Realignment
West County school leaders are anxiously awaiting the vote on the state’s Proposition 30, a tax increase proposal written by Governor Jerry Brown that if passed would mean millions of dollars for the West Contra Costa Unified School District — money the district says it desperately needs. “If the election is not successful for Prop 30 we estimate that the cuts will be $12 million for our school district,” said Sherri Gamba, the district’s associate superintendent of business services. That’s…
Johnny Valdepena, a 46-year-old Richmond resident who has spent more of his life in prison than out of it, will vote for the first time next week. It wouldn’t have happened, he says, without a lot of help and encouragement – and now he and his fellow Safe Return Project members want to spread that encouragement to others. On a recent Saturday morning at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, volunteers from the Safe Return Project and CLOUD, CCISCO’s group of undocumented…
When the door opened at West County Detention Facility for Tamisha Walker, it was dark. After six months in jail, Walker was free. But she was alone. No one was there to pick her up. All she had was a bus ticket and a bag. “You just get on a bus,” Walker said. “And it’s a long, lonely ride.” Jeff Rutland knows the lonely freedom Walker spoke of. He’s reminded of it every time he sees a released inmate walk…
One year has passed since California transferred responsibility for low-level felons to its counties, and Contra Costa officials have yet to pass a budget for the $19 million the county received in July to handle the transition — stalling services for inmates and people getting out of jail now. At a meeting Thursday the Community Corrections Partnership, a seven-member group charged with overseeing realignment, celebrated what it has accomplished: collaboration between departments and agencies. The partnership brings department heads from…
With a proposed jail expansion now on the back burner, county officials are spending long hours hammering out the fine print of what Contra Costa services will look like for the low-level felons who have been transferred to county jurisdiction in the last year.
Contra Costa County officials are expected to vote tomorrow morning on how to spend a $19 million grant from the state to help deal with crowded county prisons. The funding follows the state’s decision last year to transfer responsibility for many non-violent offenders to local agencies. Members of the Contra Costa County Community Corrections Partnership have come up with several options for spending the money. Part of it, County Sheriff David Livingston and Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus agreed, should…
Not too long ago, the men now sitting around this table at the Contra Costa Probation Office were in prison. “I want to ask how long have you been in prison,” Chief Adult Probation Officer Philip Kader asks them. They respond with three, six and even 12 times. But now they’re getting a taste of their newly found freedom.
The City Council voted Tuesday to remove a question about criminal convictions from city employment applications, saying the yes/no “box” was an onerous requirement for ex-convicts. Question 14, displayed prominently on the first page of all applications for city jobs, asks: “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Opponents of the question have long felt that it dissuades potential applicants with a criminal record from applying, making it difficult for them to obtain employment and contributing to the already…
One month into the state’s implementation of a major prison realignment, Contra Costa County’s parolee and inmate numbers are much higher than projected. Although the numbers themselves aren’t large, the percentages are. Parole violators in custody are almost double what was expected and so-called AB 109 commitments are 200 percent of what was estimated. “For parolees per month, the state said it was going to be 56,” Casten said. “We’re at 115. (For) AB 109 commitments, they said it was…