The report also points to the complexity of the county’s fire protection system. Multiple independent fire districts operate across unincorporated areas, each with its own funding and equipment. This has led to uneven adoption of communication technology and coordination challenges between agencies.

Firefighters often rely on a mix of analog and digital radios and must manually adjust frequencies depending on their location. The report found that while experienced personnel are able to navigate these systems, newer responders or those working outside their usual areas may face delays or communication breakdowns.

Efforts are underway to improve the system through the county’s Next Generation Radio Network project, which is testing newer technologies such as LTE, Wi-Fi and low-orbit satellite communication. Early testing suggests these options could reduce coverage gaps, but they have not yet been fully implemented.

Cost remains a major barrier. Building additional radio towers can improve coverage, but each tower can exceed $1 million due to difficult terrain and limited access. Newer radios that support multiple communication modes can cost about $12,000 per unit, placing additional strain on fire districts that must purchase their own equipment.

Funding for fire districts largely comes from property taxes, which have been limited since the passage of Proposition 13. The report found that this funding model does not provide enough revenue to support necessary upgrades to communication systems.

The civil grand jury issued several recommendations, including directing the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to develop a plan to address radio coverage gaps, identify funding sources and support fire districts in upgrading equipment.

County officials are required to respond to the findings and recommendations within 90 days. ... See MoreSee Less

Grand jury report calls for more resources for first responder radio communication

www.montereyherald.com

The civil grand jury issued several recommendations

Civil Grand Jurors' Association of California

4 days ago

Updated Nevada County Civil Grand Jury news stemming from a 2022 Grand Jury Report.

NEVADA CITY, Calif. – Nevada County District Attorney Jesse Wilson filed felony charges against Jamie Jones, executive director of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, and Chris Wackerly, Jones’ former partner and former director of operations for the organization.
The indictments allege 29 counts of fraud, grand theft, money laundering, embezzlement, perjury and forgery against each defendant. The indictments list embezzlement allegations dating from 2018 to early 2025.
Wackerly was arrested on Friday, May 1st, and booked in the Nevada County Jail. Jones has not been apprehended at publication time.
Background
Concerns about the Fire Safe Council surfaced publicly as early as July 2021, when local media stories documented complaints from former employees.
A June 2022 Civil Grand Jury report identified deficiencies in the organization’s internal processes, drawing on public records, staff testimony and a whistleblower account. The FSCNC’s board response was deemed inadequate, prompting the 2023-24 grand jury to reinvestigate.
The Board of the non-profit came out strongly against any allegations and in their response to a finding wrote, in part, “that the grand jury’s statements were “an opinion, not a finding” and calling the accusations “outrageously inappropriate, inaccurate and unfounded.” ... See MoreSee Less

Fire Safe Council executive director, former partner indicted on 29 felony counts

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District Attorney Jesse Wilson charges Fire Safe Council executive director, former partner face 29 felony counts

Civil Grand Jurors' Association of California

5 days ago

Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report News in Palo Alto

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which runs the county’s light rail and public buses, came under fire in a new Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report that called it one of the most inefficient transit agencies in the country. ... See MoreSee Less

VTA touts spending plan for possible Bay Area sales tax increase

www.paloaltoonline.com

South Bay transportation leaders aren’t waiting for the November election to draft a wishlist of projects to make car-less commuting more bearable. But it depends entirely on voters passing a region...

Civil Grand Jurors' Association of California

5 days ago

Inside Sonoma County’s civil grand jury — with one of its youngest voices
This link is behind a paywall.
www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/05/02/inside-sonoma-countys-civil-grand-jury-with-one-of-its-youngest-...

Mayra Aguilar walked into the Sonoma County Superior Court to be sworn in as a civil grand juror. She surveyed the room of her new colleagues — many of them retirees, some nearing age 90 — and immediately realized she was the outlier.
“Nobody was expecting someone like me,” recalled Aguilar, who was 20 at the time. “And they were all kind of looking at each other like, ‘Huh? What?’”
Now 21, Aguilar may be one of the youngest people ever to serve on a California civil grand jury — a distinction that is difficult to verify because no statewide entity tracks jurors’ ages, according to the Civil Grand Jurors’ Association of California. Larry Herbst, the group’s vice president, said in an email to The Press Democrat Aguilar “may be the youngest to ever have served.”
Mayra Aguilar, 21, is one of California's youngest civil grand jurors, having served on the 2025-26 Sonoma County civil grand jury. Aguilar, who graduated from UC Berkeley, also works as a paralegal for VIDAS at Santa Rosa Junior College, volunteers as an immigration court observer, and plans to attend law school. Photo taken at the VIDAS office at SRJC in Santa Rosa on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Mayra Aguilar, 21, is one of California’s youngest civil grand jurors, having served on the 2025-26 Sonoma County civil grand jury. Aguilar, who graduated from UC Berkeley, also works as a paralegal for VIDAS at Santa Rosa Junior College, volunteers as an immigration court observer, and plans to attend law school. Photo taken at the VIDAS office at SRJC in Santa Rosa on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Aguilar’s path to the jury began on a whim. Days before an application deadline in May 2025, she found the posting while searching for volunteer opportunities in Sonoma County after she’d moved home to Windsor following her graduation from UC Berkeley.
An aspiring attorney, and a paralegal at VIDAS Legal Services, a nonprofit immigration law center, Aguilar wanted to fill her time with experiences that would bolster her future career. She was intrigued by the chance to sit on a civil grand jury, though she said it felt like a long shot.
“It was like 11 p.m.” when she saw the application post, she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work,’ but I just filled it out.”
She wasn’t initially selected for the 2025-26 panel. Then a spot opened.
“I was the first alternate,” she said. “They called me, and I got to start from the beginning.”
Created under California law, civil grand juries serve as independent watchdogs over local government with authority to review operations, inspect public records and issue reports with findings and recommendations. Agencies named in those reports are required to formally respond.
The Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury has been operating in various forms since the inception of the California Constitution in 1850, but was formally designated by the Sonoma County Superior Court in 2009.
Civil grand juries investigate agencies ranging from school districts to county departments, often based on complaints from the public or issues identified internally. Jurors vote as a 19-person volunteer panel — members are paid small meeting stipends and mileage — on whether to pursue an investigation.
Once an investigation is approved, jurors break into committees to dig deeper — conducting interviews, reviewing records and building findings.
Previous Sonoma County civil grand juries have published findings leading to significant systemic change throughout local government.
The 2024-25 panel published reports that found the Petaluma-based North Bay Animal Services organization had allegedly neglected animals in its care, leading to “unacceptable shelter conditions.” Subsequently, several cities in Sonoma and Lake counties cut ties with the group.
Additionally, civil grand juries have evaluated housing affordability in the county, emergency evacuation plans, the status of Sonoma city cemeteries and more.
The 2025-26 jury has yet to release its investigative findings — but anticipates publication sometime in June. The panel is in the process of finalizing edits and discussing findings.
“It’s a long process,” Aguilar said. “A lot of interviewing people, gathering information, writing and then going back and forth until it’s right.”
The work follows a steady rhythm. The jury meets at least once a week — typically for about an hour — along with longer plenary sessions that can stretch two hours or more. Committee meetings, editing sessions and interviews fill in the gaps, especially toward the end of the term when reports are finalized.
During peak periods, Aguilar said, the workload can reach 20 hours a week, which can be challenging for jurors who work full time.
“I got hired at (VIDAS) the same time that I started the grand jury,” she said. “I let them know I was starting this process, and they were like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine — go right ahead.’”
All of the reading, writing and interviewing required of jurors are demands that can make participation difficult for younger people, particularly those in the early years of their careers, said Wendy Roberts, the panel’s foreperson and a second-time Sonoma County civil grand juror.
“There are definitely challenges because it’s time-consuming,” she said. “We meet weekly during the day, and then committee meetings take up more time.”
For many younger applicants, she said, the barrier to serve is not lack of interest but lack of availability.
“The main thing to me would be not the person’s age, but whether their lives are going to let them make a commitment,” Roberts said. “Is this the way you want to spend your discretionary time?”
Jurors do not need specialized backgrounds, she added, but a mix of skills strengthens the panel’s work.
“You really do have to be literate, be able to read,” Roberts said. “You don’t have to be a great writer, but we have to have some good writers.”
Ultimately, she said, the strength of the jury comes from collaboration.
“If you put all the skills and knowledge of 19 people together, you ought to be able to get something done,” Roberts said.
Each investigation moves through multiple layers of review. After committees draft reports, they are edited by jurors outside the group, debated line by line by the full panel, reviewed by county counsel and ultimately approved by the presiding judge before being released publicly.
Jurors serve one-year terms that run from July 1 through June 30, culminating in a final report released at the end of the term. While the work is confidential during the process, the findings ultimately become public, offering a rare inside look at how local agencies operate.
“Nobody is looking at who held the pen,” Roberts said. “They’re looking at, are the arguments clear? Is the data supported? Is it an important message?”
Roberts, who is in her 80s, said the wide age range on this year’s jury quickly stopped being a factor.
“We were all thrilled and curious to see how it would go,” she said of Aguilar’s participation. “I think the eldest on our panel is probably 87 or 88 and I’m a few years shy of that, so there’s a big age difference, but it has become almost invisible. She’s obviously a smart person, and she would have probably a different perspective on the work that we do, but that’s a good thing.”
Mayra Aguilar, 21, is one of California's youngest civil grand jurors, having served on the 2025-26 Sonoma County civil grand jury. Aguilar, who graduated from UC Berkeley, also works as a paralegal for VIDAS at Santa Rosa Junior College, volunteers as an immigration court observer, and plans to attend law school. Photo taken at the VIDAS office at SRJC in Santa Rosa on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Mayra Aguilar, 21, is one of California’s youngest civil grand jurors, having served on the 2025-26 Sonoma County civil grand jury. Aguilar, who graduated from UC Berkeley, also works as a paralegal for VIDAS at Santa Rosa Junior College, volunteers as an immigration court observer, and plans to attend law school. Photo taken at the VIDAS office at SRJC in Santa Rosa on Friday, April 24, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
For Aguilar, the age gap was more noticeable at first, especially when interviewing seasoned professionals and public officials.
“I feel like I’m pretty young,” she said. “Most of the people we’re interviewing are older.”
Early on, she questioned whether she belonged in the room. That changed during training, when a representative from the statewide civil grand jury association pulled her aside.
“They told me, ‘Just because they’re older doesn’t mean you don’t have something to add,’” Aguilar said. “That kind of motivated me to be like, OK, I have a voice.”
Even so, speaking up took practice.
“At times I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’” she said. “They’re all going back and forth. But I’ll say, ‘Correct me if I’m wrong,’ and then I just say it.”
Over time, that hesitation gave way to confidence — and leadership. Aguilar volunteered early to take on additional responsibilities, including serving as a committee chair, a role that involves coordinating investigations and communicating with officials.
“She volunteered on the first day to be one of our treasurers,” Roberts said. “And she has done that flawlessly all year.”
Aguilar also gravitated toward interviews, which she once considered the most intimidating part of the job.
“At first I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m the one interviewing these people,’” she said. “But they’ve been so fun, because I get to meet so many different people and understand their work.”
Roberts encouraged community members to apply for the next term, noting that applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
“The application is on the court website, and we’re still recruiting for the next term,” she said. “It’s a moving window, but applications will have more attention if they’re in by May 10.”
Aguilar said the experience has also helped shape her path toward a legal career. She recently took the law school admission test and is in the process of applying to law schools, with the goal of becoming an immigration attorney.
As the jury prepares to release its annual report in June, Aguilar said the experience has already reshaped how she sees her role in the community — and her future in law.
“I’ve learned how to work with people who don’t always agree,” she said. “How to meet in the middle.”
The work of the civil grand jury, she said, has given her a foundation she wouldn’t have found in a classroom.
“It’s helped me a lot with writing, interviewing and speaking to people who are maybe more official,” she said. “It’s kind of like speaking to a judge or someone in that position.”
It has also built her confidence in ways she expects will carry into law school.
“I probably won’t be as afraid of getting cold-called,” she said, laughing. “Just small things like that that boost your confidence.”
For Christopher Honigsberg, the Sonoma County presiding judge who interviews prospective jurors, Aguilar stood out early in the selection process.
“It was immediately apparent that Mayra is smart, hard working and determined,” he said in an email to The Press Democrat. “She understood the commitment and had already discussed it with her employer.”
That commitment is key, Honigsberg said. Civil grand jury service requires balancing a demanding schedule while maintaining objectivity in a role designed to build public trust.
“The grand jury is not designed to be political,” he said. “It is designed to be objective and responsible to the community.”
Diversity — including age — strengthens that mission, he said.
“I think having a hardworking, smart and younger juror like Mayra adds an important voice to the process,” he added.
That perspective, Aguilar said, is exactly why more young people should consider serving — even in spaces where they might feel out of place.
“It’s not just older people living in Sonoma County,” she said. “We should also have a voice.”
You can reach Staff Writer Isabel Beer at isabel.beer@pressdemocrat.com ... See MoreSee Less

Sonoma County woman may be youngest to ever serve on a civil grand jury in California. Here's why she's doing it

www.pressdemocrat.com

“Nobody was expecting someone like me,” recalls Mayra Aguilar, who at age 20 volunteered for the panel that serves as an independent watchdog in Sonoma County.