Resistance in Santee

The citizens of the City of Santee have the right to be outraged by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ plan to place a concentration camp-style jail for men at the heart of this community.

This is much more than a “not in our back yard” issue. It is more like--not in our front yard--not in the planned future showplace of our community, and is a most certain threat to children living in homes and attending schools within brief walking distance from the planned site. The citizens of Santee are within their rights to want to protect the children and the elderly of this community from the elements such a facility would attract. The very future of Santee as a community is threatened by the expected loss in home and property value and the loss of hoped-for revenue from desirable businesses that will not want to be based within sight of such a facility near the Town Center.

The citizens of Santee should not be the only ones alarmed by the Board of Supervisors’ plans. Those communities neighboring Santee should also feel threatened. As the social and economic standings of Santee are lowered, so will this cancer spread to bordering communities such as Lakeside and El Cajon. Supervisors do not feel politically threatened by Santee. Therefore, it has been easy for them to ignore the logical alternatives they have been presented and take the easiest way out for them at Santee’s grave risk. No city deserves such flagrant disregard.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ proposal is not only a threat to the well-being of the citizens of Santee, but it is also economically unsound--6 million or more tax dollars on a so-called “temporary” facility. Can this Band-Aid approach to a problem they have had years to address be considered wise planning on the part of the Board of Supervisors? We suggest that citizens in Santee and the other supervisorial districts consider the motives and morals of each member of the board and hold them conscientiously and politically responsible for the results of their decision.

BRIAN BAILEY

CHRISTINE BAILEY

Santee