Santee

A bill to force San Diego County officials to the negotiating table over the controversial temporary men’s jail in Santee advanced in the Legislature this week.

The Assembly’s Local Government Committee voted, 6 to 3, late Wednesday for a measure, sponsored by Sen. Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), requiring San Diego County and the city of Santee to call on a mediator and try to settle on a date when the facility will be closed in the East County municipality.

The bill gives a February deadline for the settlement, but fails to provide for any penalty or consequences if an agreement is not hammered out by then.

The bill was requested by Santee officials, who are openly worried that their counterparts at the county will renege on the promise to close up the 600-bed facility by 1996. County officials say they will remove the temporary jail as soon as they can build permanent detention centers elsewhere, but say it isn’t possible to say when that will be.

Before the Assembly committee approved Killea’s measure late Wednesday, it asked for an amendment that would require both the county and Santee to bear the cost of mediation. With that change, the measure now goes to the full Assembly for approval.