Compromise by Conferees May Advance Proposed L.A. Prison

Senate and Assembly negotiators forged a compromise Monday that would allow Gov. George Deukmejian to move ahead with a new state prison near downtown Los Angeles, but legislative opponents vowed to continue their fight.

After three hours of often-bitter haggling, conferees approved the accord on a 4-2 vote after Administration officials backed down and offered to conduct an abbreviated environmental study before the prison property is purchased as well as a more complete review later.

In Los Angeles, more than 3,000 angry Eastside residents--joined by United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez and actor Robert Blake--demonstrated against the prison Monday evening near the proposed site on Olympic Boulevard, east of Santa Fe Street.

Optimistic View

Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), who is carrying the governor’s bill, described the agreement as “a tremendous concession,” noting that earlier plans required an environmental study of the project only after the prison property was purchased. And he expressed optimism that the measure would be approved by both houses before the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment this week.

“With these changes, I’m hopeful that other (legislators) will feel that we tried to be reasonable and walk the last mile, so to speak, and will be supportive of it,” Presley said.

But Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), one of the proposal’s chief critics, charged that “taxpayers will be the losers” under the compromise since the Administration still refuses to conduct a full environmental impact report and it may turn out later that the property is unsuitable for a prison.

Leaders of a community organization that opposes the Eastside prison, meanwhile, decried the compromise as “a mockery” and said a lawsuit undoubtedly would be filed to hold up the project.

“This is really an affront to the East Los Angeles community,” said Steve Kasten, president of the Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce.

“I just think it (the prison) sucks generally,” Blake said at Monday’s demonstration. “It belongs in Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills doesn’t have any prisons at all, and it ought to have at least have one.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre said he does not believe a full environmental impact report would allow “using this site for a public facility like a prison. Why isn’t the Department of Corrections willing to allow a full EIR. Maybe it means they made a bad decision and can’t admit it.”

The 1,700-bed medium-security prison, to be located in an industrial area near 12th Street and Santa Fe Avenue, adjacent to the predominantly Latino community of Boyle Heights, would be the first state prison built in Los Angeles County.

Will Spend $15 Million

The Administration intends to spend about $15 million to purchase the 21 acres it needs for the project, including about $4 million for the so-called Crown Coach site, which is the key parcel for the development of a prison.

As part of the compromise, the Administration agreed not to use the penitentiary for mentally disordered offenders, a plan that had drawn sharp criticism from nearby property owners. Under questioning from Torres and Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles), another vocal prison opponent, the project area also was narrowed to exclude a nearby parcel that was the scene of a toxic leak over the weekend.

Opponents of the the prison cited environmental concerns when the state Senate earlier this month reversed itself and rejected the governor’s prison plan by a four-vote margin. However, community groups are most upset by the prospect of having a prison built in an area that already has its share of unpopular facilities, including several county jails.

Presley tried unsuccessfully over the last week to reach an understanding with prison opponents by informally offering most of the concessions that were agreed to on Monday.

Agreement among conferees was virtually assured, however, since four of the six lawmakers appointed by the legislative leadership to the conference committee are strong supporters of the Los Angeles prison plan. Only Molina and Torres voted against it.

The conference committee vote does not assure that either the full Senate or Assembly will approve the accord. Presley said he has received no commitments from either Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) or Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles).

Outvoted in Each Case

However, with hundreds of measures awaiting the governor’s signature, Deukmejian has considerable leverage with which to garner support as the session grinds into its final hours. Presley said he expects Deukmejian to personally lobby lawmakers “if it takes that” to win approval.

In the conference committee’s deliberations, Torres repeatedly offered amendments to the governor’s prison plan that would have required a full environmental impact report before the prison property is purchased and a study of alternative prison sites elsewhere in the county.

But in each case, he was outvoted after Rodney J. Blonien, undersecretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, told conferees that further concessions would make it easier for opponents to file suit and delay the project for years.

In the end, however, Blonien agreed to a less extensive environmental study that would include preliminary assessments of water problems, air quality, noise and other possible effects of the prison.

The environmental studies called for under the compromise agreement fall short of a full environmental impact report required for most major projects in that they would not consider alternative locations for the project nor private developments that could otherwise be placed on the property.

After the vote, Blonien said that the state has never conducted a full environmental impact report on any of its prison projects because of exemptions granted by the Legislature. And he insisted that the concessions offered by the Administration assure that “this prison will get the most exhaustive environmental review” of any of the 13 prisons the state is currently building or planning.

Molina, meanwhile, released documents showing a number of recent transactions involving the Crown Coach property, the largest of the parcels to be purchased for the prison. She charged that the transactions suggest that “there is some land speculation here and a land deal going on.”

“There is somebody who is going to benefit tremendously in the pocket book at the costs of taxpayers,” she said.