Bill Advances Despite Opposition From Department of Corrections : As L.A. Prison Debate Rages, Castaic Site Gains in Assembly

While the dispute over building a state prison in Los Angeles County has focused on a downtown Los Angeles site, a measure to construct the facility in a rural area north of Castaic remains alive in the state Assembly.

On Tuesday, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, by a 13-9 vote, approved and sent to the floor the Castaic bill. The legislation, carried by Assemblywoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), is expected to be considered by the end of the month.

Option to Downtown Site

“I have provided the Department of Corrections with a viable option” to the downtown site, “thus helping end the yearlong stalemate,” Roybal-Allard asserted in an interview Thursday.

Under her bill, the Department of Corrections would be authorized to build a prison on Los Angeles-County-owned land at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho, a county jail. The bill also says that, if the department finds the Castaic area unacceptable, it can--with the Legislature’s approval--designate an alternative site outside urban Los Angeles.

Wright Predicts Rejection

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), who represents Castaic, predicted that Roybal-Allard’s bill will fail. “Even if it goes off the floor . . . it will be vetoed by the governor,” Wright said. “It’s a battle of futility.”

A 1982 law bars the opening of prisons in San Diego and Stockton, both of which are ready to take prisoners, until a prison is authorized somewhere in Los Angeles County.

Gov. George Deukmejian has sought to build a state prison at an Eastside site, near a heavily Latino area about two miles southeast of the Los Angeles Civic Center.

In March, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to authorize two prisons in the county, the Eastside site and another near rural Lancaster. Since then, negotiations have been at a virtual standstill.

The Deukmejian Administration has indicated that it will consider a two-prison concept, but only if it does not delay construction of a prison at the Eastside site. Kevin Brett, the governor’s press secretary, said Deukmejian has not indicated a preference for a second site.

Opposes East L.A. Site

Roybal-Allard takes a different position, arguing that any compromise must exclude the East Los Angeles site, which she vigorously opposed earlier this year in her campaign for the Assembly. She sees her bill as a way of breaking the deadlock.

But one legislative staffer close to the negotiations privately suggested that the Roybal-Allard bill is being kept alive in the Assembly in order to prod negotiators in the Senate, where the main prison bill is stalled.

Her proposal must overcome opposition from the Department of Corrections. “We don’t regard it as a suitable place to put a prison,” said Bob Gore, a department spokesman.

State prison officials repeatedly have noted that the Pitchess Honor Rancho sits atop several earthquake faults, is on a flood plain and offers few building areas because the terrain is so hilly.

Roybal-Allard minimized the department’s statements, however, saying that structures are built in other areas of the state with earthquake faults and flood problems. Further, Roybal-Allard said, she recently toured Castaic and saw that the Sheriff’s Department is building new units at the Honor Rancho.

Roybal-Allard was elected to succeed Gloria Molina, who took a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. Last year, Molina championed a bill calling for a Castaic prison, but then shelved it. Before she left the Assembly this year, Molina reintroduced the measure, which was picked up by Roybal-Allard.