SANTA CRUZ >> Faced with concerns about the thoroughness of its response to several civil watchdog reports, the Santa Cruz City Council voted this week to request a month-long extension.

The council was set to approve three draft responses to reports issued this year by the Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury. One response in particular, titled “City Of Santa Cruz: Preventing Rape and Domestic Violence,” drew public critique. Additional reports requiring city response were titled “Honoring Commitments to the Public” and “Housing for Whom.”

Gillian Greensite, who spoke for herself as a local resident but also served on the most recent grand jury panel, said the reports have no enforcement mechanisms but are designed to work with the reports’ focus. She said the report responses before the council Tuesday were inadequate and at times inaccurate.

The domestic violence and rape prevention report recommended 10 city operational changes aimed at recommitting to a more than 40-year-old ordinance. Councilmember Sandy Brown proposed seeking more time for the city’s responses and forming a council ad-hoc committee to flesh them out.

“I think that the grand jury, my guess is the grand jury would be happy to accept a late response over a highly inadequate and in some cases I would argue obfuscating response,” Brown said. “When I, as a teacher, I tell my students, I’d rather you ask for extra time than give me something that is disrespectful to the process.”