|
Jail Discussion
Judge denies plea to keep jail open |
Union says closure violates terms of contract with the city |
By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area |
| |
OAKLAND - An Alameda County Superior Court judge refused Tuesday to block the closure of the Oakland city jail.
The city's largest union, Service Employees International Union Local 790, argued the closure violated terms of its contract with the city. The union asked Judge James Richman to issue a temporary restraining order and send the matter to an arbitrator for a final decision.
Richman did not elaborate on his denial, which came less than a day before people being held at the city jail were to be transferred to Alameda County 's Glenn E. Dyer Detention Facility.
Union attorney Vincent Harrington Jr. argued that Local 790's contract prohibits the city from deciding to "outsource" services if it results in job losses for city employees.
The jail closure is expected to save the city $2.9 million in 2005-06 and $2.2 million in 2006-07 and was among a range of measures instituted by the Oakland City Council to close a $31.7 million shortfall.
Deputy City Attorney Vicki Laden successfully argued that the union's complaints were best addressed through the regular grievance process and the union could not compel the city to continue operating the jail.
"We're confident we will prevail in arbitration," said union spokesman Leo Handy Jr., who accused the city of resorting to "underhanded" tactics to close the jail.
All of the 84 jail employees, whose last day at work is Thursday, have been offered other jobs with the city. But union officials said those jobs pay significantly less than their current positions and offer less-lucrative benefits.
Among the positions offered to jail employees are jobs as parking lot attendants and crossing guards. In some cases, workers have been offered two part-time jobs to offset the loss of their full-time job at the jail, Laden said.
Harrington said it would be all but impossible to reopen the jail once it is closed, as other agencies will become accustomed to taking their prisoners to the county facility.
In addition, the jail, built in 1962, would require millions of dollars in retrofitting to meet current state standards if it were to reopen after a lengthy closure.
A report released Tuesday by the Alameda County civil grand jury found the jail to be a "depressive, dirty facility with an unfavorable work environment for staff."
The grand jury gave the jail, which has an average daily population of about 140 inmates, a rating of unfavorable and said its overall condition was substandard. |
***
Giving OPD prisoners to the County costs the County $20 million.
Saves the City 2.9 million !!! Duhhhhhhhhhh,
Did it occur to anyone to ask the County to subsidize the jail to the tune
of 3 million or so?
Just asking?
Dick Castle
***
Oakland City Jail workers' union tries to block planned closure
By Guy Ashley
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
OAKLAND - The union representing 85 employees of the Oakland City Jail filed suit today to try to block the planned closure of the facility on July 1, asserting the closure would violate the jail workers' employment contract.
The lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court seeks an injunction blocking the jail closure until the union's claims can be reviewed by an arbitrator.
A judge is scheduled to hear the union's request Tuesday afternoon, just hours before jail employees are slated to begin moving inmates to the county's Glenn Dyer detention facility -- one block away -- in a mass movement starting Wednesday morning.
The city jail's civilian employees filed a grievance June 17 claiming the pending jail closure would violate contract terms that prohibit the city from outsourcing services if doing so results in a city worker's loss of employment.
The action by Local 790 of the Service Employees International Union says the union's claims should be subject to a grievance procedure articulated in its contract with the city. It asks a judge to send the dispute to an arbitrator for a "final and binding" decision.
The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday to close the jail on July 1 to save about $5 million over the next two years. Council members said the move was necessary to help eliminate a $32 million deficit and save essential city services.
Jail employees have already received layoff notices and have been told that their last day on the job will be Thursday. City officials said they have fond other city jobs for jail employees, but Anthony Bradley, a corrections officer for 21 years, says most of those jobs "pay far less" than the employees currently make at the jail.
The lawsuit cites a number of reasons why the dispute should be resolved before the jail's closure.
It says the 13 agencies other than Oakland police that book suspects into the City Jail will soon change their practices, booking at Glenn Dyer instead, and likely wouldn't switch back if the City Jail were reopened. That fact would make re-opening the facility less viable financially, the suit states.
In addition, the suit notes that the jail, opened in 1962, is allowed to operate legally despite the fact that it does not comply with several state requirements for local detention facilities. Were the jail to close for a significant period of time, it says, those newer standards would apply to the City Jail, and make re-opening financially prohibitive.
***
Jail closure to affect facility in Dublin |
| |
By Simon Read and Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITERS
Inside Bay Area |
| |
DUBLIN - The Oakland City Council's decision this week to close the city jail will affect the Santa Rita county jail in Dublin - but the extent of that impact remains unknown.
"This is something that's still in the planning stages," Alameda County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jim Knudsen said Wednesday. "Eventually, some of those prisoners are going to come to us."
The decision by the Oakland City Council is an attempt to combat a $31.7 million shortfall created by the rising costs of employee salaries, benefits and pension plans.
The closure means Oakland's 84 jail employ-ees will be laid off July 1 - a move that has drawn the ire of Service Employees International Union Local 790, which represents jail employees and has vowed to challenge the decision in court.
Meanwhile, Knudsen said sheriff offficals were meeting this week to discuss the issue and its bearing on Santa Rita, but weren't ready to provide any set details yet.
"It's something we're getting ready for," Knudsen said, "but we're not ready to comment on details yet."
Santa Rita county jail is considered a top-rated correctional facility, according to the American Correctional Association, which said in a 2004 review that the jail met more than 98 percent of national standards established for lockups.
The Dublin facility is considered a megajail - meaning it houses more than 3,000 inmates, according to jail officials.
Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer plans to take most people arrested each day in Oakland to the Glen Dyer Detention Facility, about a block away from police headquarters. Otherwise, Oakland officers would have to drive to Santa Rita county jail to book prisoners.
Vice Mayor Jane Brunner said the city probably should have closed the jail 10 years ago.
"We have cut $30 million a year for the last four years," Brunner said. "We have cut to the bone."
Councilmember Nancy Nadel said it is good policy to coordinate with the county because of the dilapidated condition of the city jail and the excess capacity at Glen Dyer.
"It's a terrible decision but the correct decision," Nadel said.
A motion by Brooks - to keep the jail open if the county paid Oakland the roughly $8 million needed to operate the city jail - failed.
Supervisor Keith Carson said the county had requested from the city a detailed accounting of the cost of running the jail. It might be possible for the county to cover some of the city's unreimbursed costs, he said, while cautioning that such a deal would be contingent on the county's own budget shortfall, estimated at $92 million.
"At this point, we're looking at whatever options are available," Carson said.
Although state law requires Oakland to adopt a balanced budget by July 1, the council can amend it at any time, officials said.
Staff writer Michelle Maitre contributed to this report. E-mail Heather MacDonald at hmacdonald@angnewspapers.com |
***
I think its time to stir things up..If the jail closing means now having the prisoners taken to Santa Rita now, how about the boys in blue being as pro-active as they can be and have the 23 investigators working in Internal Affairs now man the many paddy wagons its gonna take to transport. I believe I.A. will now have some legitimate knowledge of the true demeanor of each arrestee for any future complaints. The long ride, the long wait, the long personal time with those falsely arrested and can take their complaints first hand while the patrol guys can get back to doing real police work. The I.A. investigators will be able to later clear any incoming complaints in 5 minutes or less after dealing with the turds who still want to make a complaint. It might even keep the sergeants from file building on the officers who are trying to do a good job without looking over their shoulder around every corner. I just wanted to vent my opinion after attending the REUNION and seeing some real cops from the past and some real command people who really gave a damn about their men. Ed Marquez 6539 Retired-aka TioTaco.
***
Promises can always be made and then recanted at a later date for a variety of reasons. Don't expect everyone to be totally on board with this solution as even the some of the sheriffs that I talk to aren't sure how well this will work considering they have never processed prisoners at this rate. Not that they are incapable. Then there are the other agencies that use the North County to house prisoners awaiting trial. They will probably move them to Santa Rita and then they will be bused in daily.
One can only wait for the other shoe to drop.
Dave Arp 6804
***
On this jail business... when they close the OPD jail, will OPD then be taking prisoners to the North County Alameda jail, or will they have to take them to Santa Rita?
If they have to be taken to Santa Rita, this becomes an absolutely ridiculous move! This in additional to all the arguments Sam Maddox has brought forward! Of course, between the number of officers assigned to IA, and those assigned to haul prisoners, there won't be enough officers available to make arrests. Maybe that's their solution.
Dave Hunter
***
Re: budget, my take is, drop the fuzzy "John" billboard & friviolous lawsuit payouts and Riders' type of BS and fund the jail. But they didnt ask me.
Henry J. Kaiser Conv. ctr built when, is 1913 correct ?
jim c
***
OAKLAND COUNCIL ADOPTS BUDGET THAT CALLS FOR CITY JAIL TO BE CLOSED
06/21/05 8:25 PDT
OAKLAND (BCN)
The Oakland City Council voted unanimously tonight to adopt a budget of nearly $2 billion for the next two fiscal years that includes a controversial provision to close the city's jail.
Immediately after the vote, leaders of the union that represents 84 jail employees who are now slated to lose their jobs on July 1 said they will take legal steps to try to reverse the council's action.
Josie Mooney, the executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 790, said, "I'm very disappointed in the vote the City Council took today."
Mooney said there are three bases for a possible lawsuit against the city: the union believes the city violated public notice laws by not providing adequate notice of a preliminary budget vote last week, it violated the city charter and it failed to meet and confer with the union.
Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said closing the city jail is a tough decision but it's a necessary step in helping the city bridge a $31.7 million budget shortfall and still maintain important services.
City Administrator Deborah Edgerly says that closing the jail, an aging facility that needs repairs, will save the city $2.9 million this year and $2.2 million next year.
The city's inmates will now be housed one block away at Glenn Dyer Jail, which is run by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.
De La Fuente challenged councilmembers Larry Reed and Desley Brooks , who oppose closing the city jail, to suggest other ways of saving $3 million but Reed and Brooks didn't offer any suggestions.
The budget calls for eliminating 150 positions and also shutting down the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center .
Edgerly says closing the convention center, which was built in 1913 but has lost money for the last six years, will save the city between $300,000 and $400,000 a year.
Councilmembers say that by closing the jail and the convention center, the city will be able to keep rangers who work in the city's parks and increase funding for the beleaguered Oakland Animal Shelter.
De La Fuente's aide, Alex Pederson, said Oakland citizens said in polls and community forums that their priorities are parks, community policing and libraries, not jails.
Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer has estimated that it could cost the county up to $25 million a year to house Oakland 's inmates.
Members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors have expressed outrage at the Oakland City Council for not giving them notice of their plan to close the city jail, as the county is dealing with a $92 million budget shortfall without the added cost of housing Oakland inmates.
As a conciliatory gesture, the City Council voted 6-2 tonight to give the county any jail booking fee reimbursement funds it gets from the state as a way of helping the county offset some of its costs.
Councilmember Brooks suggested that the city explore the option continuing to run the city jail and having the county reimburse it for the $3 million net annual cost of operating it.
That would be a much cheaper deal for the county than the $25 million estimate quoted by Sheriff Plummer of having the county house Oakland 's inmates, she said.
Brooks spoke to Board of Supervisors President Keith Carson by cell phone during tonight's meeting and she said he told her the county is interested in her proposal.
Other councilmembers said they don't oppose discussing various options with the county but said they wanted to go ahead and approve the budget as it is tonight because the city must adopt a balanced budget before the end of the month.
After tonight's meeting, Mooney said, "We encourage a conversation between the City Council and the Board of Supervisors" to try to reach some type of agreement to keep the city jail open.
***
(KCBS) - Alameda County officials are outraged after finding out that the city of Oakland decided to close its jail without telling them and then handed over the responsibility for all the inmates to the county.
KCBS reporter Dave Padilla says the city made the move to close a severe budget gap.
Alameda County Board of Supervisors chairman Keith Carson said his colleagues were caught off guard by the cost-cutting move.
"I'm extremely angry as president of the Board of Supervisors and chair of the budget committee for the county, that not one official from the city of Oakland picked up the phone, e-mailed or sent us a letter prior to yesterday's action," he said.
That action, along with the decision to shutdown the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center and layoff almost 150 city workers, helped the city balance its nearly $2 billion budget.
Council president Ignacio de la Fuente did admit the council did not keep Alameda County supervisors fully informed. "It was a tough decision for us. We really understand our counterparts, but we felt that we had no choice."
De La Fuente said if he had to do it all over again, he would have chosen to communicate more with Alameda County supervisors.
Now supervisors have to calculate the cost-burden of incarcerating the city's inmates into the county budget.
***
From: "Samuel Maddux" <sammaddux@southernarizonawireless.com>
Subject: RE: [openline] Jail
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 12:39:10 -0700
Well, after closing the jail, all that will be left is to put the new designation on 455-7th St. "ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT-OAKLAND SUB-STATION". And, just wait till next year's budget talks when you will see a much higher deficit greatly due to this debacle. If you think I'm being paranoid, give me a call in another six months. Sam Maddux
***
OAKLAND
Council votes to close jail, move inmates
89 workers to lose jobs in city's effort to balance budget
- Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Oakland will close its city-run jail but most inmates will probably move only a block away -- to the newer cells in an Alameda County jail.
As part of its efforts to close a $32 million budget shortfall, the Oakland City Council voted Thursday to shutter the city jail and send arrestees who are awaiting trial to the county.
Budget Director Marianna Marysheva said closing the jail and sending inmates to Alameda County jails would save about $5.1 million over the next two years. The closure, expected to take effect in July, will lead to the loss of 89 civilian jobs and free five senior police officers, who now serve as jail supervisors, for other duties.
The vote on the jail will be finalized on June 27, when the council is scheduled to give final approval to a two-year budget that takes effect July 1.
The jail closure represents the largest number of job cuts in the effort to close the projected shortfall over the next two years.
The vote to close the jail came despite pleas from guards to retain their jobs. Those workers will be given an opportunity to apply for other city jobs, including jobs as Oakland police officers. Oakland 's interim Police Chief Wayne Tucker, a former assistant sheriff, supported the jail closure.
Most Alameda County inmates are housed at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin , which has a capacity of 4,000 inmates.
But the county also runs the Glenn Dyer Detention Facility -- formerly known as North County Jail -- in downtown Oakland . The jail, with a capacity of 700 inmates, is usually less than half full.
It is unclear how many of the approximately 300 inmates in the Oakland city jail will be transferred down the street to the Glenn Dyer jail, as opposed to dozens of miles away to Santa Rita, sheriff's Lt. Jim Knudsen said.
"We evaluate each person and determine where the best place to put them is,'' Knudsen said.
The Oakland city jail is typically used for short-term inmates who are awaiting arraignment. In addition, about 100 federal inmates who are awaiting trial or deportation proceedings are housed there.
Knudsen expects that many of the short-term inmates and most of the federal inmates will be moved to the Glenn Dyer jail.
The council also voted to close the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center , which sits on 10th Street next to the Oakland Museum . The auditorium, which has long operated at loss, would close in January, giving the city time to try to lease it to private management.
In other action, the council rejected a budget proposal to get rid of the Oakland Park Rangers, who are part of the Police Department but exclusively patrol city parks and recreation areas.
Councilwoman Jean Quan, who chairs the council's Finance Committee, said earlier she is impressed by how much public support the rangers had among constituents.
"I think it's better to have someone who is dedicated to the parks and really knows the area,'' said Quan, whose district includes several of Oakland 's largest woodlands, including Joaquin Miller Park . "It's their beat. . .. Especially for minor crimes (such as thefts), it's better to have officers who really know the parks."
E-mail Jim Zamora at jzamora@sfchronicle.com .
***
OAKLAND COUNCIL VOTES TO CLOSE JAIL, CONVENTION CENTER
06/17/05 12:35 PDT
OAKLAND (BCN)
The Oakland City Council has voted to adopt a budget of nearly $2
billion for the next two fiscal years that calls for eliminating 150
positions and shutting the city jail and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention
Center.
The 84 jail employees who will be losing their jobs reacted angrily to
the council action Thursday night, staging a sickout and threatening to
sue the city to try to save their jobs.
Union representative Leo Handy Jr. of Local 790 of the Service Employees
International Union said he's meeting with attorneys today to explore
legal strategies.
City Administrator Deborah Edgerly has said that closing the jail would
save the city $2.9 million this year and $2.2 million next year.
People arrested in Oakland will now be housed by the Alameda County
Sheriff's Department, which has the responsibility of housing inmates
throughout the county and has a facility one block away from the city
jail as well as a larger facility in Dublin .
Sheriff Charles Plummer warned Board of Supervisors Chair Charles
Plummer this week that the switch could cost the county $20 million per
year, but sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jim Knudsen said today the figure is
just an estimate at this time.
Edgerly said closing the Kaiser Convention Center , which was built in
1913 and has lost money for the last six years, will save the city
between $300,000 and $400,000 per year.
Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said today that
voting to close the city jail was "a tough decision'' but he said it was
the only action the council could take to help bridge a $31.7 million
budget shortfall and maintain important services.
The move allowed the council to keep rangers who work in the city's
parks and increase funding for the beleaguered Oakland Animal Shelter,
he said.
Reacting to the council's vote, Handy said, "The dogs are safe, but I
don't know about the people.''
He said the city jail has been mismanaged by the Oakland Police
Department and said jail employees are paying the price.
Although 150 positions are being eliminated, De La Fuente said actual
job losses will be "minimal'' because many of those positions are
unfilled and some people slated to lose their jobs will be placed in
other city jobs.
Back to Side Topics
|
