ANNUAL ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The following officers were elected at the June 14 Annual Meeting:

President – Jack Nixon
Vice President – No nominations were received.
Secretary – Phyllis Berger
Treasurer – Kevin Hagerty

They will take office on July 1 in time for the first Board Meeting on Tuesday, July 5.

WORDS FROM OUR OUTGOING PRESIDENT 

2015-2016 MCCGJA Board of Directors Year in Review

Many changes occurred this past year, which if interested; you can read in more detail at this link:           MCCGJA Year in Review

The dedicated Board members took on many challenges. Here is a brief synopsis:

  • The procedure for interviewing was changed based on decisions of the Court.
  • This change resulted in having the interviews on the Court floor and earlier in the day.
  • Rich Treadgold became interim Training Chair and updated the training schedule based on input from former and current jurors.
  • Rich was also instrumental in updating our 2009 training manual with the help of Paul Premo and myself.
  • A new committee was formed and eventually called the Selection Advisory Committee (SAC). Tom Borden with help from Rich Treadgold and Jean Gunn pulled together a great group of volunteers to help with the changes, which included a group exercise of 5-7 applicants and individual interviews with 2 MCCGJA members. The interview questions were revised.
  • Our Implementation Review Committee, Chaired by Helene Marsh and Sarah Loughran met with the Grand Jury Continuity Committee to ensure that the entities had different missions.
  • Outreach Committee chaired by Jean Gunn, held five open houses and began communications through “Next Door” to extend our reach.  Rich Treadgold and Susan Simpson held two successful classes at College of Marin to encourage more applicants.

I want to sincerely thank all the active members and committee chairs for taking on these important projects. I’m hoping that more members will come forward to help the new board, headed by Jack Nixon as President,  continue these important activities.

 Nadine A. Muller

President 2015-2016, MCCGJA

WORDS FROM OUR PRESIDENT ELECT

OUR CHALLENGE

Short of seeking and holding elected office, serving for 12 months as a Marin Civil Grand Juror is in all likelihood the most vital civic endeavor which a citizen of Marin may pursue.  Jury investigations are critical to the civic health of our county, for we are bringing to light needed improvements in how we govern ourselves and how we spend our tax dollars.  No other independent institution has that charge, along with confidentiality and subpoena power. The Civil Grand Jury alone is the citizen watchdog of all of our local governments.

It follows then that the Marin Civil Grand Jury Association itself has both a fundamental and critical responsibility. If a Grand Jury is to be successful, the Association must be successful in our own work.

And our work, the work of the Marin Civil Grand Jury Association is to recruit, select and train a highly functional Marin Grand Jury—in short, to bring forth nineteen well-qualified grand jurors and eleven alternates to represent the citizens of Marin County.  We are the linchpin by which great Grand Juries can be created.

An equally important charge, which the Association has given itself, is to ensure that the stipulated responses to each Grand Jury report meet both the letter and the spirit of the law, are complete, and are timely.

To the Officers, Directors and Members of the Association, this then is our work which we must pursue vigorously.  I ask that each of you join me in your own resolute effort and that we build a worthy team to accomplish our responsibilities.

Jack Nixon

President Elect

RECEPTION FOR INCOMING AND OUTGOING GRAND JURORS 

July 14,  4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at The Club Patio at McGinnis Park  The event will welcome the new jurors and recognize the outgoing jury.

 NEW GRAND JURY TRAINING 

The new jurors have been selected and the Training Committee is very active. Training begins on July 11th and continues through July 15. There are several changes we are including this year as a result of the feedback from previous jurors. First we have shortened it to five days so that it can been completed in one week. Second, we have included small group, hands-on exercises for several modules. For example, we will teach them the mechanics of how to decide on a topic and write up a Request For Investigation. Then they will break into groups and have to actually do one. Thirdly, we are limiting the number of speakers during the training to the most important movers and shakers in County Government. Additional speakers are invited to come and address the jury over the following two weeks of July, post training. Our new Chapter President, Jack Nixon, will kick off the training with an overview of the Chapter and what the jury can expect over the next year. Our most gracious and capable instructors this year are Helene Marsh – Co-Chair of the IRC, Nadine Muller – Outgoing President, Nancy Frease – Outgoing Chair of Social Committee, Jean Gunn, Outgoing Chair of Outreach Committee, and Paul Premo – Outgoing Vice President. Much thanks to all of them. Our intention is to make this the best training ever, which will be hard to do given the quality of this program over the years.