Because the State of California did such a poor job managing our prison system (e.g., 200% capacity, 70% recidivism), the State was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce the prison population, forcing at least 30,000 so-called “low level” criminals in State prisons to be transferred to County jails. Over the objections of several groups, including the California State Sheriff’s Association and the Public Policy Institute of California, the State’s response to this challenge is to spend Billions of dollars to expand the County jail system. Despite the fact that alternative measures were approved and recommended, almost all of the funds being spent will be spent on bricks and mortar solutions, a solution already known to be insufficient given the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
As of September 2012, nearly two dozen building projects were in the works which, when completed, will mean more than 10,000 new beds for criminals in County jails. Here are some interesting factoids about these new projects and, more importantly for the citizens of Lake Forest, about the new jail that is going to be built on the grounds of Musick Jail.
Over the 20+ projects approved and funded by the State, the average number of beds being built is 456 (range 42 to 1270) and the average cost per bed is $186,035 (range $80,000 to $262,267). The new Musick Jail addition is larger than average (512 vs. 456) and more expensive than average to build ($195,312 vs. $186,035).
Less than a third of the 20+ projects involve a new building. All the rest of the projects involve expanding or replacing an existing structure. Musick Jail is one of the few projects where a new building is being proposed.
Nearly two thirds of the 20+ projects involve maximum security inmates. As far as the State knows, Musick Jail does not involve maximum security inmates. The most recent State AB 900 progress report (Sept 2012) notes that Orange County is slated for “512 medium security beds and related ancillary space.” Only by reading the MOU between Lake Forest and the Sheriff do we learn that the Sheriff plans to place maximum security inmates into Musick, apparently unbeknownst to the State who is funding the project.
Most of the nearly two dozen projects are being built in relatively isolated areas, some miles away from the nearest home, business, or office building. Of all these projects, no project is being built closer to existing occupied spaced than Musick, which now abuts the commercial space along the North side of Bake Parkway and sits within 1,000 feet of residential property.
Most of the new projects are being built next to areas where the home prices are modest, to say the least. No other county is building or renovating any prison/jail structure that sits in a more expensive area than Musick Jail. The average home price for homes closest to the new projects is slightly under $250,000. The average price of homes for sale near Musick is $602,078.
Here are the figures for the average home price for homes closest to the some of the proposed prison/jail additions -
• Orange County (Lake Forest) - $602,078
• Santa Barbara (Santa Maria) - $414,631
• Los Angeles (Castaic) - $353,057
• San Diego (Santee) - $281,505
• Solano (Fairfield) - $185,740
• Madera (Madera) - $99,969
• Calaveras (San Andreas) - $98,355
• Kern (Bakersfield) - $91,653
• San Bernardino (Adelanto) - $89,360
It should be clear to see that the Musick Jail project is an outlier. Compared to the rest of the AB 900 prisons construction projects, Musick Jail is more expensive on a cost per bed basis, proposes to add more inmates, proposes to build a stand-alone facility while others add or replace to existing buildings, is being built closest to existing occupied space, and is being built next to the most expensive homes in the State by more than double the value.
Orange County may need to expand its ability to handle inmates, but the selection of Musick Jail is a poor choice indeed.
Next week on December 11 the Board of Supervisors will consider ratifying the plans for Musick. There is still time to go to their website and voice your opposition, or show up at the meeting and testify against the move.
I don't recall Sheriff Hutchens saying anything about the possibility of maximum level inmates being housed at Musick? Did she? If not, it is very disheartening that an elected Sheriff who is really sworn to integrity would omit disclosing such an critical option in her presentation before our citizens and Council. If she could be so forthcoming about her medical problems we would expect her to give us the truth about what possibities exist for Musick jail. I am so discouraged with the leadership that surrounds us. Is there any official out there who we can trust? Oh, and it will be VERY interesting to see how the 2 new councilmen vote on the second half of this item. They do take their seats for the first time at the Dec 11th meeting, do they not? Hmmm. That should be worth a watch. Without you none of us would know the rest of the story that's found in the fine print, Mr. Gardner. We are indebted to your service.
I plan to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting next week and confront Bates and the Sheriff with these issues, as well as bringing this up at the State level with the people who are funding this project. Stay tuned. It's not over.
All of this just frightens the bejeezus out of me. At times I don't even feel like I am living in the United States of America any longer! I feel like I'm in an occupied nation. :^(
Enjoy your weekend, dear.
Your assignment tonight is to memorize this verse and sing it 3 times a day for the next 2 weeks: "My country,' tis of thee sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside let freedom ring!" Have a beautiful weekend, dear.
The author of this blog is named Gardner not "Gardener". He's not a landscaper. Go get some fresh air at the beach this weekend. It's supposed to be a little cloudy but fairly warm. But the air is very fresh and helps me greatly with my thinking patterns and processes.
And I wonder how many of the fine folks who live on the perimeter of Musick have asked themselves that same question? And I wonder why a real estate expert wasn't invited to the Council meeting that addressed this issue to provide an expert opinion of what efffect an expansion into a maximum security prison would have on the adjacent property values? Or am I the only goofball who thinks this stuff up?
I'm not a real estate expert but I know that when you sell a house you are required to reveal relevant details. The outside perimeter of Musick is about 1,000 feet from the nearest home, so whether or not that is within the sphere of influence for reporting I don't know. Up until 2010 Musick was strictly used for minimum security prisoners. Starting in 2010 with the "beds for feds" program the severity increased and with the new plans it will now include maximum security prisoners, although they will be housed on the other side of the complex, probably placing them about 1/2 mile from the nearest house. If this is an item that requires disclosure, I think you're right that the price will go down a lot. Moreover, if this required disclosure and people who sold already or have their home for sale, and didn't disclose, would be open for law suits for hiding a material fact.
In my unprofessional opinion one doesn't have to be a real estate expert to come to a reasonable conclusion that living next to a prison, let alone a prison under current expansion and available to maximum security criminals, would in all likelihood be a NEGATIVE and not a positive for the seller in a real estate negotiation. Now, don't you think the real estate equation should have been publicly discussed and examined by our Council leaders when this matter was voted on?
The good news for home owners in that area is that Musick is well hidden. Most of it is behind the automotive shops along Bake Pkwy east of Trabuco. There are only a few dozen feet on fencing where one gets a glimpse of the Musick Jail, and then those few feet overlook empty fields. From my reading of the expansion plans, this will remain the same, so one would not immediately notice the Jail and if you even looked in that direction you would still see the empty fields. Nonetheless I do agree with you that someone should have done some research on the impact on home values. When I did my own very informal study of the other projects it looked as if home values went up even 1,000 or so feet that you got further away from the other jails.
Of course values would increase the further the property was away from the prisons, up to a certain point. People get excited about living next to a prison about as much as they would look forward living next to a pulp mill. So your research only makes perfect sense.
Well, I wish ya luck, Mr Gardner. But once the contract was approved & executed by the Council I think Lake Forest is toast as far as the Musick expansion is concerned. The heavy lifting should really have been done at that meeting. Unfortunately from here on in it's all damage control and trying to undo what has already been done. The only shade of hope I see would be for the City of Irvine to appeal the recent ruling by the Courts. And from my understanding that decision must be forthcoming in the near future. I heard that Sukhee Kang from the Irvine Council will appear at the Supervisor's meeting to speak on Item 32, apparently as you plan to do. But from my previous observations whatever the Sheriff wants the Sheriff gets. The public safety unions have incredible power over the puppets on the Board. If you don't believe me watch them give away the farm as a result of the collective bargaining negotiations currently ongoing. The problem is that the taxpayers really don't have anyone representing us at the table. Oh, in spirit we do. But not in reality. ;^) Give 'em hell on Tuesday. You get 3 minutes. If you paid $3000 in property taxes that's $1000 per minute. Make it count. :^)
Yes it was a stacked deck and the outcome was already decided before I testified. However, I wanted it on record that the Supervisors were aware that the County had contracted with the State for 524 medium security inmates only and were not living up to their agreement and, in fact, were putting in 32 beds for MAXIMUM security inmates and well as establishing policy for admitting MAXIMUM security inmates. I plan to take my evidence to the California Attorney General as well as the Department of Corrections. I'm not a lawyer so I can't tell you whether or not the Supervisors and the Sheriff are knowingly breaking the law. All I can do is report the incident and supply the evidence. It was good to see that the City of Irvine continues on their quest to stop the Musick expansion. They will meet shortly to see if they will appeal the recent decision against them. You're right about Herzog, He has no shame. He reported that no one objected to the MOU when he knew perfectly well that the City Manager and everyone involved had assured our citizens that no MAXIMUM security inmates would be at Musick. Without the threat of more serious criminals, there was no protest. But this was the result of mis-information, as I pointed out in my articles about Musick and the MOU.
The Board of Supervisors should be renamed to the "Board of Puppets".
Are you singing "My Country Tis of Thee" 3 times a day? If not, try it. It might help restore some balance. Enjoy your evening. Isn't American Idol on tonight? Now I bet that's a show that you could really enjoy.
Bear in mind that Irvine doesn't even have any residential housing near the Musick Jail, while our homes are within 1,000 feet of the Jail. Yet out City Council voted unanimously to roll over and approve the expansion.