- In this video, California City officials talk about the prison closing and what it means for the city.
- Cal City is set to lose approximately $1 million per year in revenue with the prison shutting down.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The California City Correctional Facility is now a ghost town, and now vital funding for this high desert town is scheduled to vanish next year.
All that remains currently is a small crew, before the contract with the state ends in March of 2024, ending a significant source of revenue.
“If the prison is not leased to somebody else eventually, on the sewer side we’ll run out of money, and on the waterside, we won’t be able to make the repairs we desperately need to make," said Joe Barragan, California City's Public Works Director.
Approximately $1 million per year in revenue could be lost for Cal City because of the prison shutdown. That’s roughly $600,000 for wastewater and another $400,000 for its water system.
The prison was recently cleared of inmates who were moved to other facilities, in addition to more than 500 employees.
Only 36 people remain, working to close the prison.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in an email that the incarcerated population had dwindled from roughly 1,900 last year when the closing was announced.
“It’s not like the prison is going to make or break California City. It is a major revenue maker, but it’s not something that is going to close down California City. So, I mean, we just have to keep on going on. It’s California City, we’re a small community and we’ll make it through this. It’s not like it’s the end of the line for us," said Kelly Kulikoff, California City's Mayor.
CoreCivic, based in Nashville, Tennessee, owns the private prison. They have yet to announce its future plans.
They provided a statement that read, in part, quote: “We are focused on identifying partners to assist in the future as needs of the justice space continue to evolve.”
Meanwhile, Richard Vazquez, the chief plant operator for the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, says the prison’s water system equipment is in need of repair.
“At this time right now, we’re in kind of a dilemma. If we build everything out without the prison coming back in and we don’t accommodate for that since they do have the building, if they come back in we have to account for that capacity," Vazquez said.
Kulikoff said now is not the time to worry, adding that contingency plans have been made.
“When you just look at the prison closing and you spend all your time running around like there’s a fire, you’re not looking at the other opportunities we have coming in. We have the inland port, even though that has setbacks also, we have other opportunities we can exploit," Kulikoff said.
Cal City officials remain hopeful that the prison will once again be occupied.
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