Ex-Utility Official to Lead Grand Jury

A retired manager of an Arizona electric company who has lived in Ventura County the past 2 1/2 years has been named foreman of the 1991-92 Ventura County Grand Jury.

Robert J. Gallagher, 69, of Thousand Oaks was chosen Monday by Ventura County Superior Court Presiding Judge Edwin Osborne.

Gallagher is a retired executive of the Tucson Electric Power Co. who also lived in Ventura County for about eight years during the 1960s.

“I’ve been interested for quite a while in public service,” said Gallagher, who volunteers for a federal program that offers guidance to small businesses. “I like the idea.”

As foreman, Gallagher will be responsible for the smooth running of the grand jury, making sure that the panel issues a final report on its various county investigations and hears evidence on criminal indictments presented by the district attorney’s office.

He will also choose the members of several grand jury committees that will look into the functions of various county departments and city governments.

Osborne said he looked at a combination of qualities in his search for a foreman, seeking managerial, administrative and supervisorial abilities.

“The foreman must have people skills that can facilitate the work of the grand jury as a whole and help it accomplish the task that it lays out for itself,” he said.

In the past, foremen have often been very involved in community service.

Former foreman Bob Pegg lived in the county 20 years before his service during the 1989-90 term. A member of various service organizations, Pegg said he thought that his knowledge of the county was a plus.

“It’s unusual for someone to be picked who has only been here a couple of years,” Pegg said. “But the duties of foreman don’t call for you to be a native or know that much about the county. You are placed in a leadership position and negotiation position more than anything. You must keep everybody happy and be a peacemaker with the other 18 people on the jury.”

Osborne said he did not make his selection based on community service alone.

“I’m much less interested in who somebody knows rather than their talent or ability. This is not where someone is selected to bring an agenda which they want to accomplish. Indeed, we try to guard from that,” Osborne said.

At Monday’s ceremony, Osborne thanked members of the 1990-91 grand jury for their service and administered the oath of office to the 19 new grand jurors, who were picked at random from a list of 30.

Betty Kane, manager of the county’s jury services, said the 14 Ventura County Superior Court judges are looking for jurors “who don’t have their own agenda and who are willing to listen to what is brought before them, with no particular ax to grind. Those people make pretty good jurors.”

Grand jury members are often nominated for the $20-a-day position by members of local city councils, the Board of Supervisors or community leaders.

The district attorney’s office conducts investigations into applicants’ backgrounds, checking for arrests or felony convictions, Kane said.

The judges then narrow the number to 30, making sure that the group as a whole fits the county’s demographic profile on sex, race, age and family income.

Kane said income is difficult to match because the jury’s year of work and nominal pay precludes most people from applying to serve.

Monday’s jury selection included seven women and 12 men spread fairly equally over the various areas of the county.

One new juror, Alphonse Marra, 67, a retired Ventura schoolteacher, said he didn’t know if he should be congratulated or consoled on being selected because of the amount of time that grand jurors put in.

“I never applied for the position; someone recommended me,” Marra said.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Hey, I’m retired. I don’t want to be tied down.’ But I’ll contribute what little I can to the county.”

In addition to Gallagher and Marra, the members of the 1991-92 Ventura County Grand Jury are Audie Callaway, Richard W. Cooper Sr., Lawrence Gratton and David Santa Ana, all of Simi Valley, and Richard Steven Day, Hope Holcomb, Mildred Murphy and Toshiko Ring, all of Oxnard.

More members are Karen Doherty, Barbara Hill and Morris Wilson, all of Camarillo; Lewis E. Drolet, Westlake; Dorothy J. Engel, Thousand Oaks, and William M. Etchart, Ojai.

Other members are Claude L. Nichols, Ann Overton and Donald Schweitzer, all of Ventura.