Los Gatos residents picked to serve on county grand jury
By Gloria I. Wang
Four Los Gatans have been chosen to serve on the Santa Clara County Superior Court's Civil Grand Jury for 2001-2002.
The four, all longtime Bay Area residents and retirees, were drawn from a pool of 30 nominees on June 28. Joyce Byrne, Ken Spice, K.A. Fisk and Norm Abrahams, along with 15 other county residents, will sit on the grand jury for one year. Other jurors come from San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Morgan Hill.
According to Grand Jury Coordinator Gloria Alicia Chacón, the jury investigates various county organizations and conducts inspections based on complaints filed by the public. The jury does research, meets with different department heads and releases reports based on its findings at the end of the term.
Some examples of the jury's investigations, Chacón said, include a children's shelter, the county fire department, the use of force by police officers and penal institutions, such as county jail. Although the jury cannot force the agencies to make changes, they can make recommendations for changes, and the reports, once made public, tend to motivate the organizations to improve.
The grand jury is a "civil watchdog for the county and 15 cities," Chacón said.
Under the supervision of Judge Richard Turrone, the jury meets for 20 to 25 hours average per week in a county-provided facility near the courthouse. Although the position is a voluntary one, the jurors are paid a small stipend and are reimbursed for mileage.
Los Gatos resident Norm Abrahams had been on the 2000-2001 Civil Grand Jury and had requested to serve a second term. Abrahams, a retired dentist, heard about the jury several years ago from his patients. Abrahams said he jumped at the chance to do useful work for the community and to make a difference. A few years ago, Abrahams said, the county built a crime lab following the grand jury's report showing the need for one.
Abrahams was unable to discuss the findings of last year's grand jury because the report was still unreleased. He said he gave 15 to 30 hours a week to the job, and it was demanding work. "It's been interesting," Abrahams said. "[The other jurors] are the type of people you'd want as your next-door neighbors."
A dentist from 1959 to 1996, Abrahams was a member of various local organizations and the Jewish Community Relations Council and now teaches at the University of California at San Francisco. His brother, Seymour Abrahams, is a former mayor of Los Gatos and a federal bankruptcy judge. Abrahams has lived in Los Gatos since 1959 with his wife, a language teacher in Santa Rosa, and has raised two daughters.
Former elementary school principal K.A. Fisk (born Karolus but goes by K.A.) heard about the grand jury through family members. Since he had the time and was looking for a challenge, Fisk decided to apply for the position. "It's a worthwhile endeavor," Fisk said.
Fisk and his wife Martha have lived in Los Gatos since 1973; Fisk was a principal at various schools, mostly in Cupertino, for more than 30 years. The Fisks intend to stay in Los Gatos as long as they can. "They'll have to carry us out in a box, basically," Fisk said.
Twelve-year Los Gatos resident Joyce Byrne decided to apply for the grand jury after she sold her publishing business and had some time on her hands. For 20 years, Byrne had run Gila and Byrne Publishing, a producer of chamber of commerce guides and coupon books. She lives with her husband; their three children are now adults.
While Byrne said that the time commitment was "pretty heavy," she said she could do it for one year. After training began on July 9, Byrne temporarily gave up her passion for traveling.
Ken Spice first read about the grand jury openings in a February issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. Immediately interested, Spice contacted Chacón and requested more information. Having been at IBM for more than 30 years in the field of manufacturing Spice says he was "looking to get involved in something else and something very different."
Spice and his family moved to Los Gatos approximately 25 years ago. His children graduated from Leigh High School. Spice retired from the "high-tech world" in 1999. The grand jury, Spice said, "met my goal of doing a second career." Spice said he hopes the jury will help the community as well as lead into other activities.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
