Opinion: As prisons close, can we save their host communities?
As California prison populations decline, facilities across the state are being slated for closure, threatening economic devastation for communities where they are located. Rather than fight closures, the affected cities and those concerned about them should find alternative engines of employment, and state policymakers should be willing to help.
By concentrating the remaining inmates into fewer facilities, the state can save money by eliminating the need to maintain and staff prisons that are no longer needed. Assuming that decarceration is the right policy, prison closures are the most cost-effective way to implement that policy. Next year, the state will close the California Correctional Center in Susanville, a small city in the far northeastern corner of the state. Also on the chopping block are portions of facilities in Blythe and Norco , Tehachapi , and Crescent City .
These communities may be able to retain residents and attract new industries if they can offer a more affordable cost of living and doing business. Unfortunately, they are trapped in a relatively high-cost state. For example, California’s state minimum wage is $15.50 compared to $12.80 in Arizona and $10.50 in Nevada, whose border is not far from Susanville.
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