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Communities vie for new Sexual predator facility
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6-19-2000 Sacramento. Lured by the promise of government jobs and funds, two California towns are vying for a prize already turned down by several other communities: a new state hospital for as many as 1,500 sexual predators set to open in 2004. The town selected will receive $300 million to build the site, plus $100 million a year and 1,500 to 2,000 new jobs to maintain it, according to the California Department of Mental Health. That economic boon should help counteract the stigma of associating with sexual deviants and fear of escapes that have put off other cities. "A lot of communities are interested – until we bring up the issue of sexual predators," said department director John Rodriguez. "So we don’t finesse it. We deal with the issue head-on, emphasize the positives – that it’s an attractive business, a clean industry. And we also try to find a community that actually wants us." Enter Coalinga, about 50 miles southwest of Fresno, and Imperial Valley near San Diego, both of which suffer from high unemployment and poverty rates. Despite some resident complaints, one seems sure to be crowned the "sexual predator capital of California," as a Coalinga resident told the Los Angeles Times. The Department of Mental Health will make its site recommendation to Gov. Gray Davis next week, and awaits a final decision in July, Rodriguez said. In the last 10 years, three sexual predators have escaped from Atascadero State Hospital, a facility that houses the criminally insane, he said. One of them was apprehended in the parking lot.
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