NOT IN MY BACK YARD, IF YOU PLEASE

The Issue: Proposal To Build A Prison In Paso Robles
Our View: Residents Have Good Reason To Be Skeptical

Sooner or later, every community faces a decision on an issue that produces
NIMBY; not in my backyard.

That's how a lot of folks in Paso Robles feel about proposals by two
Bakersfield corporations to build a minimum-security prison in their
beloved community.

We suppose it was inevitable that such proposals would surface somewhere on
the Central Coast. And our editorial judgment is that we don't like it any
more than the people of Paso.

You can make a case for the jobs and the tax revenue a prison would produce.

It's also evident that California is in need of more prisons. Our state
wants tough law enforcement. One of the by-products of tough law
enforcement is criminals. One of the by-products of criminals is the need
of a place to house them.

The result: prisons.

What has changed in recent months, however, is that the state apparently is
losing its passion for building more prisons. Californians are embarrassed
that their state sometimes spends more money on prisons than it does on
schools. That embarrass-ment apparently has had its effect on our lawmakers
in Sacramento.

Which brings us to private enterprise.

There already are 16 privately-run prisons in the state, and Corrections
officials say they seem to be the wave of the future.

Before this issue runs it course, the private sector may make a convincing
case for a prison in Paso Robles, especially if iron-clad assurances can be
given that security, even at a minimum facility, will be at a maximum.

Also to be determined is where the prison would be built - near whose
backyard. An "ideal" location may be found.

But at this stage of the discussions, we sympathize with the Paso Roblans
who don't want signs posted along the highway reading: "State Prison, Next
Exit."