Source: Bakersfield Californian Contact: July 12, 1998 Author: Christine Bedell PRIVATE PRISONS COURT KERN Add Arvin, Delano and Tehachapi to the list of Kern County cities targeted for new private prisons. Sometime this summer, the state will decide whether to seek bids for five, 1,000-bed private prisons. If the money makes it into the past-due state budget, it also will determine where in California the prisons should be built. In preparation, prison builders have been courting city councils and county boards throughout California to approve prisons in their towns. That includes communities in Kern County D1 lots of them. Much public courting is under way in California City, Mojave, Boron and Wasco. But other local municipalities also are being eyed: Arvin, one of the few incorporated cities in Kern County without a prison, and Delano and Tehachapi, home to state prisons. Houston-based Cornell Corrections is interested in 80 acres adjacent to Arvin's sewage treatment plant. The city was passed up previously because its sewer plant couldn't handle the 1,000-plus people prisons bring. But the plant capacity is being expanded from 800,000 gallons per day to 2 million gallons per day. So last Monday, the planning commission approved a report declaring the proposed prison would not have an adverse effect on the environment. "We feel we have a fair shot at this," said Arvin City Manager Tom Payne. Payne said public opinion for this and previous prison proposals has been favorable. But a prison guard union that opposes private prisons in general has protested. Guards in private institutions aren't as well trained as their public counterparts and therefore endanger the community, said Ryan Sherman, spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers' Association, who testified in Arvin. "Peace officers at (local, state and federal prisons) have public accountability the others do not," he said. A bill to prohibit private prisons in California, which the union pushed, recently died in committee. Private prison operators disputed their opponents' claims vociferously. Meanwhile, less formal proposals are being discussed north and east. Tehachapi city staff will lead a public meeting this summer to gauge reaction to a second prison being built there, according to David James, director of economic development. Wackenhut Community Correctional Facility, which also is looking in Wasco, has made a presentation to the City Council but not yet found a site. Company spokesman Patrick Cannan wouldn't confirm the company sees potential in Tehachapi for fear of tipping off competitors. But James said the city's mayor has toured other Wackenhut facilities and "was apparently pretty impressed." It's unclear what Tehachapi residents' response might be, James said. Some are unhappy with the "element" the state prison has brought, while others are thrilled with its economic contributions, he said. There might not be as much apprehension because private prisons house level one and two inmates, primarily white-collar criminals with short sentences, James added. Finally, Alternative Programs Inc., which runs a private prison in Bakersfield, has its eye on Delano, according to company President Durwood Sigrest. The undisclosed site encompasses 38 acres, Sigrest said. Delano already is home to North Kern state prison. All of this talk, though, might prove unnecessary. There's no guarantee money to send state prisoners to new private prisons will be approved or that the state actually will send out requests for bids. So why is Kern County such a hotbed of prison proposals? There are several, prison builders say: Its high number of existing prisons, which the state demands so resources can be shared; its thirst for economic development; and the public's general support for them. "Kern County has recognized this is a clean industry and that prisons bring in new dollars to the county," Sigrest said. "And (people) have overcome their fear of these enterprises." - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski