Amador County – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation representatives provided few if any satisfactory answers at a public meeting Tuesday on the closure of Preston Youth Correctional Facility.

The meeting notice was submitted to a select few county officials, but word spread quickly via email among outraged community members who turned out in droves to pack Ione City Hall.

The crowd included numerous local city officials, members of the Board of Supervisors, 1st District Senate candidate Roger Niello and 10th District Assemblymember Alyson Huber, who requested the meeting.

“The reality is, our department cannot continue to operate above its means,” said CDCR Undersecretary Scott Kernan. He said his department has lost billions in the last several years and budgetary cutbacks have forced them to choose a facility for closure. He admitted a substantial number of employees will lose their jobs as a result.

Few in attendance argued whether a closure was necessary, but many questioned what criteria were used to determine why Preston was chosen to get the ax.

Huber compared the prison to a school, saying it was illogical to close the best school in a district. She pointed out that Preston is well-known for providing a large number of rehabilitative programs to youth, and ranked highest in the state under the criteria of the Farrell lawsuit, which led to a consent decree agreeing to remedy serious ongoing problems in the juvenile justice system.

“I hear the words but I’m not following the logic,” she said over rounds of applause. “It’s not enough to say closing our best performing school would save the most amount of money.”

Kernan obliged to provide Huber with the data that led to this decision, which she will use at an oversight hearing on November 4th.

Huber and others were most critical of the behind-the-scenes process that led to this decision. One Preston employee referred to the public meeting as a “complete afterthought.”

“It doesn’t seem to be anything other than a dollar sign that made this decision,” said Ione councilmember Andrea Bonham. “There may be issues you guys aren’t even aware of because you haven’t asked anybody in the community.”

Kathleen Harmon, Director of the Interfaith Food Bank, said Preston is the “one facility left in this county that still offers decent wages.” Shaking with emotion, she said she just visited an incarcerated youth who grew a garden to help support her struggling nonprofit.

Others challenged the numbers used to determine the closure as compared to the money saved through lowered recidivism rates and rehabilitation programs.

Many employees worried about when and where they could secure another job. They referred to Preston as a “generational institution” that has provided jobs for their families for over a century.

Still others questioned how the closure will impact Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp in the upcountry. PGYCC employee Richard Forster said facilities in southern California won’t tolerate the incorporation of gang members from rival northern California factions.

Preston employs over 400 staff, approximately 40 percent of whom live in Amador County. Amador County currently has an unemployment rate over 12 percent.

The closure is planned to be completed on June 30th, 2011.

Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.