Inmates’ Rooms Are About Ready : Motel Becomes Halfway House

The plastic billboard advertises vacant apartments for $425 a month. Outside the Commonwealth Manor Motel on Tuesday, children wheeled around the parking lot on skateboards, while planes landed and took off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport across the street.

There seemed nothing unusual about the brown stucco motel and apartment complex in Buena Park--nothing except that some residents were angered that a third of its tenants will soon be inmates from Orange County’s James A. Musick branch jail.

And it wasn’t that they minded having convicted drunk drivers as neighbors. They were unhappy at being displaced by them.

‘Evicted for Them’

“It upsets the hell out of me. I was evicted for them,” said a tenant, who identified himself only as Harold, 35. “I moved over there because that apartment overlooked the (airport) runway. Now, my back window faces someone else’s. I don’t like that.”

The minimum-security inmates, all convicted drunk drivers, began moving in this week as part of a unique program--believed to be the first of its kind in the state--that was intended both to save Orange County money and to ease somewhat the chronic jail overcrowding problem.

During the next two months, county probation officials plan to move up to 80 inmates into 40 rooms at the 188-unit motel complex on Commonwealth Avenue. The small apartments, which eventually will house two inmates each, were recently redecorated with Kelly green carpet, new white drapes and second-hand furniture.

Only inmates serving 30- to 90-day sentences for drunk driving offenses, and who are participating in the county’s work furlough program, will be eligible to serve out their terms in an apartment rather than a jail cell.

The Board of Supervisors approved the program in October. It is being operated by Orange County Halfway House Inc., a private corporation under contract with the county. Officials said it is the first program in the state where inmates have been housed in a private facility.

Many of the motel’s residents said Tuesday that they were either unaware of the new program or they were indifferent. But some, such as Harold, who lived in the section where the inmates are being placed were disgruntled about having to move.

Cheryl Poshinske, 23, said she was asked to move from her old apartment to a new one where the rent is $25 a month higher. “They told us we could either have another room or split. I was satisfied where I was, and I wouldn’t have moved. I had lived there seven months,” she said.

“I’m frightened sometimes. I know they are not convicted killers, but just having someone in jail is kind of scary. I’ve never had any problems. I never associate with any of them or walk down to that area.”

30-Day Notices

Tenants said Tuesday they received a 30-day notice from the motel management in October that they would have to leave their apartments by the end of the month. They were given the option of moving into another apartment in the motel or moving out of the complex.

Al Hoffman, resident manager of the motel, said only about 35 or 40 tenants were affected, and of those, about 10% decided to leave the complex. He said the management helped move furniture for those who stayed and paid for their new telephone hookups.

“Nobody was evicted . . . because of the program,” Hoffman said. “If they were evicted . . . it was for non-payment of rent.” He said those who wanted to stay were “transferred to apartment units that were completely rehabilitated. We fixed up the apartments with fresh paint, carpet and drapes.”

For the past two years, Commonwealth Manor had been used as a halfway house for prisoners serving the last few weeks of their terms for other crimes. That program was replaced with the one for drunk-driving offenders, and moved to a more isolated part of the complex.

Tenant Jeanie Johnson, 55, said she was more concerned about the “punkers” who live in the apartment building than the inmates.

“The inmates don’t bother me. There were a bunch of hippies or punkers who shaved their hair living where the halfway house used to be. We’ve had to complain about the loud music.”

Her daughter, Michelle Johnson, 20, said she was uneasy when she lived in an apartment near the former halfway house. She no longer lives in the complex.

‘All Friendly’

“When I first moved in, it bothered me,” she said. “I thought they might try to break in or something. But they were all friendly.”

The two free-standing apartment buildings housing the inmates are located in an isolated area of the complex. There are no bars on the windows or security gates to distinguish them from the other buildings.

The only difference is that a security guard is on duty 24 hours a day to ensure that the inmates go to work during the day and are incarcerated in their apartments at night.

Halfway House officials said the inmates will keep a low profile in the community in order to avoid any problems. Officials said the earlier program ran smoothly and expect the same of this one.

“People have reason to fear when they emotionally react to the unknown, to the perception about criminals,” said Kevin Meehan, executive director of Halfway House. “If you look at the program objectively, people will agree it is a good alternative to spending time in jail and the savings to taxpayers is extraordinary.”

Tenant Alice Seaton, 47, said she agreed with that philosophy.

“These guys need a place to live while they are working. This way, they are able to support their family.”