Governor Scoffs at 2-Prison Plan for L.A. County

Gov. George Deukmejian on Wednesday publicly scoffed at suggestions by some lawmakers that the state build two prisons in Los Angeles County--the one the governor has already proposed for Los Angeles’ heavily Latino Eastside and another in a rural, Republican area of the county.

Despite his reservations, the Republican governor said he would consider such a plan as long as it does not delay the Eastside facility, which has been heatedly opposed by Latinos in the area and by Democrats in the Legislature.

The governor, demanding once again that the Legislature break its two-year deadlock and approve his controversial proposal, said he had to “kind of smile” at assertions that authorizing two Los Angeles County prisons would help resolve the dispute when lawmakers have been unable to agree on even one prison site.

During a Capitol press conference, Deukmejian also took a swipe at Sen. President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), insisting that the Senate leader submit any plan for two prisons “in writing.” Deukmejian has not forgiven Roberti for first voting for the governor’s Eastside plan and then becoming one of its chief opponents.

“There is absolutely no longer any reason, any excuse, for the state Senate to not authorize the legislation passed last year by the Assembly to site a state prison in an industrial area in the downtown area of Los Angeles,” Deukmejian declared. “When the subject is raised that we can settle this if we have two prisons, I have to kind of smile.

“Presumably some of the opposition to our siting the prison (on the Eastside) is because residents near the site didn’t want a prison there.”

There is “really no sound basis,” Deukmejian added, for believing that a second prison would resolve any of those objections. He also warned that “we are not going to be willing to support any legislation” that delays construction of the Eastside prison.

The second prison concept was raised last fall when it appeared that negotiations over the governor’s Eastside plan had reached an impasse.

Democratic opponents had charged that the Eastside site, about two miles southeast of the Civic Center, was chosen because the surrounding area is overwhelmingly Democratic and Latino. Supporters of the two-prison plan theorized that authorizing construction of a second prison in a rural, Republican area in the northern part of the county would remove any suggestion of favoritism.

No specific plans for such a prison have been introduced in the Legislature. But Roberti last week publicly called for a second prison in sparsely populated Castaic.

A spokesman for Roberti said the Senate leader is still “very interested” in the two-prison concept but has “not determined whether he will personally offer legislation or would support legislation offered by someone else.”

One complicating factor is that a parcel key to Deukmejian’s Eastside prison has reportedly been sold to a private developer, nearly halving the amount of land available for the project. However, the governor Wednesday repeated his threat to take the property through condemnation if agreement could not be reached with the new owners.

Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside), who has been trying to negotiate an agreement between Deukmejian and Roberti, said the governor “may be underestimating us” by suggesting that a second prison may garner no more support than the governor’s Eastside proposal.

“Other legislators who may be reluctant to vote for the (Eastside) prison may vote for two prisons because they see it as balanced, reasonable, fair and appropriate,” Presley said. “That’s what you need to put together enough votes.”

At one point last year, Deukmejian’s plan was just two votes short of passage in the Senate.

Presley also said he hopes to have a specific plan in writing for Deukmejian to see before he leaves Friday for a weeklong trip to Japan.

In general, it would require immediate authorization of a prison on the governor’s Eastside site and a second prison on an unspecified location in a rural, northern part of the county. To make sure that legislators do not duck the eventual decision on a specific rural site, the Eastside prison would be barred from opening until that selection is made.

Presley said approval of the plan would also clear the way to open two new prisons in San Diego and near Stockton.