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Santee Calls Upon County of San Diego to Discuss Las Colinas Expansion

Friday, May 09, 2008

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Project faces numerous hurdles and delays

In response to the State of California Correction Standards Authority today granting the County of San Diego $100 million for the expansion of Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee, California, the City of Santee vows to continue to work toward an alternative site for the women's prison. Additionally, the City cautions that provisions placed on the County by the State and a lawsuit filed on May 6, 2008 challenging the utilization of State funds for jail expansions will add to the numerous hurdles already facing the County's plans for expanding the facility.

"We once again call upon the County to join us in a dialogue to ensure that all needs are met, including those of all San Diego County taxpayers who may ultimately pay for the expansion," states Santee Mayor Randy Voepel. "Now, more than ever, our city and the County must work together to ensure that the Las Colinas project is built cost effectively and fairly."

The City of Santee is opposed to the expansion of the women's facility, which would increase from its current size of 15 acres to 45 acres in the heart of Santee's booming town center area. To date, the County has refused to discuss with the City the expansion or formulating a mutual plan.

The funds for the expansion were granted under AB 900, the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, which provides $7.7 billion to add 53,000 prison jail beds in California. The bill allocates $1.2 billion specifically to increase the number of beds in local county jails by approximately 13,000 to remediate overcrowding. Counties with a population of over 200,000 are required to match 25 percent of the $1.2 billion (approximately $300 million). The County of San Diego has proposed a $175 million matching of funds.

An independent study found that expanding Las Colinas at its current location would have a $165 million negative fiscal impact. The 2007 study estimated the land to be worth more than $89 million if sold to private developers. The study also found that several other County-owned land sites were more suitable for the prison.

The City has suggested that the County sell the land to private developers and use the proceeds to pay for the relocation of Las Colinas. Under the City's plan, the $165 million negative fiscal impact would not be realized. The County could instead use most of the $175 million taxpayers' money proposed for the Las Colinas expansion on services of significant need such as wildland fire protection services.

The Correction Standards Authority received proposals from 14 California jurisdictions and accepted eight. The County's proposal was one of the highest in terms of taxpayers' costs, $342,000 per inmate, and only created 852 new inmate beds while most proposals created significantly more beds at a much lower cost. The State placed on a significant condition on the County receiving the $100 million in funds. The County has 90 days to commit to a specific plan for building a re-entry facility for inmate rehabilitation in addition to expanding Las Colinas. If the County cannot commit to such a plan, the entire funding will be taken back by the State. "We agree with the County that Las Colinas will eventually need extensive renovation. However, Santee wants to ensure that the state's money - taxpayers' money - is well spent," says Voepel. "Our attempts to work with the County to find a viable solution have fallen on deaf ears. Now that the money is available, we should all work together to ensure that the funds are cost effectively allocated on a site that makes economic sense."

The availability of the $100 million in State funds was put into question earlier this week when Californians for a Responsible Budget filed a lawsuit challenging AB 900 on the grounds that the legislation constitutes an illegal bypass of voters' constitutional right to vote on debt and an illegal waste of scarce government resources.

"The County has a long road ahead in terms of getting the expansion off the drawing board much less getting it actually completed," states Voepel. "The lawsuit is only one of multiple roadblocks the County is facing with this project, including the flawed EIR that was just released.

On April 24, 2008, the County of San Diego released a required Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that found that the current Santee location was the best choice for the prison. The County hired an outside consulting firm to compile the report.

"The County's EIR was predictable in that it paid mere lip service to alternative sites that are far superior and should be considered for the expansion," says Voepel. "We are concerned that many aspects of the report are not properly researched and analyzed, and we'd like to have a discussion with the County about this as well." The City is currently drafting an extensive response to the EIR.

Las Colinas Detention Facility was originally built in Santee in the 1960s as a juvenile detention facility. In 1977, the facility was converted to an all-women's jail and currently houses 675 inmates on an average daily basis.

The City of Santee was incorporated in December 1980. With a population of over 55,000 and located in eastern San Diego County, Santee is the eleventh largest of San Diego County's 18 cities.

For additional information and updates, please visit www.ci.santee.ca.us

A service of YellowBrix, Inc. Publication date: 2008-05-09


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Source: BizSanDiego