Sorry I didn't think to post this around to more of the various lists I'm on sooner. You can read about what the grand jury does and download the application here:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/courts_page.asp?id=3769 (FAQ also copied below)
If you don't have a way to print the form at home, you can get a hard copy at the Grand Jury Office, 400 McAllister Street, Room 008, which is also where you file the application (or let me know and I can print one for you if you want to stop by my place at 16th & Market and pick it up). It's a typical employment application, pretty easy to fill out.
Basically the grand jury gets to poke around in various aspects of local government operations, ask questions of city employees, write up and publish your findings. It's a good opportunity to have some small but concrete impact on local governance, get some inside information, and find out more about how local government works. There aren't a huge number of applicants, so if you apply you have a good chance of being selected. It is a time commitment, however. I'm applying for a spot. Anyone else?
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Learn About Serving On The Civil Grand Jury
Civil Grand Jury of San Francisco
2008 FAQ Sheet
What’s the Civil Grand Jury?
California’s constitution mandates that each county annually impanel a “watchdog” grand jury with the duty to investigate the operations of the city and county’s officers, departments, and agencies.
San Francisco’s civil grand jury consists of nineteen members randomly drawn for a pool of applicants, who serve for one year from July through June.
How does it Work?
Each jury determines which issues related to the governance of San Francisco City & County it wishes to investigate.
Juries are free to choose their methodology. In recent years the usual practice has been to divide into committees, which then select the county’s officers, departments or agencies they will investigate.
State law authorizes civil grand juries, as representatives of the local citizenry, to review and evaluate the effectiveness and cost/benefit of procedures, methods, and systems.
During their investigations, jurors may inspect and audit books, records and financial expenditures; interview civil servants and others who may have pertinent information; inspect government facilities, and then issue reports with findings and recommendations.
After the presiding judge reviews these reports to make certain they meet legal requirements, they are sent to the appropriate departments heads, who are required by law to respond. When they agree, they must specify how and when they will implement the recommended changes; if they disagree, they must explain their reasons. The jury then releases the reports to the public via the media and the Board of Supervisors, which generally holds public hearings on each year’s reports.
When?
Local custom is for the jury to meet weekly on Monday evenings from 5:30 to 7:30. Meetings take place at the Civic Center Courthouse located at 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco.
Most committee work takes place during regular working hours.
Who is Eligible?
Grand Jury eligibility includes: US citizenship, minimum age 18, residency in the City & County for at least one year, ordinary intelligence, good character and a working knowledge of English. (Persons are ineligible to serve if they have been discharged from the grand jury within one year, are currently serving on a trial jury, are elected public officials, or have been convicted of a felony.)
Jurors must by law disclose all investments and business positions in and/or income from any entity that has conducted business within the City & County in the previous two years, as well as income from all employees of the City and County and all interests in real property. These become matters of public record.
Applications to serve on the Civil Grand Jury are available:
Downloaded from the Superior Court website at www.sfgov.org/site/courts (click on the link for the Civil Grand Jury);
by phone 551-3605 (weekdays 8-4:30) or at the Grand Jury Office, 400 McAllister Street, Room 008.
Deadline: Friday, April 18, 2008