The dynamics of the Board of Supervisors and the Grand Jury are interesting. The board historically accepts the findings of the Grand Jury’s investigations such as when they investigated suicides in the County Jail. Interestingly, the Sheriff claimed that the Grand Jury findings were wrong and refused to accept any responsibility. Essentially, since the Sheriff is an elected official, he is only accountable to the voters, not the Board of Supervisors!
In the case of the cannabis investigation, the Grand Jury criticized the Board of Supervisors for selling out the county’s normal environmental review process as well as several other problems implying the board was motivated by millions of potential tax dollars. Unlike the findings against the Sheriff in which the board agreed with the Grand Jury, the board disagreed with 10 of the 12 Jury’s findings and dismissed 17 of 18 recommendations.
This kind of thing must be very frustrating to the Grand Jury!