Homeland Security Center Sought for Base

Expecting tough competition from across California, Riverside County officials already are lobbying to make March Air Reserve Base home to one of possibly 10 federal homeland-security centers.

Local leaders are set to travel to Washington next month to woo the Department of Homeland Security and members of Congress. “We’re the best game in town,” said Marion Ashley, chairman of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, at a Monday morning task-force meeting that focused on March. “We have the only location in the southwestern U.S. that is ready to go, could do the job, is efficient. We’re it. We have to make sure they know that.”

The centers would serve as training facilities and operational headquarters for the myriad agencies that make up the federal department, which was established in 2002 and is responsible for protecting the nation’s borders, coasts and vital infrastructure such as airports and utilities. President Bush’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes nearly $50 million to begin establishing regional centers across the nation.

The funding “is an effort to ensure the process moves forward; in the view of many, this is a long-overdue step,” said U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

The department is expected to release a list of potential sites in mid-May and could decide as early as this summer.

Cox said that the department initially had planned to place the western regional center in the Bay Area but that he had been encouraging a look to the south instead because of the population base and the proximity of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“I made the case that Southern California simply makes more sense,” Cox said. “Yet I can’t tell you as we’re speaking that that’s a done deal.”

He said he did not know which Southern California locales were potential finalists and that the department could look at coastal sites because of the Coast Guard’s needs.

“The question of whether it’s March or Long Beach or Los Angeles, that’s an order of refinement that we haven’t reached yet,” he said. A task force led by Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner Bob Doyle met Monday and plans to go to Washington to lobby officials in May.

Among the federal officials Riverside County officials hope will boost their cause is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

“We do believe if regional training centers are established, one should be established in California,” said Howard Gantman, the senator’s spokesman. Doyle said chief among March’s attributes was the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, which trains personnel for law enforcement, the fire service and first-responders from counties and cities throughout California, as well as federal and state agencies.

“There may be other competition out there, but certainly none of them are as advanced as we are. We literally could be up and running in a couple weeks,” he said.

He said a decision to pick March was “a no-brainer, until you get to the political part of it.”

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Riverside), who represents the area, said March was perfect because of its central Southern California location, its law enforcement training facilities and military operations and its runway.

“We want to make sure that whatever occurs, we’re in contention for it,” he said.

Doyle and others officials said there could be competition from Los Angeles, Orange or San Bernardino counties. Lancaster has been mentioned as a potential spot for a regional training facility in past years, though Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said there were no active plans to propose it as a Department of Homeland Security center. But that could change, said Cmdr. Dave Betkey.

“All these sites, including the Lancaster site, are all viable, depending on where you get the money. The money has always been an issue,” he said. But “we may end up [proposing] it somewhere. Throughout Los Angeles County, there are many different sites available to us.”