LEDFORD ATTACKS RUNNER PAROLEE ANNOUNCEMENT AS POLITICAL LIP SERVICE.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford accused Assemblywoman Sharon Runner of giving only lip service to controlling the parolee population in the Antelope Valley, an attack his opponent labeled as pre-election grandstanding.

Holding a news conference in front of Runner's Lancaster office, Ledford said Runner was giving the issue ``a small amount of attention at election time'' and that she lacked the drive to truly address it. Ledford said the region has become a dumping ground for parolees while Runner and her husband, state Sen. George Runner, have done nothing to stop it.

``We are not passionate enough at the state level to keep this in check,'' Ledford said. ``We should have our fair share, but we shouldn't have more than our fair share.''

Sharon Runner, whom Ledford is opposing in the June 6 primary election for the Republican nomination in the 36th Assembly District race, said she has been working seriously on controlling parolees and that Ledford doesn't offer solutions of his own.

``He keeps bringing up the problem, but he doesn't offer solutions,'' Runner said. ``We've been working on the issue of parolees ever since I was elected three years ago.''

Ledford said the city of Lancaster has more than 1,000 parolees, of which 300 are registered sex offenders. Palmdale has 725 paroles, with 153 of them registered sex offenders.

Santa Clarita has just 63 parolees, Ledford said.

``Where's the equity?'' Ledford said. ``I would insist on a more equitable formula for distributing parolees.''

Ledford did not offer a specific proposal on how parolees should be released. Ledford said he would also push for more parole agents.

Runner said that she and her husband have gotten state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials to agree to stop sending prison parolees to the Antelope Valley unless they had valley connections predating their imprisonments.

Correction officials also agreed to add more parole agents to watch local parolees and to start using Global Positioning System devices to track high-risk sex offenders, according to an agreement announced in February.

In a pilot program, the GPS tracking devices are being strapped on the ankles of 40 paroled rapists and other high-risk sex offenders in the Antelope Valley. It is the first time GPS technology has been used to keep track of sex offenders in Los Angeles County.

Ledford said last Thursday's news conference to announce the tracking devices was pre-election campaigning by Sharon Runner.

According to Runner, state officials' decision to turn nearly a quarter of California State Prison-Los Angeles County in Lancaster into a reception center for newly convicted inmates will also have an impact on the number of parolees.

Instead of 1,100 inmates serving out their sentences at the prison, those spaces will be filled by inmates being processed into the state prison system and who will be transferred to other prisons after about 90 days. That will reduce the number of families who relocate to the region to be close to imprisoned relatives, Runner said.

Parole officials have said repeatedly over the years that inmates were not released directly from the Lancaster prison into the Antelope Valley and that they didn't steer parolees to the valley -- though they acknowledged that state law could bring in paroled offenders from other areas.

State law says that parolees must be released in the county from which they were convicted, so Los Angeles County residents on parole can move anywhere in the county.

Parolees usually come to the valley because they have family locally, officials say, which means the valley gets more parolees than Santa Clarita because it is more affordable for families.

However, another state law says they must be kept at least 35 miles from victims or witnesses if their convictions were for a number of serious offenses, including murder, rape and child molestation.

The agreement announced by the Runners in February said a regional parole policy will be implemented to restrict those types of parolees from being transferred into the Antelope Valley, though it allows exceptions for what the agreement called ``bona fide victim concerns.''

Under the old policy, a parolee who spent nearly 18 years in state prison for raping and molesting children in Pasadena was sent in 2004 to Lancaster, where his mother -- a foster parent -- lived. The Runners and other civic leaders protested to state officials about it.

Lancaster sheriff's station commander Capt. Carl Deeley said he found Sharon Runner helpful after he took over command of the station in 2003 and began trying to control the parolees who are responsible for a large amount of the valley's serious crimes such as robberies, assaults and burglaries.

Sharon Runner and her husband have both prodded state parole officials, who have responded with major changes and increased cooperation in the valley, Deeley said.

``From where we started 2 1/2 years ago to where we are now is a major change,'' Deeley said.

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Holding a news conference in front of Assemblywoman Sharon Runner's Lancaster office, Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledord claims his Republican primary opponent is giving lip service to controlling the valley's parolee population.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer