The complete schedule of Grand Jury Association of Orange County (GJAOC) Board of Directors Meetings and quarterly luncheons is provided at 2020 GJAOC Board Meetings and Luncheons rev2.  Please mark these dates on your calendars so you can avoid a conflict later in the year as you plan your activities.

Our Board of Directors meetings are open to all members, and the Board of Directors encourages members to attend.  Agendas for the Board Meetings will be published at least one week in advance of each meeting on the Agendas and Minutes tab on this web site.

In addition, members and their guests are all welcome to make reservations to attend our luncheons at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim where we have excellent menu options including vegetarian fare and have consistently had informative and interesting speakers.

Please click the link below to read a message from the Association’s President, Stan Ness.

Pres Message Sept 2019-2

Our Summer 2019 luncheon coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Allied D-Day operation.  We had a big turn-out of about 60 people including many GJAOC members who are veterans.  We honor the service of all of our veterans and especially those who died in service during that war, and all other wars on behalf of the nation.

Our guest speaker was Congressman Lou Correa, who represents the 46th US Congressional District (largely Anaheim, Santa Ana and parts of the City of Orange). Congressman Correa refers to himself as a blue-dog democrat; a conservative democrat who gets pulled hard in opposite directions from both sides.  He left his prepared script and held a wide-ranging discussion that covered a lot of topics from immigration, homeland security, paying for college to impeachment.  He brought his printed copy of the Mueller report and indicated that he had not yet formed an opinion on whether or not the House of Representatives should begin impeachment proceedings against the President, since he had yet to read the report in full.  As you can imagine, the Q & A session was quite animated.

The GJAOC was also very pleased to have a significant number of current Grand Jurors in attendance, including Foreperson Birgit Sale.  With 3 reports released to-date, we can only assume that things are quite hectic for them right now, so we really appreciate their joining us. We also hope that their attendance will result in a good number of these Grand Jurors joining the GJAOC to help keep it vital.  The unofficial prize for alumni attendance went to the 2015/16 Grand Jury who had 13 (of a final class of 18) folks in attendance.  Way to go class of 2015/16!

6June19-VideoClipCorrea

(click the link to listen to some of Congressman Correa’s comments on the D-Day Anniversary)

SUMMARY OF CHIEF PROBATION OFFICER STEVE SENTMAN’S REMARKS

by Marie Whittington (GJAOC Board of Directors)

Chief Probation Officer Steve Sentman was the featured speaker at the March 7, 2019 luncheon at the Phoenix Club. Probation statewide has undergone significant changes as the State successfully transferred responsibility for lower level felons from the State Prisons and Parole to the County Jail and Probation. At the same time, the homeless population in the County has exploded with an increased need for supervision and rehabilitative services. In response, Orange County Probation continues to be regarded as one of the best in the Country and has developed many innovative programs to better deal with the changing demands while holding offenders accountable. At the same time, there are serious offenders on Probation and a select number of Deputy Probation Officers are armed in high risk assignments.

Chief Sentman described the many cooperative alliances Probation has developed with the Courts, Police Chiefs, social service agencies, and related County agencies (Sheriff, District Attorney, Human Services, etc).

Chief Sentman welcomes the interest of the Grand Jury and Grand Juror’s Association and invites all to contact him with questions or concerns at steve.sentman@prob.ocgov.com.

{Photos from the Luncheon to follow shortly; please check back}

Our December luncheon is always very popular since it helps launch the Holiday season for a lot of our members. This year was no exception with 54 GJAOC members, guests and invitees attending.  The December luncheon also serves as the venue for the swearing-in of our rotating Board of Directors.  As in past years, the swearing-in honors were conducted by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter who also served as our featured luncheon speaker.

While recognizing that his work with regards to the O.C. homelessness issue is at a critical point, and that he thus needed to circumspect in his comments, he none-the-less provided us with insights into tangible successes achieved and his vision of how much progress can be made when all stake-holders are given a chance to have their concerns heard, and the County and Cities work together to address the problems linked to homelessness.  He quoted the figure that a homeless person in a Permanent Supportive Housing program costs O.C. taxpayers approximately $53,000 annually, while a similar homeless person living on the streets costs over $100,000 (police, emergency room, etc).

Ex-marine that he is, it is clear that he takes a ‘tough love’ approach towards people experiencing homelessness; that along with the rights they receive, come responsibilities.  He commented that the best circumstance for all stake-holders will be when all Cities in O.C. step-up and provide facilities & services for their local homeless, for then, local ‘public order’ laws can and should be vigorously enforced (laws such as anti-camping, anti-panhandling etc), equally across the board, leading to a better quality of life for everyone, not least the tax payer.

6 of the Board of Directors sworn-in on this date will serve a 2-year term starting 1 Jan 2019.

Also, as a reminder its time to renew your GJAOC membership for 2019 if you haven’t already done so. The membership rate remains just $20, and can be paid via cheque or cash (at a future luncheon). If paying by cheque, make it out to:  GJAOC and send it to:

Alf Lyle

11511 Gilbert Street
Garden Grove, CA  92841