While they know there?s no hope of stopping the project now, Irvine city leaders are calling on Orange County officials to at least hold a public meeting about a county jail expansion so residents can air concerns and ask questions.
The jail, known as the James A. Musick Facility, is in the southeast corner of Irvine near its border with Lake Forest. After more than two decades of planning and setbacks, construction started last summer on the $261 million project, including construction of two buildings to house nearly 900 beds for inmates and better equip the facility to offer education and counseling programs. Facilities are expected to be ready for inmates in February 2023.
The Irvine City Council recently voted to ask the county to have a public meeting where residents ?will have a full and fair opportunity to address their concerns to the Board of Supervisors.? The council vote also registered its opposition to the jail expansion.
Irvine Councilman Mike Carroll said he knows the objection is futile, because the city has sued seven times since 1996 to block the project and lost every case. But city leaders still want to communicate the concerns they?re hearing from residents about how the jail project might affect their quality of life, he said.
?When this jail was established, it primarily housed less violent criminals and this expansion seems to move in the opposite direction,? Carroll said.
Mayor Farrah Khan agreed that residents are concerned about what type of inmates will be held at the jail after the project is done and noted the jail population is typically well below its current capacity of about 1,300 beds.
?There?s community members that are asking why we need an expansion when we can?t even fill our local jails,? she said.
Orange County Sheriff?s Department officials have said the existing Musick jail?s buildings are old ? some date to the 1960s ? and spread out across the site, making them less secure than the new all-inclusive buildings under construction, with space for dining, medical aid, counseling and more under the same roof as sleeping quarters.
While it?s generally referred to as an expansion, Sheriff?s Department officials say they plan to house people in only the new buildings when the work is done, which would actually decrease Musick?s capacity by more than 30%.
?The public has had their opportunity to give input and their elected representatives have opted to take advantage of funding provided by the State Legislature to construct new housing modules at Musick,? OC Sheriff Don Barnes said in an emailed statement.
The project ?allows us to further enhance the balanced approach to criminal justice that has resulted in historically low crime rates for the city of Irvine,? Barnes said.
In a May 17 letter to Mayor Khan, Barnes called the council?s vote ?disappointing? and said the project will provide ?modern correctional housing modules more conducive to the education and counseling programs that reduce recidivism.?
Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, an Irvine resident and former mayor, said the Musick project is needed, and he thinks the public will actually be better protected by the upgrades and changes underway.
Officials in Lake Forest have told him they support the jail project, and it?s right on their border, Wagner said, but he wouldn?t be opposed to the county taking further steps to explain to Irvine residents what the project is all about.
When the Musick jail was originally built, it wasn?t near homes or schools, but development has filled many of the gaps since then. Khan said new residents have continued to move to Irvine and may need more information on the expansion project, so a town hall to address their questions ?would be the next step.?
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