Minutes of the Blythe City Council Special Meeting
December 7, 2023
The December 7, 2023 Special Meeting of the Blythe City Council was called to order at 4:00pm in the Council Chambers by Mayor DeConinck. Also in attendance were Vice Mayor Rodriguez and Council Members Reynolds and Halby. Councilman Burton was absent. Staff in attendance included: Interim City Manager and City Clerk Crecelius, City Treasurer and Finance Director Elms, Police Chief Dale, Fire Chief Hasler, Chief Building Official Brown and Public Works Director McLaughlin. City Attorney Roberto participated via Zoom.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor DeConinck.
SPECIAL MEETING ITEMS:
1. Posting of the Agenda.
The summary of agenda items were posted on the bulletin boards on the outside of the public entrance to the Council Chamber and near the inside entrance of the Council Chamber on Monday, December 4, 2023.
No public comment. Councilman Reynolds moved approval of the posting of the Agenda. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Rodriguez with a unanimous aye vote.
2. Presentation by Professor John M. Eason and Students with Brown University regarding the Socio-economic Impacts of the Potential Closure of Chuckawalla Valley State Prison. Professor Eason introduced himself and the effort of 15 weeks of a course he was teaching at Brown University which resulted in this presentation. The research is based Professor Eason’s book “Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto Prison and Proliferation published in 2017. Although most of the modeling comes from this book, we stripped it down to be policy prescriptive and something the City can build on. We thought a lot about why rural communities want prisons, what prisons mean to them and thinking about ways to provide alternatives to rural communities to increase opportunities in these spaces. We used community engaged methods, speaking with community members, and will be reporting back to you what we heard from people in Blythe. Professor Eason’s research students presented their findings, with the goal of coming up with alternative solutions to deal with the prison closure. We wanted to think through options for economic development as well as repurposing options. Items under Economic Development included investing in natural resources, public safety and health investment as well as alternative energy investments. In terms of repurposing, we thought about repurposing the prison into a warehouse, such as amazon, a renewable energy facility or data center. We contacted businesses and community members who would be impacted by the closure. In total, 35 community members were contacted with 9 responding. Non-response was a factor that should be noted. The nine that responded provided very rich data from their interviews. Impacts to a prison closure include all indicators of poverty increasing after a prison closes. Participation in programs such as social security and Medicaid increasing by 10% with unemployment increasing by a third. There are some significant impacts that come with prison closures. We discussed with our interviewees Blythe’s relationship with their prisons and what they mean to the community. The prisons are very established in the community and bring people to work in Blythe. It has made Blythe an attractive location for jobs. The prisons have also attracted family members of prisoners to move to Blythe. Interviewees acknowledged that prison jobs are the highest paid in the community. The prisons lead to more housing development and count toward the population which has helped with grant funding. The hospital is in a tough situation as the prisons are largely keeping the hospital afloat. The economy was previously largely agricultural but due to loss of water and overall changes in the economy, it’s no longer realistic to go back to that after the prison closes. There was a sentiment that there were more businesses and jobs before the prisons came. So although there are higher paying jobs now, there was a wider array of jobs and opportunities before the prisons came. This connects to an unfulfilled promise that the prisons were supposed to grow the town. The first of three things we came up with is responsible de-carceration. Everyone expressed a great lack of open communication related to the prison closure. The second main theme was the economic concerns about the prison closure in Blythe. There are impacts on City revenues, education, and health care. The City is not in a great financial position, so the closure is worrisome. The third is similar to the second point, but the prison jobs have helped sustain the economy and the loss of jobs will have a detrimental impact on Blythe. Once the prisons came, the economy evolved to work around the prisons. Policy recommendations will focus on how Blythe can navigate the potential prison closure while uplifting the community and generating economic revenue. We looked at investing in public safety and public health, natural resources and tourism, and investing in renewable energy and using the airport for freight. Investing in the parks and advertising the beauty of Blythe could bring in more tourism and bring in jobs. Investing in improving conditions for doctors and other healthcare professionals could attract new employees and lead to the expansion of these facilities. Renewable energy is something we looked into. It could be sold for a profit by the City while decreasing energy costs and reducing carbon emissions. The last strategy was brought up during our interviews and includes using the airport for freight, attracting new companies to utilize that resource. An additional strategy was opening a warehouse in Blythe to offset the job loss from the prison closure. We then looked at ways to repurpose the prison if it closed. We came up with three ideas: using the land and facility as a warehouse, for renewable energy development or as a data center. These ideas came from existing examples from what communities have done with prisons.
Mayor DeConinck would like to know how much the prison leaving will cost the economy. Professor stated to dig into this will require more research and resources. We hope to continue to work with you to provide this; but assume the impact will be significant. I am trying to bring resources to answer more detailed questions such as this.
We have been working with GoBiz and it’s very regional, and they have not focused on Blythe.
Vice Mayor Rodriguez stated what he was hoping for was a more persuasive report that we could use going forward when we address our elected officials in Sacramento. Then it wouldn’t be just us, the City against the state, but a third party representative showing what this is going to do for our community.
Professor Eason stated there was no plan when they opened prisons, and they don’t have a plan for closing them. You are right to voice your opinion and concerns. Folks that want to close prisons without any plan at all or recourse for communities who have become dependent on them is morally bankrupt. I am trying to make sure that rural communities are heard and that they can be prioritized for economic development. I am also providing an opportunity for a different path forward.
Mayor DeConinck asked if Ironwood, Chuckawalla’s sister prison was factored into this research.
Professor Eason stated this speaks to the broader issue of not having a well thought out plan and it being irresponsibly closed.
Mayor DeConinck stated the key component is Chuckawalla is the second largest employer behind Ironwood.
Councilman Reynolds thanked Professor Eason and his students. I was looking for more but understand its preliminary. We look forward to more research and information to help convince our government to keep our prison open.
Councilman Halby stated he believes the logistics of moving inmates from Chuckawalla around the State for medical and court services may be a reason this prison was selected.
I would like more transparency from the State, but maybe they have other plans we aren’t aware of yet.
Interim City Manager Crecelius stated some of the information you are looking for wasn’t presented because it wasn’t part of the scope of this study. Their research looked at what the prison means to the community, how the community has changed since its opened and what happens when it closes. If it does close, how can the city move forward? What business or industries will we need to offset the loss from the closure.
They are not part of Save Chuck, however there is a parallel here to use their research to go to the Governor in our Save Chuck efforts. We can present the findings from this research to the Governor and say this is how Blythe will be impacted, how is the State going to help the City offset those impacts?
Councilman Halby stated this is a State facility. I think they already have plans for it. I don’t think they are going to leave it dormant. They are great ideas, but I don’t think we will ever have a say in how that facility will be repurposed.
Mayor DeConinck stated we are still working on it. I don’t understand the reasoning. We showed the State the CRC in Norco, which is more costly to operate than CVSP and whose community wants it closed is a better option.
Professor Eason stated sometimes dollars just don’t make sense. This has nothing to do with the actual cause, but politics. Once you get into the politics of it, the economic logic goes out the window.
No public comment.
ADJOURN: The City Council meeting was adjourned at 5:05pm. ________________________________
Joseph DeConinck, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Mallory Crecelius , City Clerk
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