California Amendment would give counties more supervisors

A proposed state constitutional amendment with the stated aim of making government more responsive and ethnically diverse would add two members to the Riverside and San Bernardino county boards of supervisors. 

The amendment offered by state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, is scheduled be heard by a Senate committee Aug. 17. It would require counties with 2 million or more residents -- Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles -- to have at least seven people on their supervisorial boards.

Riverside and San Bernardino each have five supervisors. If the amendment passes both houses of the Legislature by a 2/3 vote, it would go on the ballot for voters’ approval.

In a staff report on the amendment, Mendoza’s office wrote that expanding the boards of supervisors “will provide the opportunity for these bodies to be more responsive and reflective of the needs of the people they represent and serve.”

The amendment would add supervisors in counties with sizeable Latino populations. Roughly half of the Inland population is Latino, according to recently released census numbers.

Despite that, no Latinos serve on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. San Bernardino County has one Latino supervisor, Josie Gonzales.

For Luz Gallegos, community programs director at TODEC Legal Center, a grassroots organization serving Inland Empire migrant communities, the measures can help boost Latino representation, but in order for the community to reap the benefits, simply electing a Latino politician wouldn’t be enough.

It's about “making sure they have their heart and the community commitment,” she said.

Electing Latinos and other people of color is important, Gallegos said, because it will inspire youth to run for elected office.

“As a youth, I remember (Los Angeles City Councilman) Gil Cedillo,” she said. “He was out there marching with us and he was part of the unions and now he's in positions where we have youth saying, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’”

“NOT HOMOGENOUS”

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley said he didn’t think the amendment would make much of a difference when it comes to electing a Latino supervisor.

“Latinos are not a homogenous group,” Ashley said. “They look at the issues and if they see a candidate that’s backing the issues they like … they’ll vote for (that candidate).”

Ashley, who is not seeking re-election when his term ends in 2018, said it’s very likely a Latino will take his place. Ashley’s chief of staff, Jaime Hurtado, already is running to succeed his boss.

San Bernardino County supervisors oppose the amendment. In a letter to the state Senate, Supervisor James Ramos wrote that the amendment would “erode the ability of San Bernardino County voters to determine their form of government.”

“While we appreciate your goal to increase diversity among members of county boards of supervisors to better reflect the changes in the state’s demographics, we feel the composition of our Board achieves that goal, and no legislation is needed,” said Ramos, former chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. His county also has two female supervisors.

Via: http://www.pe.com/articles/supervisors-775582-amendment-san.html

San Bernardino County sheriff gets approval to seek grant for jail upgrades

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave the Sheriff’s Department the green light to apply for an $80 million grant from the state to construct new housing units at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore.

The Sheriff’s Department plans to demolish two housing units at the 53-year-old jail and replace them with three new housing units comprising 512 beds and a visitors’ center. They will accommodate an intensive 18-month education/counseling program to help prepare inmates for life on the outside once they are released from custody.

Design and planning for the $109.9 million project is expected to span throughout 2014, and construction should last three years, from May 2015 to May 2018, according to the grant proposal presented to supervisors.

The Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center, built in 1960 as a maximum security work camp, is the oldest jail in the county and one of nine detention facilities. To accommodate the influx of inmates under Public Safety Realignment, the county has been seeking funding to assist in upgrades at its existing jails and construction of the Adelanto Detention Center, currently under way.

In June 2012, SB 1022 became law. It allowed the state to set aside a $500 million pot for counties to dip into, via application, to assist in jail construction and upgrades necessitated by realignment. The Sheriff’s Department is requesting the $80 million from the pot.

The county will chip in $26 million-plus for the project and another $3.9 million will come from in-kind contributions.

Glen Helen is not the only project under way in the county to increase bed space and improve efficiency. Projects are also under way to expand the Adelanto Detention Center by more than 1,000 beds and to bring some housing units at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Since awarding the Adelanto Detention Center construction contract in December 2010, there have been 20 amendments and change orders to the contract. Initially projected by the county to cost $144 million to build, bids for the project subsequently came in at $120 million, so the budget was adjusted to reflect that amount, county spokesman David Wert said.

Unforeseen glitches in the smoke detection and sprinkler system and other project snafus, however, caused costs to climb, and now the budget is back to $144 million and is not expected to surpass that, Wert said.

The Board of Supervisors also approved Tuesday increasing the budget for the West Valley Detention Center project by $2.3 million, bringing the cost from $2 million to $4.3 million.

The project will bring eight of 15 housing units at the jail into ADA compliance and address accessibility issues in specific inmate cells, showers, day rooms and recreation yards, according to a report prepared for county supervisors.

via http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20131008/san-bernardino-county-sheriff-gets-approval-to-seek-grant-for-jail-upgrades