Deputies Want to Move Into Roomier Station in Camarillo

County sheriff’s deputies in Camarillo are crammed into a building where security is almost nil and the roof is beyond repair, officials say.

The dark, dingy booking room has a hollow-core door and a table and chairs that are not bolted down. In the station’s other interview room, a ceiling tile is missing where a prisoner tried to escape.

The sagging ceiling in the women’s locker room leaks around a light fixture that looks as if it could fall during a rainstorm.

“When it’s raining real hard and it’s dripping, I’m scared to come in here because I might get fried,” said Eleanor Laird, secretary to Camarillo Police Cmdr. Ray Abbott.

The sheriff’s deputies hope to move into a larger, temporary station until the city can afford to build a new one. With the city’s tight budget, however, officials said every cost option must be weighed carefully.

The 8,000-square-foot station built in 1956 originally housed a Bank of America office, and the vault still remains in the men’s locker room. When the city incorporated in 1964, the building became City Hall, and the deputies moved into it in 1977.

County sheriff’s deputies share the building on Palm Drive with deputies who are contracted to serve as Camarillo police.

Abbott said Camarillo City Manager William Little has identified about 20 industrial buildings that might serve as an interim home for the sheriff’s deputies and civilian employees.

Little said he is exploring the idea of leasing a 12,000- or 13,000-square-foot space for three to five years, while the city finds the money to build a new 17,000- to 19,000-square-foot station.

Although Camarillo police and county sheriff’s deputies share the building in Camarillo, the city and county don’t agree that they should share the cost of constructing a new facility. The price tag for a new station is estimated at $6.5 million to $7 million, including the land.

Of the 55 employees who work under the same roof, 13 are county sheriff’s deputies who patrol 166 miles of unincorporated land surrounding Camarillo. At shift changes, the parking lot and station house overflow.

“Fills up fast. Gets loud,” Sgt. Frank Segall said.

Little believes that the county should contribute about 20% of the project cost, because the city is housing the county deputies at no charge.

“I don’t know anybody . . . that has free rent without paying for their share,” Little said.

But county administrators say the county doesn’t pay rent to Fillmore, Ojai, Moorpark or Thousand Oaks where city and county deputies share quarters.

“We are not in the business of providing larger facilities for contracted cities,” said Marty Shaw-Halloway, county manager of special projects and programs.

Besides, she said, the county deputies act as a backup and handle calls within the city limits on their way to and from the unincorporated areas.

Richard Wittenberg, the county’s chief administrative officer, said he is willing to talk further with Camarillo officials about the matter.

Meanwhile, the city and county forces continue to work together in the station where no group larger than five can meet in one room.

With or without the county’s help, the city can’t afford to build a new station until the economy and its fiscal health improves, city officials said.

City officials had hoped to collect $2 million, or 35% of the cost of the new facility, from fees paid by commercial developers and residents taking out building permits.

But as the economy slumped, so did revenues. Only $450,000 has come in so far, Little said. The city also is experiencing a sales tax shortfall, which is projected to reach $350,000 by the end of the fiscal year in June.

And although Pardee Construction Co. promised the city a four-acre parcel in 1990 for the new station, Pardee doesn’t want to transfer the deed until 1993 when construction is expected to begin on a residential and commercial development on 90 acres nearby, project manager Bill Teller said.

But even the simplest options come with a price. To stay put on Palm Drive will cost the city $20,000 to $25,000 to repair the station’s aging roof, Little said, and leasing a new building could cost $4,800 to $13,000 a month.

“I’m not sure it would be a good investment (to repair the roof) if we’re going to move out of the place,” Segall said.