Settin' the Story Straight

The rumor mill was working overtime today... it's time to set the story straight...

On February 22nd the local chapter and the administration had a joint labor meeting regarding issues that affect the officers on third watch. We brought up the issue of using the 2130 hour count to hold staff back on the yards and publicly announcing that the count cleared at 10 till 10 was brought up. In this issue it was the local chapter's position that count shouldn't be used to hold staff on the yard. The Chief Deputy Warden and the Custody Captain agreed with the local chapter that the count should not be used to hold staff on the yard. The Custody Captain stated that he would make a new memo out that central control could clear count on the Public Address system at 2145 instead of 2150 - but that it did not excuse staff to leave at 2145. The union did not agree OR request that said memo should be created regarding the 2145 clearing of the count - our request was that it be cleared "when it was cleared."

Today, it came down through the grapevine that the local chapter basically "snitched" on yard supervisors and said that supervisors were not doing their job on the yard and allowing officers to leave "anytime they want." This board member had been contacted directly today and asked by a Lieutenant why we "snitched on them," and stated that Captain Ochoa told the supervisors that the union "told on you guys," referring to lieutenants and sergeants.

This is completely false. This is nothing more than the administration wanting to place a reprisal upon the local chapter for bringing the issues to them, in the hopes that the membership would turn against their own union.

Remember the DOM states that counts will be cleared by Public Address system when they clear. This does not mean for the administration to use it to their advantage or to use the clear count for something that it was not intended for. All we ask is that administration follow the DOM, just as they expect the officers to follow it.

If you have any questions regarding this matter - or the local chapter's position on this matter - please contact a board member directly, rather than buying into anything that's been spread around the rumor mill.

SNICKERS BAR ANYONE?????????

For the last few days C-Yard inmates have been on a hunger strike. So what does our great leader at ironwood do? He closes down the yard and have other officer redirected from other areas around the prison and has those officers give the inmates on C-Yard their packages. It makes me wonder, If I submit a grievance and want the warden to grant it maybe i should go on a hunger strike. Well we all know the answer to that one, Denied. Or better yet lets give him a king size snickers bar.

Officer Hiring Plan: Too Little Too Late?

As the governor proposes plans that will help the state avoid constructing the much-needed facilities in order to continue protecting public safety, another potential disaster continues to brew within the correctional system. The state's prison system faces the potential shortage of thousands of officers over the next few years, something that will jeopardize not only the safety of the inmates housed within the state's 33 facilities, but the officers who are currently working there as well. Anticipated retirements and a huge drop in hiring after the academy was temporarily closed back in 2004 has administration scrambling to fill vacancies and recruit enough potential candidates to prevent future problems.

Chapter President Martin Aroian of the CCPOA CIM told the press in a recent interview that they have officers who are putting in "more than 40 hours a week in overtime," as officers at other institutions throughout the state can attest. CIM is not unique in its situation - officers are being forced over to fill post-vacancy positions on a regular basis at Ironwood as well as other institutions. As Aroian said, "many are doing it not by choice."

Tired, overworked officers can increase the potential for violence within the institutions, and a shortage of 1,500 officers, as reported by CDC(R) or a projected shortage of 2,000 according to the governor's budget estimates just increases that potential. The new budget includes an additional $54.5 million in 2006-2007 to increase the capacity of the academies, increasing the number of officers that graduate each year from 1,920 to 2,520 by next fiscal year - if the plan actually goes into effect.

The Governor's 2006-2007 Budget Proposal

The Governor has released his summary on the spending plan for the 2006-2007 Corrections Budget, as well as his proposals for the future. In short, he has proposed a bond-funded, 10-year plan to spend $12 billion jail and prison construction plan that would do two things: shift short-term parole violators to county facilities instead of state prisons and increase private prison beds rather than construct new institutions throughout the state.

Schwarzenegger's summary states that his spending plan is a proposal to "pursue authority to secure additional inmate capacity through contracts with other providers" - AKA other providers outside of state correctional officers and institutions. He is calling to double the number of private prison beds from the current 8,500 to approximately 17,000 in the next two years.

This action of working with private prisons rather than state-run institutions would allow the governor to budget for the construction of only two state institutions rather than the seven that were originally considered to be constructed over the next decade. According to the governor's plan, the combination of the privatized prison bed increase and the movement of short-term prison violators, a projected 27,000 inmates in total, would create space for an additional 83,000 inmates.

Some media outlets, such as the Sacramento Bee, have written that the CCPOA is concerned about the proposals because they would "lose out on thousands of additional dues-paying members," but as usual they are missing the big picture. Mike Jimenez, President of the CCPOA told the press that he felt it was a "pipe dream" that the state could think that with growing prison populations and already under-staffed facilities that it could get away with only constructing two new institutions over the next ten years. Jimenez also said that he felt that Schwarzenegger's proposals were also a "payback to us" for the campaign waged by CCPOA and other employee unions against him during the special election back in November. "Clearly this is a shot back at us for opposing him as well as his reforms that never materialized," he said.

The proposed $8.1 billion budget represents a mere 8% of the state's total 2006-2007 budget, and includes a 5.5% increase from last year's spending for an inmate population that is expected to exceed 170,000 adults by the middle of 2007. It includes an increased $53 million for rehabilitation programs - as well as vocational programs such as masonry, forklift driving, carpentry, etc.

$128 million of the $8.1 billion budget will go to settlements in four federal court cases that include: $60 million for a juvenile justice remedial plan, $22 million for inmate dental care, $25 million for increased medical staff in adult facilities and $21 million more that will pay for defense lawyers representing parolees facing revocation. In addition, another $70 million was added to cover court-ordered pay raises for prison nurses and doctors. Together, court ordered settlements and raises comprise nearly $200 million of the state's total budget.

Proposal "A Complete Failure," Says Romero

State Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) who has been an outspoken critic of the corrections department and is serving as chairwoman of the corrections oversight committee told the press that she has some "mixed feelings" about the governor's proposed budget plans for corrections. She appreciates that the "R" for rehabilitation is back, but called the plans for the Division of Juvenile Justice "a complete failure," because it doesn't provide any details on plans to overhaul operations in what used to be called the California Youth Authority. "They have no plan," says Romero.

The budget adds over 300 positions of staff to lower the ratio of staff to inmates, and opens more housing units within the system's 8 youth institutions, but it says nothing about changing the approach toward juvenile incarceration in the state and says nothing about reducing the population. It also has no plan written to facilitate the return of non-American juvenile inmates to their home countries for treatment and rehabilitation closer to home.

Other critics have chimed in saying that overall the governor's proposal for corrections is a "complete abandonment" of the governor's earlier pledges during his campaign to reform the corrections department state-wide. Rose Braz of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) said that she thinks the governor is "falling back on failed policies."

Paca Vests

I just received this Memo from another job steward. This was a grievance filed to OSHA at Calapatria State Prison. Basically states that OSHA deems that there is a violation but CDC"R" is stalling on the replacement of the vests. Just goes to show how far down on the list we are with CDC"R". Let an inmate cry about a T.V. not working, the CDC"R" does everything possible to get it fixed ASAP. Again... MANAGEMENT, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!!! http://www.geocities.com/jadetheguard/calosha.pdf