Sheriff: Grant for Todd Road Jail
expansion again being sought
December 10, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Santa Paula fought the law and the law didn’t win when it came to a bid to expand Todd Road Jail, but Sheriff Geoff Dean noted in a November 19 letter to city officials that his office is reapplying for the grant denied the agency in March.
Last year the proposal to build a 64-bed infirmary unit at the jail to serve inmates with serious mental illness and chronic diseases created friction with the city and was fiercely opposed by a council majority.
The Todd Road Jail, located about 2 1/2 miles from the western city limit, was approved in 1992 for approximately 2,300 beds... so far the facility, located south of Highway 126, has about 850 beds.
The expansion, according to the county, would have created the space for an additional 130 beds at the main jail in Ventura; the two jails combined have been holding close to 1,700 inmates, about 100 over the rated capacity.
The city and county tussled for months over the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department applying for the $45 million state grant that required a 10 percent county match.
Over the city’s protest the Board of Supervisors approved the grant application, which was followed by the approval by the county Planning Director on a jail complex site modification.
Although some members of the council noted in their objections and public comments that the expansion would make Santa Paula appear to be a jail town, others noted that the dialogue itself had defined the issue and solidified the facility’s connection with the city although the jail is located in the unincorporated area.
Councilman Jim Tovias said then that his main concern was potential state control of the facility; he stated that if the county rejected the state grant and used their own funds for construction he would support the expansion.
The city was on the verge of a lawsuit when it dropped the matter, opting instead to send a letter of objection to state officials overseeing the grant award process.
The issue got off on a bad foot initially when the accusation arose that the city had not been notified in a timely matter about the grant application, which Dean denied.
In March the state announced that the grant was denied based on the county not demonstrating the funding source for the matching grant, which was mandatory. It also downgraded the application for technical reasons and a missed environmental deadline that county officials tied to the city of Santa Paula’s appeal of the project, criteria that was not mandated, according to a letter that the state board sent to Dean.
In the November 19 letter sent by Dean to Deputy City Clerk Lucy Blanco noting that he was again seeking the grant, it was requested that the missive be distributed to “current and newly-elected council members.”
The letter noted, “The proposed project is exactly the same as what was proposed last year and was discussed at your council meeting.”
Dean wrote city officials he would be appearing before the Board of Supervisors at the December 16 meeting to request their approval in applying for the grant.
“It’s the exact same thing, the very same project as last time,” Dean said in an interview Friday and if any council members have questions he is eager to hear from them.
The council won’t be meeting until December 15 and newly selected Mayor John Procter said he expects the issue will be addressed even if not agenized.
“But,” he noted, “I do want to hear what the exact proposal is... it’s important not to have a knee jerk reaction before we know exactly what is involved.”
