WE WANT TO KEEP OUR PRISON

Susan's Village Sues To Keep Prison Open

by Bob Walsh

The city of Susanville, commonly known as Susan's Village within the prison system, is suing the formerly great state of California in an effort to keep the California Conservation Center from being shut down.

The prison is the oldest of two facilities in the immediate vicinity.  About 11% of the areas population of 9,000 are directly employed by the prison and a more or less equal amount are directly dependent on jobs generated by prison money.  

One of the main reasons the state seems interested in closing CCC is difficulty in hiring and maintaining medical staff.  The federal court still runs the inmate health care operation within the prison system and can cause the state a serious case of the blues over the issue.  Prison medical jobs already pay about 25% over the going rate for such jobs in the real world due to difficulty in staff recruiting and maintenance.

Several other prisons, notably San Quentin and Soledad, seemed to be much more likely candidates for closure in large part due to maintenance costs.  

It is not clear what the cause of action is in the case, other than "We don't want it to happen."  Of course if you look at ANY significant action by the state you are likely to find that they screwed up on their own procedures, which MIGHT give the city a handle on stalling things at least.

As far as I remember the only significant employer in the area other than the two prisons is a very nice Community College there. There is also a significant amount of hunting and fishing action there, but not enough to save the town from a major crash if / when the prison does shut down, about this time next year if the state gets it's way.

My old Alma Mater, Deuel Vocational Institution just outside of Tracy, is shut to close down in a few months.  There are two large prison hospitals just up the road in Stockton that may be able to absorb some of the staff but the rumor mill says many of the less senior staff may be looking at a significant relocation or unemployment