The need to expand the San Benito County Jail is obvious. Take a
tour and you will see facilities that are so cramped that inmates
get released early and a building that is showing the effects of 14
years of hard use.
The need to expand the San Benito County Jail is obvious. Take a tour and you will see facilities that are so cramped that inmates get released early and a building that is showing the effects of 14 years of hard use.
That’s why we support San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill’s proposal for a $3.5 million expansion of the jail and a $6.1 million addition to juvenile hall. But county supervisors, as they begin their search for funding the project, should steer clear of the proposal to build a new sheriff’s office and probation department – not to mention the long-range plans to uproot our downtown court house and district attorney’s office – on the same Flynn Road property as the jail.
The sheriff’s deputies, office staff, court employees, people who visit the courthouse on businesses and local lawyers who set up shop nearby are all part of the county’s legal hub that form a vital part of our downtown economy. As they eat lunch, buy coffee and run errands, they are spending money with downtown merchants. Moving that hub to a remote location on the outskirts of town would take dollars out of the pockets of merchants who are having enough trouble staying in business as it is.
Hollister’s Redevelopment Agency is looking at spending millions to attract projects that will revitalize and draw people to our historic downtown. It would be shortsighted for another branch of government to undermine that effort by moving away. One of the easiest things governments can do to maintain a downtown is to stay there. Santa Clara County realizes that and is building a new courthouse in downtown Morgan Hill, which is expected to be a big economic shot in the arm.
It seems clear that the 55-year-old sheriff’s department is cramped, leaky and inadequate. But, there are options that must be pursued to keep it, and other county departments, in town. The Old Fremont School, for instance, is owned by the city of Hollister and sits vacant across the street from the courts and sheriff’s department. Or, the sheriff’s department could open substations in other parts of the county to ease crowding.
On a different note, it is disappointing to learn that the county has not been saving money for this expansion project. The jail was built in 1992, yet the county did not set up impact fees – money charged to developers to help them pay the way for the government services the houses they build will require – for the jail until 1993. All those fees are going to pay off the current jail, and will be until 2013.
During the explosive growth of the 1990s, it should have been easy to see that the county would need a new jail. Yet the county – supervisors and professional administrators – seemingly did nothing to prepare for it. The impact fees were never raised. Now, the county is looking for money for the proposed expansion – about $20 million altogether – from the state and it’s share of a large settlement from a tobacco company lawsuit.
That lack of foresight is just another argument for only expanding the jail. It is the most pressing priority. The rest will just have to wait.
