RIVERSIDE -- The Board of Supervisors OK'd 733 million in spending Monday, with several members indicating they face tough decisions in the three weeks before they divvy up a final 10 million slice of Riverside County's budget. Presentations by Sheriff Bob Doyle and District Attorney Rod Pacheco filled most of the three-hour workshop Monday morning. One supervisor later said he plans to prioritize law enforcement and public safety above other requests.
Several other members of the board suggested such spending wouldn't be fully effective until the county can expand an existing jail and add a new one to house growing numbers of convicted criminals and suspects awaiting trial. "Maybe we should be spending some of that 10 million ..
. on the whole system instead of just pouring money into the parts," Supervisor Roy Wilson responded to a series of requests by Pacheco for a total of 13.7 million over the next two years.
"If we were here just to approve the district attorney's budget, I think I'd vote for every one of these; however, our criminal justice system is broken." Two key linchpins, supervisors have often said, are a shortage of judges to hear cases and a shortage of jail beds that force the Sheriff's Department to discharge inmates before they complete their sentences. Supervisors recently set a new jail as the top priority for capital spending.
The first section of that jail is expected to be completed in 2009, adding space for 1,200 inmates. Meanwhile, county officials expect to expand an existing jail near Banning. Superior Court judgeships are created and funded by the state government.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has requested 50 additional judges statewide, including seven in Riverside County, for the fiscal year that begins in July. In addition to the seven new judgeships, three existing positions are open, Supervisor Jeff Stone said. "If we waited for the state, we couldn't get anything done in this county," Pacheco told supervisors.
Pacheco asked the board to hire several investigators and attorneys in French Valley and Indio to prosecute identity theft and fight appeals. The priorities he laid out Monday also include special units to prosecute embezzlement and other chicanery by public officials. Pacheco said he wants to stop allowing cities' attorneys to prosecute drunken driving cases.
The move would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but would lead to harsher sentences as county prosecutors make judges and juries aware of prior convictions, he said. Pacheco and Doyle each requested several additional employees to research "cold" crimes that are no longer actively investigated. Doyle's additional requests totaled 21.
5 million, an amount that he said would allow his department to hire 54 new officers for jails, 34 deputies for patrol, 11 officers to enforce county codes and about 150 other employees. The supervisors said they expect to act on such requests from the two law enforcers and a handful of other county agencies June 26. Stone, whose district includes most of Southwest Riverside County, said he intends to give public safety agencies top priority.
The supervisors voted 5-0 Monday to approve the 733.1 million budget proposed for the fiscal year starting July 1, following executives' assertions last week that the amount would let all departments offer comparable levels of service in the coming year. If cost and revenue projections are accurate, the county could spend another 10 million next year without running a deficit, they said.
Any such outlays would be approved June 26. -- Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.
com. Next Story: Commission to consider 'quiet time' RIVERSIDE -- The Board of Supervisors OK'd 733 million in spending Monday, with several members indicating they face tough decisions in the three weeks before they divvy up a final 10 million slice of Riverside County's budget.
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