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