Panel Confirms Nominee for Prisons Director

The man chosen by the governor to run California’s massive prison system won unanimous confirmation by a key Senate committee Wednesday at a hearing notable for its friendly, bipartisan tone.

The 4-0 vote by the Rules Committee means Department of Corrections Director Edward S. Alameida is all but certain to win the endorsement of the full Senate in the next few months.

Alameida, 52, is a former warden and 29-year corrections veteran. He has been running the 47,000-employee department since his appointment by Gov. Gray Davis in September. The Rules Committee chairman, Sen. John Burton (D-San Francisco), was remarkably upbeat about Alameida, saying, “We want to help you do the job.”

Frequently, legislative hearings involving the penal system put its leaders on the hot seat for the problems plaguing state prisons. But on Wednesday, Alameida faced only a handful of questions from senators and opposition from only two witnesses--with nine testifying in support.

“This attitude of punishment instead of healing permeates every layer of the California Department of Corrections,” said Cayenne Bird, founder of an inmate advocacy group. Burton’s inquiry focused largely on the department’s efforts to prepare inmates for release and, it hopes, prevent them from landing back in prison. Statistics show that 56% of California’s parolees return to prison within two years. Burton said the elimination of many programs because of budget cuts in recent years is partly to blame. Alameida agreed. Alameida’s confirmation comes at a time of challenges for the department, which houses 157,000 inmates in 33 prisons and 41 conservation camps on an annual budget of $4.8 billion.

A father of three, Alameida began his corrections career as an accountant at Folsom State Prison. In 1996, he became warden at Deuel, a 4,000-inmate prison in Tracy.