Deukmejian to Pursue Eastside L.A. Prison : Tells Legislature He Will Increase Budget for Highways, Pushes Plan to Cut School Class Size

Gov. George Deukmejian used the first State of the State address of his second term to declare unequivocally Wednesday that “in the name of fairness” he will not give up trying to build a prison on Los Angeles’ Eastside.

In a speech to a joint session of the Democratic-controlled Legislature, televised live throughout California, the Republican governor asserted that he will not be deterred by the recent sale of private property that he wants the state to buy for a prison site near the heavily Latino community of Boyle Heights.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), an outspoken opponent of placing state prison near Boyle Heights, characterized the governor’s refusal to back away from the site as “some kind of an abstract macho game.”

The Senate leader also said he now has “no choice” but to introduce a bill going “full speed ahead”with locating a prison near Castaic, in the suburbs of northern Los Angeles County.

Deukmejian, in his 22-minute speech, also announced that he will increase the highway construction budget by roughly 11%--adding $250 million to the $2.3 billion presently being spent.

Additionally, the governor said, he will sponsor a program to begin reducing class sizes in public schools, starting with grades 1 to 3.

There also was a lot of conservative philosophical rhetoric in Deukmejian’s address, a comfortable blend of the “private sector-fend for yourself” ideology of President Reagan and the “era of limits” preachings of former Democratic Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

“The world is not the same as it was after World War II,” Deukmejian said, talking about the nation’s sagging competitive position in world trade. “Back then, America called virtually all the shots. But not anymore. Our nation’s gains in productivity have not kept pace with our competitors. . . . Meeting this competitive challenge requires a more-productive society and a less-wasteful government.

“It means achieving greater excellence in common-sense fundamentals like education, transportation, public safety, trade promotion and job development. And it depends as much on the united actions of private citizens as it does on the budgets of public programs. . . .

“A competitive state can’t afford to squander its resources on unnecessary or duplicative programs.”

As governors always have throughout modern California history, Deukmejian addressed the Legislature, other statewide officeholders, top Administration officials and invited guests from the dais of the ornate Assembly chamber, jam-packed for what normally is the biggest event of the year in the Capitol.

Among the guests, whom Deukmejian introduced, were the crew and designers of the Voyager aircraft.

Deukmejian was interrupted 11 times by applause. And he got his biggest applause when he implored Senate Democrats to reverse their previous opposition and back his plan to build a new prison on Los Angeles’ Eastside. Smiling, the governor ad-libbed after the applause subsided: “I can tell we had a few more Republicans elected in the last election.”

Sharp Setback

The Administration’s prison hopes, however, suffered a sharp setback on New Year’s Eve when Crown Coach International, owners of the property Deukmejian wants to buy for a prison site, announced that it had lost patience with the state and was selling the land for more than $5 million to Ramser Development Co. for an industrial park.

But a Deukmejian adviser, who asked not to be identified, said that Deukmejian is prepared to negotiate with the new owners for the land and, if that fails, to consider filing a condemnation suit.

“As long as I’m governor, fighting the reign of criminal terror will be at the very top of California’s agenda,” Deukmejian vowed. He noted that two other new prisons--one near San Diego, the other near Stockton--are ready to open, but under state law they must remain closed until a site for a penitentiary is selected in Los Angeles County.

“Thirty-eight per cent of state prison inmates come from Los Angeles, yet the county has no prison,” Deukmejian reminded. “In the name of fairness, it is time to change that fact. I am calling on the members of the state Senate to join your colleagues in the Assembly and pass legislation to site a Los Angeles prison in the downtown industrial location. . . . “

Price Was Right

Deukmejian said that the industrial developer actually had paid slightly more for the land than the state was offering. “This proves that the state’s anticipated purchase cost was right in line with the market value,” he said.

Soil tests, the governor continued, showed that there is “no contamination anywhere” on the site, as earlier feared.

“Now that these concerns have been addressed, there is no reason or excuse for any further delay,” he said. “We must open these prisons so that we can put more dangerous criminals behind bars,” he said to loud applause.

Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles), who represents Boyle Heights and is one of the most outspoken critics of the prison site, listened to the speech disapprovingly at the headquarters for her race for the Los Angeles City Council.

“Very frankly, I’m very disappointed,” she said in a telephone interview. “It doesn’t seem like a statesman’s approach. It’s almost absolute stubbornness and arrogance on the part of the governor to follow this dead-end course.”

Seeks Freeway Money

Regarding California’s crowded freeways--an issue of increasing concern to the Administration and a subject of growing public criticism--Deukmejian said he will provide another $250 million from the state highway fund for additional construction “and vigorously seek some $700 million in federal highways funds that are owed” the state by Washington.

Also, he continued, the state will add 400 new positions to the state Department of Transportation “so that highway projects can be completed in a more timely fashion.”

On education, Deukmejian acknowledged that during the last two years he had vetoed bills designed to reduce class size. He explained that all the money he could “responsibly” spend for education already had been allocated.

“This year,” he told legislators, “I am proposing that we phase out several less essential (school) programs and redirect those funds toward a multiyear effort to reduce class size. If you agree, we can provide greater individual attention for each child where it counts the most: in grades 1, 2 and 3.”

Deukmejian’s proposal drew an angry response from state Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig, who during the governor’s first term tried to stay out of the political fires.

“This doesn’t look like it’s a good sign for education,” said Honig , who contended that there are currently no non-essential or overfunded school programs.

Budget Proposal

Deukmejian noted that today he will send the Legislature a new budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning next July 1. He described it as a “positive” spending plan, clearly an effort to dispel the notion that he is a fiscal nay-sayer. But the governor revealed that he will propose increased spending of less than 2%, an amount almost certain not to match inflation. In raw figures, spending would rise $682 million above the current $37-billion budget, he said.

“I urge the Legislature to join me in ensuring that California continues to live within its means,” Deukmejian said. But, in reality, the state currently is spending more money than it is taking in, and the governor’s once proud $1-billion “prudent reserve” has shrunk by several hundred million dollars.

Despite the glum fiscal situation--brought on by declining tax revenues and cost overruns--Deukmejian announced that he will increase spending for toxic waste cleanup by 25%. Currently, the state is spending $144 million. The governor also promised to “fully implement Proposition 65,” the toxic cleanup ballot initiative that he opposed, but the voters approved last November in a landslide.

“No state can compete if it fails to offer its citizens a clean and safe place to live,” Deukmejian said, addressing an issue that was the biggest political weapon in the arsenal of his reelection campaign opponent, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

‘Vigorous Trade Promotion’

Deukmejian said he will ask the Legislature for $9 million to finance “a vigorous trade promotion campaign” to “promote California overseas, unearth new markets and attract job-creating investment.”

The governor noted he will travel to Japan late next week to open a new trade office in Tokyo. While there, he said, “I plan to remind all these (Japanese) leaders that California believes in free trade--but we insist on fair trade.”

Recalling that he and the Legislature last year substantially modified the unitary system of taxation for multinational corporations--a system the Japanese strongly opposed--Deukmejian asserted: “I will ask them now to respond to our showing of good faith by lowering their own trade barriers and increasing their investment in our state.”

But, Deukmejian concluded philosophically, “our businesses must be more productive. Our workers must be better trained. Our economic base must be refurbished. Our teachers and students must go the extra mile to meet their mission of educational excellence. And our families must instill in their children those basic values of hard work, dedication, commitment and respect for the rights of others.”

Spending Limit

In keeping with his conservative philosophy and in keeping with the reality that the state is about to bump up against a constitutionally imposed spending limit--Deukmejian proposed eliminating $500 million in programs and transferring both the responsibility and money for them to local governments. Deukmejian called this a “back-to-the-people” policy. When Reagan tried it in Washington a few years ago, he called it “New Federalism.”

Democrats generally criticized the speech and Republicans praised it, as would be expected. Assemblyman Tom Bates (D-Oakland) commented: “It was sort of vintage Deukmejian. It sounds good, but the reality goes contrary to what he describes. We’re 50th (in the nation) in (school) class size. We’ve got a virtual gridlock in transportation. His environmental record is abysmal. The future is not golden; the future is bleak.”

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) ended the televised event by thanking the governor and telling him: “We should allow you to go back and start doing some of those marvelous things you mentioned in your remarks.”

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