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Redwood City Mayor is a NIMBY
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Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust
Redwood City’s Mayor Rosanne Foust continues to vocalize opposition to the county’s desire to build a new San Mateo County jail within the borders of her community.
Foust sits on a planning committee empanelled by San Mateo County’s Sheriff following sharp criticism from Foust and others last year when it was revealed that county officials had begun negotiations to buy the Cemex Inc. property on Maple Street in Redwood City, which sits several hundred feet from the current women’s jail.
The county backed off of Cemex deal in the wake of criticism that the county had failed to work with Redwood City officials and neighbors prior to moving forward with locating a new facility – a facility Foust no longer wants in her community.
The county and the Sheriff’s Office, which manages the counties jail facilities, has been attempting to locate a site for a new men’s jail facility to replace the existing Maguire Jail facility that is old and far over capacity. According to the Sheriff’s Office the county’s male facilities are operating at 141 percent of rated capacity and existing female facilities are operating at 171 percent of rated capacity.
Recently, the Sheriff’s Office released the results of a study that examined several possible sites for a men’s jail. The top two sites are the site of county's motor pool, a 3.5-acre tract at the San Mateo County Government Center in Redwood City and the defunct Peninsula Dodge dealership at 640 Veterans Ave. which is less than a block away from the county center.
Foust has publicly expressed her disappointment that Redwood City remains the focus for relocating the jail and disputes the rationale for building a new jail within Redwood City. She was quoted in the local press that despite the articulated reasons for locating the jail in her city that "It's going to take a lot to convince me.”
Foust’s position should not be a surprise. It is likely that few of her constituents would welcome a new and larger jail facility.
But Foust’s protests fly in the face of both logic and fairness. Redwood City is home to the San Mateo County Superior Court where all jail inmates are initially charged, processed, tried and convicted or acquitted. To force the county – and the county’s taxpayers – to site a jail far away from the courthouse would be to add extraordinary expense to transport and process prisoners.
And Redwood City is not the only community to host a jail facility. The Youth Services Center is located in the Highlands area above San Mateo, and there is a secure men’s facility being renovated in La Honda in addition to the many honor camps and other facilities in the wooded high country, and at present the county is discussing reopening the women's reentry facility adjacent to the South San Francisco Courthouse.
But lastly and perhaps most importantly, Redwood City has been the seat of San Mateo County Government for just about the entire 153 years of the county’s existence. The county employs nearly 6,000 people, the lion’s share of which work in Redwood City where they dine in local restaurants and shop and pay for daily services that support Redwood City’s tax base.
Hosting the county government also has a tremendous business benefit for Redwood City particularly as it relates to the criminal justice system. The numerous law offices, bail bonds services, law library and all of the many related businesses and activities that surround the activities of the courts are located in Redwood City.
Foust’s opposition to locating a jail in Redwood City is not only wrongheaded, it is unfair to the rest of the county. If Mayor Foust does not want the jail then perhaps she would be willing to share the tremendous benefits her community enjoys by being the site of the county’s government center. But perhaps it would also take a lot to convince her of that option as well.
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Contact Bruce Balshone at bruce.examiner@gmail.com
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