A huge crowd showed up at Supervisor Desmond's meeting about the parolee housing proposal. Huge as in 400 people! How often is there a community meeting on a Monday night that attracts that big a crowd? They were there to hear from our state and county representatives and Inside Circle - the grant-receiving, non-profit organization - about the transitional housing for gun violence parolees that is planning to open next month on Norris Avenue. CBS13 was there to cover the story for the evening news.

Supervisor Desmond - still rehabbing from his motorcycle accident - made it very clear he is not happy about the project. He said he was not consulted and he thinks the location is not appropriate. He added that, although state laws do not allow the County to overturn the project, the County will be monitoring it closely. Sheriff Jim Cooper and District Attorney Thien Ho said pretty much the same thing: not consulted, not happy, watch it like a hawk. Sheriff Cooper said people should use the 311 app and the non-emergency number  (916) 874-5115 to report problems, while the audience grumbled about the 14minutes+ violent crime response time the Sheriff has made public. The County Code Enforcement rep said his Department will be right on top of the project (unusual, given code enforcement's spotty track record).

The public was allowed to ask short questions. There was a very long line of people who did so. They asked things like: 

• Has Inside Circle run a program like this before? Ans. No.
• Why does the state corrections Dept. put paroled felons so close to schools? Ans. Because we can.
• Why parole people into this unincorporated community if intent is to return them to the City of Sacramento? Ans. Because they will be returning to the City of Sacramento.
• How many residents will live there? Ans. 11 parolees and 1 employee.
• Will there be a nurse to dispense their drugs? Ans. No, the drugs will be kept in the medicine cabinet.
• How will the parolees be monitored? Ans. Cameras
• Can we see the camera footage? Ans. No.
• The site is isolated, how will parolees get around? Ans. We will arrange transportation for them or they will go to bus stops.
• What if the parolees do bad things? Ans. They can be kicked out. Trust us.

Supervisor Desmond asked if the EO of Inside Circle would pause the project and talk with him. The Inside Circle CEO would not. A neighbor asked if Inside Circle would fence the property or fence nearby schools. That got a negative response, too. One audience comment said the Dept. of Corrections grant oversite "was lousy". 

Long story short, this project has not been handled well. It is about seeking forgiveness later instead of asking for permission beforehand. The meeting did not inspire a lot of confidence. The attendees went away wondering how to stop the project before problems happen. The Inside Circle non-profit organization remained steadfast that the project would open on September 26th. The Corrections Department person gave the impression she was defending a grant award she did not really want to defend.  Senator Niello's staff person did not seem to relish being there.  To give her credit, though, at least she WAS there. Hopefully, she will feed information back to Senator Niello. Unfortunately, that cannnot be the case for our Assemblymember, Maggie Krell. Her office did not provide any representation. One can only assume the matter is not a priority for her. It felt like the County people were just blustering about not being involved, while being grateful they could hide behind the state. Supervisor Desmond was a possible exception in that he promised the attendees that there would be follow-up meetings - perhaps on a monthly basis - and that he would involve our Assemblymember and State Senator. Let us hope he does. Plus thoughts and prayers that the parolees will become valued members of society instead of being returned to prison.