PORT HUENEME : Residents’ Petition Protests Tent Jail
Homeowners opposed to construction of a tent jail for drug users at the Navy base in Port Hueneme have sent a petition with 764 signatures protesting the project to the base commander.
Capt. R.J. Pearson III, commander of the Naval Construction Battalion Center, received the petition, spokeswoman Connie Taylor said. “Our position is that the proposal is under study,” she said, and a decision on the jail will be made in Washington.
Copies of the petition were sent to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and to County Supervisor John K. Flynn, said Mary Conklin, a member of the Concerned Citizens Committee.
The temporary jail was proposed by Sheriff John V. Gillespie as a way to provide space for as many as 320 minor drug offenders who would be housed in four large tents.
Earlier this month, the County Board of Supervisors voted to ask the U.S. Department of Justice for $7.2 million to launch the project.
Members of the committee that circulated the petition say they are concerned about the jail’s closeness to houses and three elementary schools.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
