Davis Chooses Former Warden to Head Corrections Department

Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday appointed a new director of California’s sprawling Department of Corrections, filling a key job that was vacated nearly a year ago.

Edward S. Alameida, a former warden and 28-year corrections veteran, will take the reins of the state’s penal system--the nation’s second-largest--assuming the Senate confirms his nomination.

Alameida, 52 and currently the department’s acting director of institutions, was not available for comment, and the governor made no remarks in announcing the appointment.

Davis spokesman Roger Salazarsaid, “One of Alameida’s greatest assets is his many years of experience within the system.” Others said Alameida was attractive in part because he’s a noncontroversial pick likely to win easy confirmation.

As director, Alameida will oversee nearly 160,000 inmates in 33 prisons and 41 conservation camps and a department with an annual budget of $4.8 billion and more than 47,000 employees.

His appointment comes at a time when the department faces numerous challenges, ranging from an overwhelming gang problem to a class-action lawsuit alleging that inmates receive substandard medical care.

Severe crowding forces inmates to share cells meant for one, and Hepatitis C has infected thousands of prisoners--and correctional officers as well.

Alameida also must oversee final approval of a 5,000-bed maximum-security prison in the Kern County city of Delano, a project that has drawn fierce opposition.

One friend within corrections called Alameida “the right man for a time when we have such crises facing the department.

“Ed is analytical, he is personable, and he’s a leader, so he will be able to rally minds to tackle these real tough problems,” said Claude Finn, warden of Deuel Vocational Institute. “In these tight fiscal times you have to get creative, and Ed can do that.”

The department’s critics welcomed the naming of a new director but questioned why it took Davis so long to replace Cal Terhune, who announced he was retiring last October because of health problems.

Since Terhune left, the department has been run by a series of acting directors. First, the job was filled by Steve Cambra, who was set to retire in March but stayed on while the search for a new chief continued. He left in May, and a second acting director, Teresa Rocha, was named.

Davis is notorious for the sluggish pace of his appointments in all corners of state government, but Salazar defended the long search, saying that “it’s a very challenging position” and that Terhune “left some very big shoes to fill.

For months, Alameida was among several insiders on a short list of candidates for the post. A few corrections officials in other states were asked to apply, but there was little interest, said Stephen Green, assistant secretary of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, which oversees the department.

Green blamed that lack of interest in part on the job’s salary, which is low compared with other states with smaller penal systems. Also, in California the corrections director can be held personally liable for punitive damages by an inmate who prevails in a lawsuit against the department.

“That hasn’t happened yet but it has discouraged some very good candidates,” Green said.

Green called Alameida, a father of three, “an outstanding choice. He has very solid financial experience, worked in institutions and has an excellent background and temperament for this job.”

Alameida began his corrections career as an accountant at Folsom State Prison shortly after graduating from Sacramento State University. He has held other budget-related positions at department headquarters, and was associate warden at Folsom and the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

In 1996, he became warden of Deuel Vocational Institution, a 4,000-inmate medium-security prison in Tracy. He returned to headquarters in 1999 and has been responsible most recently for managing the day-to-day operations of the Institutions Division, which includes inmate education programs.

Davis made two other appointments in corrections Wednesday, naming David M. Tristan as chief deputy director of field operations and Kathy M. Kinser as chief deputy director of support services.