More than a year after the decomposing body of 8-year-old Sophia Mason was found inside a Merced home, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors last week finally authorized an independent investigation into the death of the Hayward girl.
Records and reporting by this news organization over the past year show that county social workers ignored at least seven separate warnings in the 15 months before Sophia’s death that she was being abused and in danger.
The supervisors’ unanimous decision to authorize the investigation — the first time they had discussed Sophia in a public meeting — comes after months of prodding by this editorial board.
But it’s not at all clear that the investigation will get to the bottom of what went wrong and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, this looks more like a coverup than a breakthrough.
Newly elected Supervisor Lena Tam of Alameda, with support from newly appointed Supervisor Elisa Márquez of Hayward, deserves credit for pressing for an investigation that her veteran colleagues had previously stonewalled.
Supervisors Nate Miley and David Haubert in June 2022 had promised an investigation of Sophia’s death, but nothing happened, while Supervisor Keith Carson continues to duck our questions about the case. Rather than demonstrating leadership, they seem hellbent on distancing themselves from the case as much as possible.
It seems clear that Alameda County Counsel Donna Ziegler, who is now defending a lawsuit stemming from the Mason case, is calling the shots. While we appreciate that there needs to be some care exercised in the face of ongoing litigation, that should not be an excuse for supervisors abdicating their responsibility to get to the bottom of what went wrong and to insist on public accountability.
“As somebody who has worked through litigation at the jurisdictional level,” former Hayward Councilmember Sara Lamnin told the supervisors before their May 23 vote, “I’m very aware that it is possible to do both, to take an unflinching look at a system and still work through the intricacies of litigation.”
Exactly.
Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening here. Tam’s vaguely worded proposal for an independent investigation provides no timeline; no process for selecting an independent investigator to ensure that supervisors, not self-interested staff, make the pick; and no clarity on the scope of the probe.
The directive emphasizes “a commitment to review best practices for conducting child welfare investigations … that may inform ongoing policies and practices.” That should be an important component of the investigation, but certainly not the only one.
There is no mention of holding culpable county employees accountable. Quite the contrary. Miley said that in approving the motion, the board was not “casting any aspersions on our staff.”
Rather than a truly independent investigation that will be conducted separate of county staff, the supervisors’ directive states that the probe “will be done in conjunction with ongoing litigation.” That suggests the investigation might be conducted by county attorneys or outside attorneys who are also handling the litigation — undermining the very notion of independence.
And nowhere in the motion is there any indication that the public will ever learn the outcome of the investigation, for there is no mention of making the findings public.
This isn’t the independent investigation Alameda County residents deserve. To ensure there isn’t another case like Sophia Mason’s, supervisors need to do better.
—The Editorial Board, Bay Area News Group
