CITIES COMPETE TO ATTRACT PRIVATE PRISONS : SKYROCKETING UNEMPLOYMENT SPURS 2 FRESNO COUNTY TOWNS TO SEEK JOBS JAILS COULD BRING.Byline: Mark Grossi Scripps-McClatchy Western Service Orange Cove and Mendota - both annually ranked among the five poorest cities in California There are 478 incorporated cities in California, 22 of which are styled "Town of (Name)" instead of "City of (Name)." They are arranged in alphabetical order, with the "towns" marked '*'. Under California law (see, e.g. - are finalists vying vy·ing v. Present participle of vie. vying vie for privately built state prisons and hundreds of jobs. State Department of Corrections officials are scheduled Tuesday to view proposed construction sites in both cities and hear presentations from private companies bidding on the projects. If sites in both cities are selected, the state would hire the private pcompanies to build a $10 million to $12 million minimum security prison in Mendota and a similar facility in Orange Cove. Orange Cove Mayor Victor Lopez said his east Fresno County city, which often has bouts Bouts is the name of
``If we weren't talking about jobs for Orange Cove, I wouldn't even consider this,'' he said. ``We need jobs.'' The same could be said for Mendota, a west Fresno County community where unemployment also often exceeds 30 percent. About 100 jobs would be created for Mendotans. Officials from both cities liked the idea of having minimum security inmates who would be spending an average of 12 to 18 months in prison and undergoing rehabilitation rehabilitation: see physical therapy. . But Mendota and Orange Cove, which both have courted prison construction in the past, are in competition with other cities, such as Delano and McFarland in Kern Kern, river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. County and Merced in Merced County. Those cities and several others were listed in bids submitted two months ago by six private companies. The companies would build and operate the prisons in the cities, state officials said. Management Training Corp. of Ogden, Utah Ogden is the county seat of Weber County,GR6 Utah, United States. A 2006 estimate placed its population at 78,086. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a , is listed as a bidder for Mendota and Orange Cove. Maranatha Production Co. of Bakersfield also is listed for Orange Cove. No firm decision has been made, but the state is considering contracting for four, 500-bed facilities. The cities and private contractors should know the decision by September, state officials said. State-operated prisons are different from the privately constructed units because they are built and staffed by state employees. Prisons in Chowchilla, Corcoran and Avenal are state-operated. Privately built prisons can be attractive to communities because they offer construction work to contractors, long-term jobs and typically more than $1 million annually in local area purchases. ``It may also help us get a maximum-security prison,'' said Mendota City Manager Zacarias Gonzalez. ``You have a better chance of getting a maximum-security facility to co-locate with a minimum.'' Gonzalez also said the prison, proposed on fallow fallow a pale cream, light fawn, or pale yellow coat color in dogs. farmland just south of the biomass plant southeast of Mendota's downtown, would bring in up to $500,000 in fees to the city. But the prison inmate INMATE. One who dwells in a part of another's house, the latter dwelling, at the same time, in the said house. Kitch. 45, b; Com. Dig. Justices of the Peace, B 85; 1 B. & Cr. 578; 8 E. C. L. R. 153; 2 Dowl. & Ry. 743; 8 B. & Cr. 71; 15 E. C. L. R. 154; 2 Man. & Ry. 227; 9 B. & Cr. population of up to 600 would be added to Mendota, a farm-worker community that swells from 8,000 to more than 10,000 in summer. With a history of foul water problems, the city must upgrade its water and sewage system sewage system Collection of pipes and mains, treatment works, and discharge lines (sewers) for the wastewater of a community. Early civilizations often built drainage systems in urban areas to handle storm runoff. to accommodate more people. Gonzalez said the city has obtained a $1 million grant to install a new sewage trunk line and $125,000 from the state to drill new wells. He said he expected the water problem to diminish. Orange Cove has its own water problem. The city of 7,000 is supplied with Millerton Lake Millerton Lake is a lake near the town of Friant in Fresno County and Madera County, California, about 15 miles north of downtown Fresno, United States. It is formed by Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River. water through an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Reclamation A claim for the right to return or the right to demand the return of a security that has been previously accepted as a result of bad delivery or other irregularities in the delivery and settlement process. , and additional water will have to be negotiated if the city has any hope of large-scale expansion. The city's population would jump by more than 15 percent if both prisons are built and a total of 1,100 inmates are moved into the facilities. ``We have to look at this very carefully,'' Mayor Lopez said. ``Maybe the state can help us work out something for more water.''` |
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