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May 06, 2009
CA: Yolo City Supervisors Vote No On Rural "Re-Entry" Prison
Doors closed on county rural prison idea
By CRYSTAL LEE
Created: 05/06/2009
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to kill construction of a proposed rural state re-entry prison.
Supervisors decided that with a looming $24 million budget deficit and limited staff resources, continuing to pursue the re-entry prison is no longer worth the time and effort.
It was a different story last September, when supervisors offered the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation a site in the small community of Madison, against the angry protests of rural residents.
In the deal, Yolo County was eligible for $30 million for an expansion of its overcrowded jail in Woodland. The funding was part a statewide prison reform effort, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2007.
Now with the state struggling with financial problems of its own, the availability of the funding is increasingly dubious.
State Corrections officials told county staff that the Madison site could require infrastructure improvements that the county would have to fund.
Add to that, state Corrections staff were frustrating to work with, said Supervisor Helen Thomson, who supports the policy behind re-entry prisons. The facilities are intended to rehabilitate inmates in their final year of imprisonment by offering counseling and job skills opportunities.
"The policy is the right policy," Thomson said, "and it's not going to happen for a very long time in California."
The state Corrections Office seems "unable to cope with any kind
of progressive program or any kind of funding issue," Thomson said.
Supervisor Matt Rexroad agreed with Thomson that the idea behind the project was a good one, but the process for its execution is too difficult.
"I don't think we need to chase our tails anymore ... but it's too bad," Rexroad said.
Yet members of "Save Rural Yolo County," the grassroots organization protesting the re-entry prison, could not contain their joy at hearing their battle was won.
They exited the meeting chambers whooping and clapping.
Carla Phillips, the group's leading organizer, said she was not entirely surprised to see the project fail in the end. She said the Board of Supervisors tried to force the issue when the Madison site never met the specifications required by Corrections staff, which included existing urban infrastructure and community support for the project.
"If you're going to make it successful, set it up for success," Phillips said. "Don't set it up for failure."
Phillips said she would have supported a re-entry prison only if it were privately run and served Yolo County residents exclusively.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_12306066
Posted by lois at May 6, 2009 05:13 PM