Sacramento Report: Bill to Force State Accountability for Sexual Predator Placement Advances

State Sen. Brian Jones has been trying to tighten the rules for release of violent sex offenders for five years. This week, he made some headway.

On Tuesday, the Senate Public Safety Committee approved his bill to force the Department of State Hospitals to take ownership of the process for placing them in housing. SB 1074 would require the director of state hospitals to sign off on rental leases before they’re signed, and make public safety a top priority in placement of sexually violent predators, known as SVPs.

“We would hope that would be the state hospitals’ approach, but now we put it in the statute,” Jones told me after the hearing.

Some background on this fight: San Diego communities have pushed back against these placements for years as numerous sex offenders have been housed in rural neighborhoods.

In February, Alan Earl James, who was convicted of victimizing children in the 1980s, was cleared to live in the East County community of Campo. He’s one of a half dozen sexual predators living in the San Diego backcountry, in communities including Jacumba, Campo and Borrego Springs, with two more offenders awaiting housing. 

Concerns from neighbors have gained bipartisan support from local leaders. In 2021, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to oppose housing high-risk sex offenders in local neighborhoods unless the county has a say in the matter, including veto power. Last year, the board voted unanimously to support legislation restricting sexual predators near home-school sites.

In Sacramento: Jones has labored to gain bipartisan support for his proposal. His recent bill has one Democratic co-author, and the committee passed it 4-0, with two Democrats in favor and one sitting out the vote. He’s hopeful that will move it along.

“We have a Democrat co-author, so we know we have support across the aisle,” Jones told me after the vote. “The toughest committee to get a bill through is Public Safety, so I hope that will be the momentum we need to get it through appropriations and off the floor.”

To get the votes, he had to scrap some provisions of earlier legislation, including inventories of state property, reports on how many sexual predators are in each county and prohibitions against placing them near Indian reservations. 

“Honestly, we would like a lot more done, but we’ve got to do something to move the needle,” he said.

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union and California Public Defenders Association spoke against the bill at the hearing, arguing that its restrictions violate due process rights of criminals who have completed prison sentences and rehabilitation programs.

Under the proposed rules, public defenders fear “that no one will be authorized to be released,” said Michael Aye with the California Public Defenders Association.

Republican Party Endorsement Feud and Campaign Cash

The ever-eventful 75th Assembly race took another twist when the Republican Party of San Diego County considered switching its endorsement from Santee school board member Andrew Hayes, to conservative activist Carl DeMaio.

They’re the top two vote-getters in the primary for the predominantly Republican backcountry district. In February, we reported how DeMaio tried to bump Hayes out of the run-off  by promoting a Democrat.

Last week, our Tigist Layne covered former party chair Paul Whitsell’s attempt to force the party’s Central Committee to change sides, and the melee that ensued as members protested a maneuver they said breached the party’s own rules.

This week, Layne followed up with news that Whitsell resigned, and the party kept its endorsement of Hayes, with a caveat: He would not receive any financial help from the party.

Doesn’t that punish Hayes for DeMaio’s power play? Not really. The county Republican Party doesn’t have money to contribute anyway. Campaign finance filings show that the local party had a cash balance of just under $50,000 last month. 

Hayes is in a financial crunch ahead of the November election. He raised more than half a million dollars last year, but spent most of it fighting DeMaio in the primary, leaving him with just over $60,000. 

DeMaio, meanwhile, had a campaign haul of more than $1 million going into the primary, and still has nearly half that on hand. 

But outside groups are going to bat for Hayes. A firefighters’ political action committee raised and spent about a third of a $1 million haul on his behalf in the primary, and has about $44,000 left. Another political action committee opposing DeMaio spent almost $60,000 to defeat him, and still has $20,000 cash.

County Supes Support Fairgrounds Housing Proposal

County supervisors on Tuesday endorsed efforts to build affordable housing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, throwing their weight behind negotiations between the city and the state. 

“One of the most promising strategies is to leverage publicly-owned land for the development of affordable housing,” Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, whose district includes Del Mar, wrote in a board letter. “The state-owned Del Mar Fairgrounds, located within the city of Del Mar, is one of the most prominent potential development sites.”

Last month, the city entered into a negotiating agreement with the agricultural association that runs the fairgrounds to lease a couple acres of state-owned property for construction of at least 61 housing units – a little over half the number the city needs to meet its housing goals set by the state. The agreement gives them two years to come up with a plan.

Building affordable housing in coastal communities has been tricky. The California Coastal Commission is charged with safeguarding the state’s shoreline against anything that might compromise natural or public resources. Plus, coastline property is some of the most coveted in the state, so finding low-cost property for affordable housing on the coast is a challenge.

A statewide housing crunch has inspired moves to ease coastal shortages. State legislation would fast-track coastal developments, making it easier to build new homes by the sea, but also weaken long-standing coastal protections.

The Sacramento Report runs every Friday and is part of a partnership with CalMatters. Do you have tips, ideas or questions? Send them to me at deborah@voiceofsandiego.org.