The county has a policy of automatically purging most emails after two years \u2013 and that could affect a criminal case involving a former county contractor.<\/p>\n
Refresher: Our Lisa Halverstadt has reported extensively on county actions tied to what ultimately became a criminal case against the former COO of Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego. Amy Knox is accused of spending public funds on everything from plastic surgery to family vacations.<\/p>\n
After Voice of San Diego sued earlier this year to force the release of whistleblower complaints about the nonprofit\u2019s county contracts, a county lawyer said officials couldn\u2019t find messages sent in 2022 or 2023 because of the county\u2019s two-year retention policy.<\/p>\n
The Reaction: Knox\u2019s attorneys are concerned the loss of those emails hampers their ability to defend their client. They argue the county shouldn\u2019t be relying on staff to decide whether their emails should be kept longer than two years. And County Supervisor Joel Anderson now says he plans to push for the county to extend its retention period to five years at an upcoming board meeting.<\/p>\n
Read the full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n The Plan to Improve Contract Oversight<\/p>\n County officials say they\u2019re taking steps to bolster and standardize contract oversight following the Harm Reduction Coalition debacle. <\/p>\n They detailed a proposed structure during a Tuesday subcommittee<\/a> meeting chaired by Supervisors Paloma Aguirre and Joel Anderson. The plan involves establishing an oversight committee. <\/p>\n Branden Butler, director of the county\u2019s Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Labor Standards, said he expects to chair the committee that will include county lawyers, procurement officials and liaisons in each county division who can advise staff. Butler said the liaisons should help staff flag and escalate major contract issues, and ensure departments are properly overseeing contracts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Butler said the county hopes to pilot the new approach in select departments in the next 60 to 90 days.<\/p>\n \u201cThe county would move toward a shared operating model with consistent expectations, documented responsibilities, assignment tracking, escalation procedures and a strong executive visibility,\u201d Butler said. \u201cThat clarity is what allows the governance structure to become an accountability structure.\u201d<\/p>\n Next Steps: The supervisors requested that county officials move forward with the plan and update the full board by the end of this year on any related staffing and funding needs. They also asked for a memo within 90 days updating the subcommittee on their progress.<\/p>\n An interesting moment: After the presentations, Aguirre wanted to know: Did the county and outside reviewers find contract oversight issues throughout the county or were they confined to certain departments?<\/p>\n \u201cThey were widespread and they were primarily due to departments essentially having their own way of doing things, so a lack of consistency,\u201d Chief of Audits Juan Perez said.<\/p>\n San Diego County Clerk Status: Very Excited<\/p>\n The county took to social media Tuesday to share County Clerk Andrew Potter\u2019s excitement about next week\u2019s county board meetings and new features that make county agendas more accessible. In his hype video<\/a>, Potter also slides, spins, shoots \u2013 and manages to finally get a ball in the basket.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Other News<\/p>\n The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated Posts\n<\/p>\n \t