Prison Site in His District Is No Problem for Sen. Davis

A sparsely populated area of northern Los Angeles County between Gorman and Lancaster would be an acceptable locale for a state prison, state Sen. Ed Davis said Friday.

Davis, a Valencia Republican whose 19th Senate District includes the 40-mile stretch along Highway 138, is a member of the Joint Legislative Prisons Committee, which is working to break a two-year deadlock over where to locate a facility in northern Los Angeles County. He is also vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which considers prison legislation.

“We are going to cooperate in putting a prison into north Los Angeles County,” said Davis, a law-and-order conservative who has called for longer sentences for violent criminals. “You can’t be irresponsible.”

Davis, 70, made his remarks at a Woodland Hills news conference where he formally declared his candidacy for a third four-year Senate term in 1988. The folksy former Los Angeles police chief said he will run on his record of education, environmental protection and support for law enforcement, including his leadership in ousting former California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird last November.

Davis said his unusually early announcement should be a warning to would-be opponents that “if they come into this campaign, they’re going to be whopped.” Assemblywoman Cathie Wright, a Simi Valley Republican, says she is considering a primary challenge.

‘Compromise’ Bill Pending

A Democratic-sponsored “compromise” bill that would authorize construction of two prisons in Los Angeles County has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is pending before the full Senate. One prison would be near the urban Los Angeles Eastside at a site once owned by Crown Coach International; the other would be at one of two sites west of rural Lancaster--either a county detention facility at Mira Loma or a county airport at Fox Field.

Both are located in the 21st District represented by Sen. Newton R. Russell, a Glendale Republican who said Friday, “I will not support a bill that locates a prison in my district.”

The Corrections Department, not the Legislature, should work with local communities to select the most appropriate site, Russell said. “We shouldn’t be in the business of saying a prison should go here or there or anywhere else.”

Russell is not the only Republican opposed to the Senate bill. Gov. George Deukmejian has threatened to veto the measure because it contains environmental impact requirements that would delay construction of the Eastside prison the GOP governor strongly supports.

If a different site for the rural prison must be found, Sen. Robert Presley, the Senate’s chief negotiator on prison matters, said the area along Highway 138 on the Kern County border in Davis’ district will be considered.

“There’s some possibility,” Presley, a Riverside Democrat, said in an interview Friday. “It could be something along 138 somewhere.”

He said he would push for a site closer to Lancaster because prison employees and suppliers are likely to live there. Davis, on the other hand, would prefer a location closer to Gorman and farther from residential areas, said his press secretary Eric Rose.

Davis said he opposed an earlier proposal to put the prison in Castaic because it is seismically unsafe and is located on a flood plain. He has said it should not be located anywhere in the more residential Santa Clarita Valley.

Presley said a particular senator’s willingness to support a prison in his district is desirable, particularly because he may be able to help win community support. But, he added, environmental, community and other considerations might outweigh lawmakers’ objections or support.

Despite frequent community opposition, Presley said it is not unusual for a senator to support the siting of a facility in his district.

The state prison system has 62,000 inmates, which is 170% of its intended capacity, said Robert Holmes, chief consultant to the Joint Legislative Prisons Committee.