Small Town News

AH, ML experienced in opposing essential public facilities

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State's sex offender housing controversy saw mobilization of resistance groups, amended legislation and development of new siting requirements

Ten years ago Arthur Clum was at the forefront of a fight to keep sexually violent predators out of his backyard.

Under a federal court order, the state was obliged to provide "less restrictive alternatives" for civilly committed sex offenders who had completed their prison sentences but were found to pose an ongoing public risk.

These offenders were held at a Special Commitment Center near the McNeil Island state prison complex before a federal judge ruled that this was unconstitutionally added prison time, ordering the state to find other accommodations quickly or face hefty fines. Five of the 11 potential LRA sites eyed by the state were in Spokane County - one on unincorporated county land, two in Medical Lake and two in Airway Heights.

"We beat the wheat from the chaff, got public opinion and came up with a combat strategy," Clum said. He promptly organized a group of a couple dozen neighbors to form the Airway Heights Citizen Action Committee, which challenged the LRA plan at every related public meeting and presented the governor with a petition containing over 1,000 signatures against the Airway Heights sites.

Medical Lake resident Ken Guidry was also active in opposing LRA sites within his own city. "At the time I had six small children and I had to make the decision, do I engage in this for their sake or do I stay home for their sake?" he said.

Guidry got involved, and along with about 25 neighbors put together a "how-to" packet for writing protest letters and circulated a petition that received hundreds of signatures against the sites. Along with Clum, he also endorsed collaboration with other cities targeted for LRA sites, such as Walla Walla, in order to form a united front against the plan.

"The community outcry definitely affected the outcome," Guidry said. "Legislation was passed to protect families and the entire sex offender context was affected by it."

The battle over LRAs lasted two years before state legislators established the first of what were thereafter called Secure Community Transition Facilities on McNeil Island and provided a revised process for siting additional facilities elsewhere. The law said; all counties must be prepared to provide a number of transition facility beds equal to the number of civilly committed sex offenders originating from their county.

The Department of Social and Health Services ultimately established a SCTF in the Seattle area that, along with the McNeil Island facility, has provided the state an adequate number of beds, negating the need for further sites in the foreseeable future. In 2004 the federal court found that Washington state was no longer in contempt of court and in 2007 the injunction was lifted and the case closed.

Lasting local results

The state's long struggle to establish SCTFs led lawmakers in 2002 to require that each county establish interlocal agreements for the location of all "essential public facilities" state and local facilities that are typically difficult to site. In Spokane County, all regional jurisdictions got involved in developing the "Regional Siting Process for Essential Public Facilities," the same guidelines now being utilized to find a county jail replacement site for Geiger prison. The review process and scoring system considers multiple impact factors, including whether the site creates "an inordinate burden on a jurisdiction because of a concentration of similar facilities in that area - a factor known as equitable distribution."

Clum said the equitable distribution clause is the key reason he's against his city's inclusion on the list of possible jail sites, pointing to the 2,150-persdn state prison already in Airway Heights. "At the first hearing on the prison I said, 'Are you out of your mind?'

The impact on this community would be tremendous," he said.

Airway Heights mayor Patrick Rushing agrees. "We'll fight a jail anywhere on the West Plains as a violation of the growth management act," he said. "There needs to be a distribution of essential facilities around the county instead of piling them into certain areas."

Medical Lake city officials and residents have meanwhile voiced strong opposition to replacing Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women with a men's prison facility. Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed closing Pine Lodge until Spokane County and the city of Spokane showed interest in the facility last month. Officials say the closure process has since been put on hold while the property is considered as another possible jail site.

Like Rushing, Medical Lake city attorney Cindy McMullen sees equitable distribution as exemp ting the area from the list of jail replacement sites. "Medical Lalke strongly believes that it already houses more than its fair share of essential public facilities, and when you take into consideration the fact that Airway Heights Correctional Center is in our closest neighboring city, we feel the; county must look at other sites ouitside of the West Plains for additional sites for such facilities," she wnote in a recent e-mail. She added that Medical Lake plans tc challenge the process if the count) and city of Spokane don't follow all mandatory siting requirement; for the Pine Lodge location.

Guidrey said after the fighl against housing for sex predators he dropped out of the local political scene for a number ol years and is only now starting tc get involved again. When he and his neighbors spoke against LRAs they were fighting to be heard by a state government that wasn't listening to Eastern Washington constituents, he said, adding thai this same battle needs to be fought in the case of a Pine Lodge closure, both for the sake of those housed there as well as to mitigate the impact to Medical Lake.

But Guidry also said unlike the LRA battle, this time he's not certain of what the best outcome would be for his community. He concedes that if Pine Lodge does go away a well-managed prison at the site might be the most cost effective option for a new county jail.

"It's the citizens' responsibility to make an emotional appeal to the political class," he said. "But after the push back, we need to think about what's best for our wider community. We would need to get past the emotions and engage the county."

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at ryan@cheneyfreepress.com.

It's the citizens' responsibility to make an emotional appeal to the political class. But after the push back, we need to think about what's best for our wider community. We would need to get past the emotions and engage the county/'

Medical Lake resident Ken Guidry on possible loss of Pine Lodge



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© 2010 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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