A Message from Chamber CEO Douglass Wilhoit:

Stockton must be heard on prison issue

NOVEMBER 2008 - In my September 2008 article, repeated below, I warned all of you of the pending COMMUNITY WIDE injustice that was about to take place in regards to the Men’s Hospital Prison being forced down our throats.  With the completion of the Draft EIR (DEIR)it is again “WE TOLD YOU SO TIME!” 

The DEIR can be found on www.cphcs.ca.gov under “Construction Projects” or in person at the City and County Community Development Departments.  It is a DEIR written in the “Land of Oz”  by munchkins who have no allegiance to us and does not deal with the total short and long term  costs to and effects on  the cities and counties in the area and the  TOTAL QUALITY OF LIFE but only deals with “agricultural resources, traffic, air quality, climate & noise.”  

These are just the tip of the iceberg of the impacts of this facility  and will not do a D _ _ N thing to protect all of us here and surrounding counties!  What about health care to the public, law enforcement, crime, welfare costs etc., etc. etc. ? In reading the DEIR the drafters took time to show their concern for “Loss of Raptor Nesting and Foraging Habitats”, “Injury or Mortality of Special-Status Bat Species”, “Injury or Mortality of Special-Status Reptile Species”, “Injury or Mortality of Tricolored Blackbirds” and the real “shocker” – “Mortality of Special-Status Wildlife Species from the Lethal Electrified Fence.”  No real mention on the impacts on the citizens of Stockton, San Joaquin County and the surrounding Counties.

On Tuesday, October 21, 2008 the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors took a strong position against the proposed prison.  This action was taken after very excellent and factual  reports and presentations from all county departments who would be impacted by this hospital prison and the companion Men’s Reentry Facility right next door.   Please go to www.recordnet.com and read the good report  in the Wednesday, October 22nd Record. It tells you who was present to oppose and why they did so  along with  the cost, short and long term to all of you.

There are some that say that it is going to happen if we like it or not but this is still the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and you have a right to be heard, listened to and responded to so your family, business and community life is not impacted by  the irresponsible, DO  NOTHING, for the past quarter century, of both the California  State Executive and Legislative Branches in the area of Prison construction and administration that put US in this mess in the first place. These are the same people who will hide behind the federal judgment by some Federal Judge who finds that convicted felons 8th Amendment Rights have to be protected to the detriment of tax payers, some of whom are victims or victims’ families of these felons.  And just to add insult to injury – Aren’t we all victims one way or another of their criminal lifestyle?

It is very important that you contact the office of  the Federal Court appointed receiver, Mr. J. Clark Kelso by Mailing comments to POB 4038, Sacramento , California , 95812 ,  or Phone ( 916) 323-1923 or email to Mr. Kelso at cprreceiver@cdcr.ca.gov. Please let it be known that the TOTAL AND ENTIRE quality of life in Stockton, San Joaquin County and surrounding counties is the number one right we law abiding citizens  have and it should not be trampled on due to long term dereliction of duty in the State Capitol or a Federal Judge, who is not answerable in any way to US, the law abiding, taxpaying citizens of this State and Nation!

From September’s Issue of the Port O Call

SEPTEMBER 2008 - While I sat at my computer planning my September Port O Call article and deciding how to express to all of you the sinking and sickening feeling I have about the quarter century of “dereliction of duty” of the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Government of California, in regards to the ongoing issue of the State’s dysfunctional prison system, my level of my frustration raised to an even higher level. I was first tempted to revisit what I have written before of the history of the Women’s Prison. By now you should all know it is being transformed into a Men’s Re-entry Facility (Prison)!

I also wanted to share with you how the State Government (at all levels) has violated its own laws and the people of this County in regards to this issue. I also dredged up my old frustrations with State Government while on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and during those 16 years having the privilege of working with the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) culminating by being CSAC President in 1994. I lost track of all the times the CSAC Board, staff and I warned and pleaded with the Governor’s office and leaders of both Houses of the Legislature to properly plan for the coming of a prison crisis. This futile effort started back in the middle 1980’s.

It is now “WE TOLD YOU SO TIME!” At last count, California’s state prison system holds over 170,000 prisoners in a system designed for 83,000, and most California prisons currently hold populations more than double their design capacity.

To “try” to meet this self-made disaster the state has progressively been forced to manage this overcrowded system year by year through various workarounds, including referring nonviolent drug offenders to special “drug courts” that mandate treatment rather than incarceration (Prop 36), early releases of prisoners, trying to raise non-existent funds to build more prisons, and transfers of prisoners to the federal system or out-of –state privately run institutions with whom the state has contracted. I submit this is all due to hiding their heads in the sand – quicksand I hasten to add.

The correctional healthcare system and several of its institutions have been found inadequate or “inhumane” by federal courts in successive cases, which have resulted in the correctional system to be placed under special Federal Court oversight. This is what I want to fully bring to your attention.

On Thursday August 7, 2008 Chamber President Goldstrand called a special board meeting in regards to the “proposed” California Health Care Facility (PRISON) to be placed at a site on the Northern California Youth Correctional Center (NCYCC) in STOCKTON. The meeting was well attended by board members and leaders in the community from many disciplines. URS/Bovis representative Laura Sainz, CEQA project manager for the California Prison Receivership (CPR), and a representative from the court appointed receiver were present. It was a spirited and frustrating meeting since more questions than answers were the end result.

No answers on the anticipated and real impact on Law Enforcement county wide, Court system, Coroner’s Office, all the hospitals in the county, mental health treatment programs, drug and alcohol programs, doctors, nurses and all other social services that will be impacted at a cost to our residents for the benefit of convicted felons.

On August 12, 2008 I received a Revised Notice of Preparation (NOP) For An Environmental Impact Report(EIR) for the project. I will give you the scary highlights and at the end will ask you to voice your concerns and disgust with the whole issue.

The EIR will include such items as visual resources, agriculture resources, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, noise, population and housing, public services, recreation, transportation/traffic to name just a few. (I see all these as quality of life issues for our residents now and into the future!) In the document it states, “it is anticipated that trustee and responsible agencies will rely on the EIR when considering issuing their applicable permit(s) or other approvals for the “proposed” project.” Don’t you believe it because this is all done under a Federal Court Order and the state will hide behind this excuse and take short cuts ignoring important mitigations to get out of their own mess and at the expense of the City of Stockton and the County of San Joaquin!

Now to the description of this “project,” “ In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) the California Prison Health Care Receivership (CPR) will be preparing an EIR to “evaluate” the environmental (no mention of community wellbeing and quality of life) effects associated with development of a new medical care facility with up to 1,800 beds (note more beds than all of our public and private hospitals combined) on a 144.2 acre site (the former site of CYA Karl Holton Facility closed in 2003).”

“In order to fulfill a 2005 mandate from the Federal Court, CPR has been tasked with the statewide construction of up to seven (four in Southern California and three in Northern California) health care facilities, which CPR estimates will provide approximately 10,000 medical and mental health patient beds.

“The proposed project (Stockton) represents one of the seven facilities to be constructed over the next three years.” Note: Keep in mind there is more land at the CYA property with the recent closure of DeWitt Nelson (about the same land mass as Karl Holton) so what will keep the CPR from looking at this as more land to place one of the remaining two facilities planned in Northern California?

“Since the release of the original NOP dated June 16, 2008, CPR’s program at the Stockton NCYCC site has been “further refined.” Particular attention has been given to the staffing needs of this facility. The refinements do not change the total number of beds (my note: yet) proposed (1,800) at the project site, but do require a substantial increase in the proposed number of staff that would work (commute to) the site. Compared to 1,890 staff as indicated in the original NOP, the proposed project will now involve 3,030 staff. The staffing increase is due to the fine tuning of the medical and mental health programs, as well as a review of the staffing needs for a facility that includes both men and women. The bed count of 1,800 will continue to include half mental health and half medical patients.”

Now what will the facility look like? At the August 7^th meeting, the presenters were very proud that the facility will have a “Community College Campus Look!” From the August 12^th NOP, “The facility would consist of housing clusters, diagnostic and treatment centers, an armory, warehouse facilities, a central plant, outdoor recreation fields, a gatehouse, a regional kitchen facility and parking. A LETHAL ELECTRIFIED FENCE would surround the secured area, a sally port would be incorporated into the fencing, and GUARD TOWERS, at a minimum would be located at each corner and at the vehicle sally port.

“The project also included exterior lighting (note: a beacon to the world of prison central). Parking would be provided for staff personnel and visitors” (note: families of convicted criminals). On and off-site infrastructure improvements would be installed. The proposed medical care facility (note: call if what you want but it is still a PRISON) would employ up to 3,030 staff and approximately 75 to 100 visitors are anticipated per day.”