L.A. Prison Stalemate Entangles Northern Legislator in Its Web

The legislative stalemate over a proposed prison in Los Angeles has become the dominant issue, ironically, in a state Senate election 400 miles to the north in suburban Sacramento.

Sen. Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael), a veteran of more than 20 years in the Legislature, is fighting to save his political career against attacks from Gov. George Deukmejian over his refusal to cast a key vote on the prison issue.

Showing the power the governor can exert on a legislator running for reelection, as well as the volatile nature of prison siting as a political issue, Greene did an abrupt about-face only a day after Deukmejian made a fund-raising appeal for the lawmaker’s Republican opponent, Sacramento County Supervisor Sandy Smoley.

“I, for one, have had enough. I will vote on any bill at this time to put a prison in L.A. County, including this one,” Greene said during the Senate debate Tuesday over the latest version of the governor’s Los Angeles prison bill. Despite Greene’s support, the bill failed.

The change of heart appears to be coming too late to head off the political damage the prison issue has done to Greene.

Greene’s opponent had already mailed thousands of brochures to swing voters in the 6th Senate District, calling attention to the senator’s role in abstaining from a key vote that could have led to construction of the prison.

Headlined “The L.A. Prison Blues,” the brochure contains a smiling mug shot of Greene facing a photo of the smoggy downtown Los Angeles skyline. It says: “38% of all California criminals come from Los Angeles, which has never had a state prison. If Sen. Leroy Greene gets his way, it never will.”

The text accuses Greene of turning to “Southern California politicians for help,” which can hurt a Northern California politician because of traditional anti-Los Angeles sentiment north of the Tehachapi Mountains. The brochure also notes that Greene has forged an alliance with Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), described as “an ultra liberal who represents Hollywood.”

Deukmejian drove home the point in his speech this week to 200 Smoley supporters at a $250-a-person fund-raiser in Fair Oaks, an affluent Sacramento suburb. The governor declared: “Sandy supports our efforts to open more state prisons so that we can get more criminals off of the streets, out of the communities and into state prisons where they belong. Unfortunately, (Greene) is standing in our way to accomplish that achievement.”

After the speech, Deukmejian claimed that Greene was voting with opponents of the prison because he was afraid his campaign contributions will dry up if he opposed Roberti, who is blocking the prison bill.

“He’s not voting for (the prison) because David Roberti doesn’t want him to vote for it, and Leroy Greene wants to get some campaign contributions this year,” Deukmejian asserted.

Ordinarily, Greene’s action would not have generated much interest. Although he voted in favor of the governor’s prison plan three times, he abstained during the recent critical vote, which under the circumstances had the same effect as a “no” vote. Abstentions, particularly on controversial matters, are common in the Senate.

Added Significance

But the issue takes on added significance in Greene’s Sacramento County district for several reasons.

Greene, who started his legislative career as an assemblyman in 1963, is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate. Although the district is heavily Democratic, with a large concentration of state workers, his constituents have a history of voting for Republicans, including Deukmejian.

Four years ago, Greene was opposed by bedrock conservative Sen. John Doolittle (R-Citrus Heights), who lost a hard-fought race, then was elected to the upper house from a neighboring district.

This year, Greene’s challenge comes from Smoley, one of the best-known politicians in the county, the first woman ever elected to the Board of Supervisors. She has held the nonpartisan office for 14 years, demonstrating an ability to attract votes from both parties.

Even before the prison issue erupted, Democrats conceded that Greene was in so much trouble that it might cost $1 million to defend his seat.

Sensitive Issue

The prison-siting issue is an especially sensitive one to Sacramento-area residents, who believe that the capital is getting more than its share of convicts.

Located between major prisons in Folsom and Vacaville, the city is the home of many ex-convicts who have taken up residence after being paroled, making many residents uneasy because of the added risk of crime. The fears are backed up by statistics and studies, such as one completed recently by the Rand Corp. showing that three out of four convicts released from state prisons commit crimes again and are rearrested within three years.

On top of that is the danger to prison guards posed by inmate tensions in the state’s overcrowded prisons. Many of the guards and their families live in the Sacramento suburbs.

Until he announced his unequivocal support for financing for the proposed Los Angeles prison, Greene had tried to ride out the storm by dismissing his refusal to vote as insignificant.

“I think it’s good for a yawn,” he said the day before he declared that he had had enough.

‘Zero’ Influence

After announcing his support of the governor’s bill, Greene still played down the importance of the issue. He said the governor’s appearance at the Smoley fund-raiser had “zero” influence on his decision to back off and support the governor.

“I’ve been in the Capitol for 24 years. This is it? This is the biggie? The governor has to come after me because I don’t agree with him once (on the prison issue)?” Greene asked.

Greene and his supporters believe that the senator will eventually win the election because of another issue important to his constituents that involves Deukmejian--the governor’s unsuccessful effort to divert about $300 million in state Public Employees’ Retirement System pension funds to help balance the state budget.

Roberti, predicting that Greene will survive the prison issue, noted that his capital area district includes 31,000 members of the California State Employees’ Assn., the largest state worker union. “The issue of most concern over the last six months to these people has been the use of their pension money to balance the California state budget,” Roberti said.

Begin TV Ad Drives

Both Smoley and Greene began television advertising campaigns around Labor Day.

Smoley’s ads, produced by Doug Watts and Sal Russo, two Sacramento-based political consultants who have worked for Deukmejian, stress her experience and her support for drug prevention and testing programs.

Greene, a civil engineer, runs ads built around the theme that he is “a bad politician,” an apparent recognition of his sometimes abrasive personality, but a good senator because he devotes himself to legislative business. He is best known for his lengthy service as chairman of the Education Committee in the Assembly, where he authored many of the state’s major education laws.