Roberti Moves to Thwart Action on L.A. Prison Site

The fight over where to place a prison in Los Angeles County appeared Thursday to have turned into far more of a political issue than a solvable problem, at least until after the Nov. 4 election.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), in a move acknowledging that he is still far short of reaching a compromise with Gov. George Deukmejian, announced that he, in effect, will ignore a special legislative session called last month by the governor to resolve the prison dispute.

In a statement released by his office, Roberti said he will hold only pro forma meetings of the Senate until an agreement on the prison siting issue is reached. Roberti said he will call the Senate into session today, Saturday and Sunday but will not ask other senators to come to the Capitol to attend the sessions.

Deukmejian, long frustrated by his inability to win Senate support for his proposal to build a new state prison on Los Angeles’ Eastside, reacted by calling Roberti’s action “unacceptable, inexcusable and irresponsible.”

“Sen. Roberti’s decision to once again delay full Senate consideration of a legally required state prison in Los Angeles County is just another example of his failed leadership,” the governor said in a statement released by his office.

In a related development, Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy told reporters that he does not think “anything is going to happen” on the prison issue this year because of the “personal, acerbic exchange” going on between Deukmejian and Roberti and other key players in the squabble.

McCarthy, who holds the ceremonial title of Senate president but does not actively participate in upper-house politics, said he supports the Republican governor’s proposal to build the prison near East Los Angeles, calling it an “appropriate site.” But he said the whole affair has been mishandled.

“I think this could have been worked out, had it been approached in the right way,” said McCarthy, refusing to fix the blame.

McCarthy said he believes the site is appropriate because it is in an “industrialized area,” is close to Civic Center criminal courts and is attractive because of its price.

His comments came during a reelection campaign appearance before the Sacramento Press Club. His Republican opponent, former Lt. Gov. Mike Curb, also supports Deukmejian’s position.

Despite the overall tone of his statement, Roberti said he believes that there is still a chance for “meaningful negotiations” on the prison siting issue.

But taking a political pot shot at the governor, Roberti said: “It would be helpful if Gov. Deukmejian would stop his attempts to make the prison issue a political issue. I would hope that he would spend more time addressing the problems of prison siting and less time traveling this state, bashing legislators who criticize his programs.”

Sponsored Bill

Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), who sponsored the prison bill for Deukmejian and has been attempting to mediate the dispute, said he remains optimistic that a compromise ultimately will be worked out.

Presley said he had reached what appeared to be a tentative agreement with Roberti earlier this week, but the proposal continued to be opposed by Sen. Art Torres (D-South Pasadena), whose district includes the prison property. The proposed compromise would have required construction of a prison at the Eastside location sought by Deukmejian but would also have authorized building a second prison in a rural area of the county.

Torres said Thursday that he is in favor of a second prison but said that no plan would be acceptable unless it includes a complete study of the environmental effects on the surrounding community of an Eastside prison.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco, who supports Deukmejian’s position, concurred in the pessimism about immediate prospects for a compromise.

Political Matter

“We probably will be able to settle it after the elections,” said Brown during a Los Angeles television interview this week. “But the prison issue in Los Angeles County has become a political issue. And when it becomes a political issue, seldom, if ever, in the middle of an election campaign can you solve the problem.”

Brown chided Senate Democrats for continuing to block the governor’s prison plan, saying that it plays into the hands of the Republicans’ election efforts.

“If we get past Nov. 4, which is what I think the governor would like to do and what I think he is doing very cleverly and with great political smarts, only the Democrats in the Senate will have the downside,” the Speaker said.