Prison crews no longer will work for free By DARREN SIMON, Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 27, 2004 2:40 PM PST
In the cash-strapped Imperial Valley, where communities get by on budgets that don't leave much room for extravagance, prison work crews were a welcome addition.
You may not have noticed the crews. They worked quietly, unobtrusively in neighborhoods throughout the Valley.
If alleys were cleared of trash, it often was due in part to work crews from Calipatria and Centinela state prisons. If parks were kept clean and well-maintained, thanks was due in part to prison crews, who served as an extension of city crews bogged down by other pressing matters.
The California Department of Corrections is no longer offering the service of prison crews — at least not for free. That free service has become a casualty of the state's budget crisis.
As of Jan. 1, the state prison system ceased to provide work crews to communities free of charge. That has brought to an end a service that helped create a strong relationship between the prisons and communities.
Now, if communities want the prison crews, they will have to pay and the cost can be high — as much as $84,000 a year.
Few local communities can afford to pay such costs, so communities that have depended on the crews are choosing to do without such services.
Officials in some communities say residents may start to see the effects as city crews struggle to pick up the slack. It also means communities that have used the crews will have to get creative in finding ways to make sure the work gets done.
Calexico officials have chosen to turn to the community — individuals, organizations, agencies and the public sector — for help.
Calexico City Councilman John Renison said the prison crews have been an important part of the city, helping keep the city's parks clean.
"Now we need to be thinking about plan B," Renison said.
He said two city parks have been adopted — resident Ricardo Servěn adopted Crummett Park and Santo Tomas Swap Meet adopted Las Casitas Park. That means they are helping keep the parks clean, remove weeds and maintain the parks.
Renison said the city is in discussions with a local service club, Juarez Lincoln Club, to adopt Nosotros Park, the city's main park.
Renison added now is time for the city to push the point a little more that community support is needed to maintain the parks.
"We need to get ahead of the curve," he said, adding the city does not have the staff or the resources to do all the work the prison work crews did.
Calipatria is another city that has depended heavily on the prison crews. One of the Valley's smallest cities — with only a three-member public works staff — the prison crews have been a crucial part of the city.
City Manager Romualdo Medina said crews from the Calipatria prison helped maintain the city's five parks, clean the 18 miles of roads in the city, cleaned rubbish around the city's wastewater plant, painted, did landscaping and even put up the city's Christmas decorations.
"We already are seeing an effect," Medina said.
Medina said he is disappointed because communities such as Calipatria chose to host state prisons with the idea there would be certain benefits, such as work crews.
"We certainly miss them," Medina said. "We are a small community addressing our own budget restraints."
Brawley Public Works Director Karin Morgan said she wished the prisons could continue to provide the work crews, as they had promised when they located here. However, she said economics changes situations and she understands the need to tighten belts. Still, she said Brawley will miss the prison crews.
"They were a blessing when they were here," she said, adding it will be difficult for the city to make up for the loss of the crews.
Over the years, she said, the crews have not only cleaned parks but painted the inside and outside of the Lions Center, built backstops, helped with the lighting project at Guadalupe Park and put up fencing around the Cattle Call Arena for the annual rodeo.
"It's a huge loss to us," she said.
Morgan said the crews were used at least one week a month, 12 months a year, which means they were in the city about 20 percent of the year. She said now the city will just have to do the best it can without the crews.
In El Centro, Mayor Ray Castillo said the prison work crews did ongoing work to clear alleys of trash and clean parks. He said to lose their services will hurt.
With that in mind, he said the city will be looking into its budget to determine whether there are funds to use the prison crews at least on an emergency or as-needed basis.
"A lot of the stuff they were doing we just don't have the crews to do that work," Castillo said.
He added despite the loss of the crews, the city's situation has not changed. It still does not have the staff to do all the work the prison crews have done.
That means, he said, it will be up to residents to help keep the parks clean and keep trash out of alleys.
"That is the best we can hope for," Castillo said.
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