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The state prison guards union unleashed a television attack against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday, harshly criticizing the governor's prison-reform plans.
The union's action was notable because top Schwarzenegger administration officials have been trying to work with the union leadership on prison issues since the start of the year. The cooperation was widely seen as an attempt to keep the union and its campaign warchest on the sidelines as the governor seeks re-election.
What appeared to be a warming relationship between the governor's office and the 30,000-member union is believed to have prompted two corrections secretaries to resign in quick succession earlier this year. It also led to a fierce rebuke from a special master overseeing reforms within the troubled prison system.
Despite the olive branch extended by the administration, the union began airing two 30-second television commercials in California markets that include state prisons. That includes the politically pivotal Central Valley, which Schwarzenegger is working hard to win in November.
One ad emphasizes that prison crowding creates more danger for guards and could one day lead to the early release of inmates. Schwarzenegger has issued the same warnings as he called for a $6 billion reform plan that includes building two new prisons.
The second ad accuses the governor of a "cop out" on "California's mismanaged prison system."
"Overcrowded. Understaffed. Violent. California prisons are in meltdown. The governor's response? He cut rehabilitation, officer training, prison safety," the ad says. "When a federal judge threatened to take over California's mismanaged prison system, the governor said, 'I don't care. He can take it. It's no sweat off my back.'
"That's not a solution, governor. It's a cop out."
Schwarzenegger made the comment in August 2004 while touring Mule Creek State Prison near Ione, shortly after U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson threatened a federal takeover of the state's prison system.
The union is expected to have $15 million to spend on the fall election and already has booked $5 million worth of television advertising time in October.
It will not decide whether to endorse a candidate in the race between Schwarzenegger and his Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, until September, said Lance Corcoran, spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
He said the commercials started Monday were intended to criticize Schwarzenegger's reform plans, which are being debated in a special legislative session, and had no bearing on a potential endorsement.
"Gosh, if we were as simple as we are sometimes characterized, we would be applauding the addition of additional prisons because we would get additional members. That's not what CCPOA has ever been about," Corcoran said. "Ultimately, we want to see prisons safe for inmates. ... If they're safe for inmates, they're also safe for our members."
Corcoran said the union wants higher-quality prisons and immediate relief from the overcrowding of 172,000 inmates into space designed for 100,000.
The system has about 17,000 inmates in makeshift beds in gymnasiums and hallways. Under Schwarzenegger's plan, it could take 18 months to five years to build new cells, Corcoran said.
The union's two-week ad campaign started the same day Schwarzenegger submitted two of the five bills he is asking lawmakers to pass this month during the special session. The other three will be introduced Tuesday, a spokesman said.
"The governor is committed to working with all sides to solve the prison crisis," said Matt David, a Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman. "The governor's been a leader when it comes to protecting Californians" from criminals.
Lawsuits have left most aspects of California's corrections system, including inmate health care, mental health, juvenile justice and employee discipline, under federal or state oversight.
Schwarzenegger's reform proposal includes building two new prisons to house 9,000 inmates, adding housing for 16,200 inmates at existing prisons and building or contracting for community correctional and "re-entry" facilities that would provide job-training, mental health and drug treatment for 13,500 inmates. He also wants to contract with other states to house 5,000 to 10,000 illegal immigrants serving time in California prisons.
Union officials joined representatives of Crime Victims United of California and Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety, an inmate advocacy group, in criticizing Schwarzenegger's plan during a news conference at the Capitol.
They said crowding could be reduced by removing tens of thousands of inmates who are low-level drug offenders or because they are illegal immigrants who could be sent to their home countries to complete their sentences.
Elaine Jennings, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the state is legally bound to keep those inmates in prison.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson said the governor welcomed the group's criticism. She said it demonstrated that lawmakers and advocacy groups are focusing on Schwarzenegger's plan, a recognition that something must be done.
"We all have the same goals, wanting to deal with the overcrowding crisis," Thompson said.
Last month, the special master overseeing prison reforms, John Hagar, said he will seek to subpoena Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, and his cabinet secretary, Fred Aguiar. Hagar said he wants to investigate whether their attempts to mend fences with the union prompted the resignation this spring of two corrections secretaries within months of each other.
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