Santa Paula City Council Revisits Todd Road Jail Expansion
By Sheryl Hamlin
The use of a Consent Calendar is a tool for city governments to streamline their meetings. By placing items that are routine and non-controversial on the Consent Calendar, cialis such as bill pays or other regularly occurring items, viagra 40mg a meeting can become more efficient with one blanket item covering several items “by consent”.
On the Agenda for March 2, 2015 of the Santa Paula City Council, there were several items that definitely did not fit into the category of “routine and non-controversial”. Because there were speakers present, several items were pulled from the calendar so that discussion could occur.
Item C of the Consent Calendar, an Ordinance Adopting the Amended East Area I Specific Plan, was continued at the request of the applicant, Limoneira. Is this project routine and non-controversial?
The funding for the Fireworks Show on July 4, 2015 was pulled from the Consent Calendar because two speakers were pleased to present a check to the city for one half of the $15,000 required to produce the elaborate fireworks show which can be seen around the entire city.
The other item pulled was regarding the extension to the Todd Road Jail, as shown below, because one citizen was present asking for details. Given the history of the Todd Road Jail, it could never be described as routine and non-controversial so its appearance on the Consent Calendar is inexplicable.
Recall that on September 3, 2013, the previous council moved to oppose the 63 bed $45 million expansion of the Todd Road Jail in a lengthy discussion citing redundancy of medical facilities, attraction of criminal element because Santa Paula would receive all medical prisoners for the county, financial interference by the state and perception that Santa Paula was a “jail town”. Mayor Fernandez noted that only about 2% of the employees of the Todd Road Jail are Santa Paula residents. Council Member Hernandez, the lone no vote to the opposition of the jail expansion, admonished the other members of the council for stigmatizing people with mental illness and criminal backgrounds. The measure passed 4-1. The ‘yes’ votes were Mayor Fernandez, Council Member Gonzales, Council Member Tovias and Council Member Cook. The Santa Paula Times report is here.
The Ventura County Planning Commission upheld the permit even though presented with many facts about the size and problematic EIR. As reported in the VCSTAR:
Santa Paula Planning Director Janna Minsk told the commission that the permit did not clearly define the type of medical care for inmates and that the project exceeded the space allowed by the county in permit adjustments. Minsk also stated concerns about why the county did not properly tell the city about the permit adjustment and architectural changes in the project. Tony Locacciato of Meridian Consultants LLC, speaking in support of the city, said the environmental impact report was outdated and failed to address potential environmental effects.
On October 1, 2013, the Ventura County Supervisors voted to approve the grant application for the jail expansion with Supervisor Long making the motion and seconded by Supervisor Foy. The motion passed unanimously with a sizable contingent of Santa Paulans attending the meeting to oppose the grant. Note that Council Member Hernandez of Santa Paula, the lone no vote on the city council, works in Supervisor Long’s office. The application for the $45 million grant was subsequently denied by the State of California for failing to enumerate the source for matching grant funds, a requirement.
According to the Santa Paula Times in an article on December 10, 2014, the sheriff’s grant application was to be reinitiated. In the article, the newly elected Mayor Procter says “…he expects the issue will be addressed even if not agenized (sic)…” evidently anticipating at this time injecting the overturn of the 2013 motion into the discussion.
On January 5, 2015, an item in the Council Agenda about a presentation of the Todd Road Jail read as follows: “receive and file” …. “such additional related action may be necessary”. That meeting was chronicled in the Citizens Journal previously and resulted in a motion overturning the 2013 council motion opposing the jail. The vote was 3-2 with Council Members Tovias and Crosswhite opposing and Mayor Procter, Council Member Gherardi and Council Member Hernandez approving the motion to overturn. During this meeting, Council Member Tovias said “he thought today was just a presentation”. The Mayor responded by reiterating the language of the agenda: “such additional related action may be necessary”. Council Member Tovias was blindsighted, as well as the public who might have read about the item on the January 5, 2015 agenda.
Had it not been for one astute citizen attending the March 2, 2015 meeting, the final reading of the item would have slipped through on the Consent Calendar with no discussion. The video and agenda are available on-line. The motion to overturn the 2013 motion passed again with the same 3-2 vote.
Further items from this meeting will be reported individually in the Citizens Journal including the SAFER Grant Firefighter Funding and The America in Bloom.
Part One of Three
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Sheryl Hamlin: With an MS in Industrial Engineering, Sheryl Hamlin spent years in technology with stints at Motorola, Tandem Computers and various startups. She has been on the boards of neighborhood organizations both in San Francisco and Palm Springs where planning issues were her specialty. She now resides in Santa Paula and loves the historic fabric of the city. Ms. Hamlin’s blog Stealth Fashion and technology product ‘ Plug and Play Webmaster’.
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