Deukmejian Says He’s Ready to Look at New Prison Proposals

Gov. George Deukmejian signaled readiness Wednesday to consider new proposals aimed at overcoming his opposition to a Democratic plan for ending a 2-year-old controversy over construction of a prison east of downtown Los Angeles.

The proposals’ author, Sen. Robert B. Presley (D-Riverside), said he was contacted by top-level Deukmejian assistants and told that the governor’s office wants to examine a Presley plan that might enable the Administration to move closer to securing an Eastside site for a prison.

The contacts by Steven A. Merksamer, Deukmejian’s chief of staff, and Michael Frost, the governor’s legislative lobbyist, followed approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday of a Democratic compromise that calls for building a 1,400-cell prison near Boyle Heights and a 2,200-cell prison in the desert west of Lancaster.

In each case, Senate Democrats have demanded that an expedited environmental impact study be completed before the sites are purchased. Deukmejian has insisted that at least the Eastside site be purchased quickly as a way of relieving the overcrowded prison system and be followed later with an environmental review.

He favors building the institution on land owned by Santa Fe Railroad and on adjoining property recently sold by Crown Coach International to a developer for an industrial park. Administration officials have expressed confidence that the land still can be obtained.

Opposition by Senate Democrats and the predominantly Latino community on the Eastside has thwarted site selection for the prison, which Deukmejian proposed two years ago.

The governor’s advisers indicated that Deukmejian wants to take a hard look at amendments Presley had proposed on Tuesday to allow the Administration to “tie up” the Eastside site before completion of an environmental impact report.

Amendments Rejected

An Administration representative testifying before the committee, however, flatly rejected the amendments as unacceptable. The amendments were dropped when several Democrats indicated that they would vote against the bill if they were included.

Presley said Merksamer and Frost contacted him Wednesday and indicated that “they want to negotiate further and possibly fine-tune” the amendments.

“With the bill passing the (Judiciary) committee, they seem to have more interest in negotiating,” Presley said in an interview. “If we can resolve this (environmental assessment) issue, the governor’s office indicated the other issues can be resolved.”

Basically, Presley’s amendments would have expressed the Legislature’s intent to enable Deukmejian to enter into negotiations to hold the Eastside location, perhaps through a lease with an option to buy, but would prevent actual purchase until an environmental study is completed, an estimated eight to 10 months.

Another Presley amendment, which he has not formally proposed for inclusion in the bill, would make the environmental studies immune from lawsuits before purchase of the sites, because suits challenging environmental assessments can delay land sales.

Lawsuits aimed at blocking planning or construction of the prison would not be affected by the amendment.