OC Supervisors are setting aside $21 million initially intended to convert a juvenile substance abuse treatment center on the edge of Santa Ana into a halfway house for ex-inmates as the city’s mayor calls on supervisors to put the facility elsewhere and to stop “dumping” on them.
County officials say while the money has been allocated for a coordinated reentry center for people leaving jail, supervisors will still have to vote to approve the project and its location in the future before it moves forward.
Pushback on the reentry center comes as county officials finalized their budget for the next fiscal year after having to use $75 million in one time funds to balance their books and as they are taking a roughly two month vacation from meetings.
[Read: Orange County Leaders Warn of Dangerous Budget Future]
Over the past month or so, Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua – a former probation officer – has been publicly raising concerns about the proposed coordinated reentry center to temporarily house and help former incarcerated residents reintegrate into society.
Amezcua first publicly raised issues with the proposed reentry center at a May city council meeting, arguing county leaders did not seek the input of city officials and Santa Ana has done more than enough when it comes to homeless shelters and other social services.
“Santa Ana has done more than its fair share of providing services for the homeless, for families and the majority of county services are located in our city,” she said at the May 19 city council meeting, adding that she had her “thumb” on the proposal for the past two years.
“Bringing this program to Santa Ana without community meetings, without sharing information with me as the mayor, you as council members or the city manager is clearly a sign of disrespect. Once again, Santa Ana is going to be dumped on and the bridge by (Youth Guidance Center) will become a haven of criminal activity.”
At the meeting, she said wanted to meet with Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, a former Santa Ana mayor, to express her concerns about the project, adding the city worked hard to clean up the area around the proposed center which is between the 5 and 22 freeways and near the Santa Ana river channel.
“Maybe it’s not a priority to him, but as the mayor, it’s a priority to me,” Amezcua said. “We do not need the homeless or criminal element or somebody who leaves the facility to hang out under the bridge and get high while we’re trying to have a golf course there
Since Amezcua’s complaints, Sarmiento publicly raised concerns during budget discussions – questioning why county officials failed to inform residents about the proposed facility, also noting that Santa Ana has hosted the brunt of Orange County’s social service programs.
“They deserve an opportunity to understand the change in population that’s going to be served. They need an opportunity to ask questions, provide some input as the county moves forward with a material change like this,” Sarmiento said at the June 9 meeting, pushing for his colleagues to delay the project and find a new site.
“We’ve been the host to the county jail, to one of the two homeless shelters. We used to host the cold weather shelter. We hosted the Orange County Needle Exchange Program, the probation, all these social services that other communities don’t have to absorb and we’ve done that.”
Supervisor Doug Chaffee said the center is aimed at preventing formerly incarcerated residents from falling back into crime after spending time in jail or prison and the location is idle because it isn’t near other residents.
“Where is it? It’s bounded by the flight control channel and freeways and is gated. It’s not near any home or any type of threat. What this is doing is reducing the possibility of crime in the entire county and if we didn’t have this kind of center, where would these people go?” he said at the June 23 meeting.
“I dare say many of them would be on the streets of Santa Ana unsupervised.”
Chaffee’s remarks came after Amezcua and a handful of residents spoke out at the meeting about the proposed facility’s location and called on supervisors to engage with city leaders on the issue.
Michelle Aguirre – interim county CEO – told supervisors and residents setting aside the money for a coordinated reentry facility does not commit officials to approving the project and that there has been misinformation about the proposed facility.
“Today’s action – just adoption of the budget – does not move that project forward,” Aguirre said, adding they are happy to work and meet with city officials and residents.
“There’s a lot of inaccurate information out there in the community as it relates to what the proposed project is, so we would actually love to have the opportunity to meet with the city and the community to clarify and provide accurate information as to what the project would be, if the board even approves us to move forward with it.”
County staff previously said the center wouldn’t just serve people just released from jails, but also homeless people willing to get substance abuse treatment and mental health services, adding they’ve already spent $2.4 million to design the facility.
Meanwhile, OC leaders say there has been a decline in homeless residents while the county’s homeless incarceration rate increased over 40% since 2022 amid a series of shifts in state and local laws that make it easier for police departments to imprison homeless people for things like street crime and public camping.
[Read: Orange County Leaders Claim Homelessness Drops as More Get Imprisoned]
During Tuesday’s meeting, Sarmiento said the proposed reentry facility is a good program, but it has to be put in the right place.
“We want a program to be successful and embraced by not only the city but the surrounding neighborhood and businesses where it will be located.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.
