Ventura County Grand Jury • 2001-2002

A Review Of Real Property Held by Ventura County

Published: August 20, 2001 9 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 18 findings

F1
The Five Year Capital Improvement Plan contains sections for New Space Requests ($118M), Remodel Requests ($1.2M), General Activity Requests($0.49M) and Equipment Requests ($52.7M). The bulk ($52M) of the equipment requested in the capital improvement plan is Information Tech- nology (IT) related.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The IT element of the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan is supported by a process composed of an IT committee representing each of the major County departments, chaired by a senior offi cial, with a strategy approved by the Board of Supervisors articulated in the E-Government strategy and Technology Infrastructure Strategic Plan.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
The GSA is responsible for maintaining approximately two million six hundred seven thousand (2,607,000) square feet in one hundred fi fty-four (154) buildings (one hundred thirty-six (136) of which are County-owned and eighteen (18) are leased), in addition to leased space in approximately seventy (70) other buildings. GSA also leases some properties to other than County agencies.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
In 2001 a Sheriff’s forecast was made of Ventura County’s detention needs for years 2005, 2010, and 2015. The highest projected use in 2015 is one thousand eight hundred sixty-fi ve (1,865). These forecasts are illustrated in Table 1. These projections assume: (cid:127) Crime trends and judicial practices will generally follow the same pattern as the last decade. Changes in these trends and practices will alter the accuracy of the estimate. (cid:127) Civilian population in the County will generally follow the same patterns as the last decade. (cid:127) Proposition 36 will be implemented and will impact the number of offenses leading to confi nement in jail, but the true impact on Ventura County is unknown.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Current jail capacity is one thousand nine hundred seventy-one (1,971) beds with an average daily population of one thousand three hundred eighty-three (1,383). Details are illustrated in Table 2.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The CEO and Sheriff evaluate the economic benefi t to the County of rent- ing excess jail bed space to other counties. (C-11) Responses Board Of Supervisors (R-1, R-2, R-3) Chief Executive Offi cer (R-1, R-2, R-3) Ventura County Sheriff (R-3) Table 1. Forecast of Detention Needs for County of Ventura YEAR LOWER ESTIMATE UPPER ESTIMATE 2005 1,153 1,605 2010y 1,683 1,735 2015 1,813 1,865 Table 2. Current Jail Capacity FACILITY BOC RATED ACTUAL BED AVERAGE DAILY CAPACITY CAPACITY POPULATION Pre-Trial Detention 412 896 648 Facility Ojai Women’s Facility 248 259 156 Todd Road Jail 782 784 567 East Valley-Olsen Rd 31 32 12 Total 1,473 1,971 1,383 Table 3. Major Ventura County Land Holdings LAND LOCATION ACREAGE Camarillo Airport 637 Camarillo Court House 1 Camarillo Regional Park 327 Channel Islands Harbor 294 College Park 75 East Valley Court House 80 Government Center-Ventura 80 Happy Camp Park 3,700 Koeingstein Rd. Matilija Reservoir 443 Oak Park 80 Ojai Debris Basin 33 Ojai Woman’s Facility 141 Old Sheriff’s Station -TO 5 Oxnard Airport 207 River Ridge 73 Saticoy Regional Golf 158 Soule Park 390 Steckel Park 142 Tapo Canyon Park 204 Todd Road Jail 157 Toland Park 213 VCFCD Storage Yard 10 Ventura City Hall 12 Ventura County Hospital 33 Vineyard Road 15 2001-2002 Ventura County Grand Jury Final Report Table 4. Population Projections CITY 2010 2020 DRIVING TIME TO COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER (ONE WAY) IN MINUTES WEST COUNTY San Buenaventura 114,636 123,830 17 Santa Paula 33,296 37,963 20 Fillmore 16,502 20,929 37 Ojai 8,640 9,213 38 Total 173,074 191,935 EAST COUNTY Thousand Oaks 128,649 131,358 37 Moorpark 35,829 40,395 40 Simi Valley 125,926 138,800 55 Total 290,404 310,553 CENTRAL COUNTY Oxnard 171,831 186,539 11 Camarillo 68,076 76,092 22 Port Hueneme 23,260 23,369 29 Total 263,167 286,000 UNINCORPORATED 106,294 116,668 TOTAL COUNTY 832,939 905,156 Sources: SCAG Population Projections & DeLorme Street Atlas V9.0 Table 5. Major County Owned Buildings USE/AGENCY NUMBER OF SIZE BUILDINGS (SQUARE FEET) Government Center Complex 4 1,094,640 Todd Road Jail 1 277,633 Ojai Women’s Facility 2 106,597 Multi Use Buildings 9 461,694 Fire Stations 27 127,190 Fire Hq, Comm.and Sheriff Air 2 34,751 Human Services Agency 3 78,011 Probation Agency 7 109,546 Animal Regulation 2 36,820 Sheriff’s Academy & Patrol 5 63,072 Health Care Agency 5 18,878 Libraries 13 N/A Miscellaneous 7 N/A Total 87 2,408,832 (estimate) Table 6. Major County Leased Buildings USE NUMBER OF BUILDINGS SIZE (SQUARE FEET) Human Services Agency 11 156,974 Health Care Agency 1 24,150 Sheriff Firing Range 1 10,000 District Attorney 1 4,080 Courts 1 3,300 Libraries 2 N/A Total 17 198,504 (estimate)
F6
The Ojai Woman’s Facility consists of one hundred forty-one (141) acres that include one hundred two thousand eight hundred fi fty-one (102,851) square feet of buildings. It serves a female prison population averaging one hundred fi fty-six (156) prisoners. Only a small portion of the acreage is necessary to support this inmate population.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Probation Department Work Furlough Facilities are located at the Camarillo Airport and portions of this facility’s workload will be transferred to the new Juvenile Justice Center.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Todd Road Jail contains one hundred fi fty-seven (157) acres with two hun- dred two thousand nine hundred twenty-three (202,923) square feet of jail facilities with a development occupying twenty (20) acres. It was designed in a modular manner to allow expansion without the added cost of kitchen, laundry and heating systems. The remaining one hundred thirty-seven (137) acres is County-owned farmland which is currently leased and is available for future detention needs.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The East County Olsen Road Sheriff’s facility in Thousand Oaks is located on eighty (80) acres. The facility itself has a twelve-acre development. This facility is used as a collection point for people arrested by State, County and City law enforcement in the East County prior to their transfer to the Main Jail. Three thousand seventeen (3,017) people were presented for book- ings during January through December of 2001. The number of bookings refused because of psychiatric conditions, medical conditions or unique situations (and therefore requiring direct transportation to the Main Jail or hospital facilities in Ventura) was one hundred eighty-four (184).
No recommendations for this finding
F10
East County Court House - The existing court facilities cannot be used to try criminal cases due to the lack of a nearby pre-trial detention facility.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The County of Ventura should implement a strategic infrastructure devel- opment process which will have cognizance over the non-IT aspects of the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan as well as be responsive to near- term interdepartmental space needs. This should consist of a committee of County department senior managers chaired by the Chief Executive Offi cer. Support staff responsibilities could include (1) coordination and investment analysis and population projections from the CEO’s offi ce, (2) analysis of contracts and legal restrictions from County Counsel, (3) analysis of zoning and covenants from RMA and (4) detailed facility analysis from GSA. It would have the following responsibilities: a. Rationalize County facility planning with the vision of the County General Plan. b. Coordinate and adjudicate space and facility issues across County departments. c. Develop a biannual infrastructure strategy for internal County use by consolidating demographic and public need projections currently being performed by individual County departments and soliciting forecasts for the demands for County services from the Board of Supervisors, the ten cities within the County, LAFCO and major employers such as Amgen and the Department of Defense. d. Assess the consolidation of facilities for improved services, particularly in the East County. e. Assess the use of existing land assets such as the unused land at the Ojai Woman’s Facility and the Todd Road Jail for disposition or development. f. Develop consolidated projections of the demand for County services. g. Sponsor the evaluation of the use of technology as an alternate to facility investment, i.e., video conferencing (Probation Department, Sheriff’s Department and Human Services Agency); remote sensing and monitoring technology (Probation Department and Sheriff’s Department). h. Review the benefi ts of land leased by the County to commercial activities as well as facilities leased by the County from commercial entities. Based on the long-term strategy terminate or renegotiate leases. i. Task the RMA and County Counsel to review the constraints on selected County assets. Some County properties may have restrictions, constraints or covenants that should be changed in order to facilitate better use of existing assets. (C-2 through C-10) 2001-2002 Ventura County Grand Jury Final Report
F11
As a result of a recently received 2002 Federal Grant, the District Attorney’s Offi ce will be able to enhance prosecutorial services to support police agen- cies in the East County. Space will be provided for a Deputy District Attor- ney within the Simi Valley Police Department facility and at the Sheriff’s East Olsen Road location.
No recommendations for this finding
F12
The old Sheriff’s station on East Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks, has been unoccupied and for sale for over a decade.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
The land owned by the County is extensive. There are approximately nine hundred separately owned parcels belonging to the County which comprise over eleven thousand acres of land with an estimated value in excess of one billion dollars. The scope of most of this real estate is illustrated in Table 3.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The County real property assets need to be monitored at the highest level possible with a centralized review consolidating department recommenda- tions in order that short-term and long-term plans will be based on strategic considerations. (C-1)
F14
The Southern California Association of Governments projects greater popu- lation increases for the Central and East portions of the County. The largest increases are forecast to be in the cities of Oxnard and Simi Valley. (Table 4).
No recommendations for this finding
F15
Out of one hundred thirty-six (136) County-owned buildings, there are eighty-seven (87) major buildings with over two million square feet of fl oor space. The major owned buildings are illustrated in Table 5.
No recommendations for this finding
F16
The County leases four hundred eighty-thousand (480,000) square feet of space at a cost of fi ve hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per month. The major leased buildings are illustrated in Table 6.
No recommendations for this finding
F17
The Sheriff’s Department has installed video teleconferencing in the jails in order to reduce the need for added transportation of suspects and thereby reduce facility costs.
No recommendations for this finding
F18
The driving time from East County population centers to the County Gov- ernment Center ranges from thirty-fi ve to fi fty-four minutes. The East County is projected to represent thirty-fi ve percent of the County popula- tion in the year 2020. (Table 4) 2001-2002 Ventura County Grand Jury Final Report Conclusions C-1. Ventura County Government is relatively immortal. It existed a hundred years ago and it will exist a hundred years from now. Acquisitions, dispositions and development of land and facilities have long-term effects. While there is an adequate midterm review process at the department level, there does not exist at the executive level a strategic planning process to address the major long-term infrastructure investments or a mechanism to resolve interdepart- mental space needs. (F-1) C-2. The County IT investment process provides a model that could be utilized to address other major investments in the County. (F-2) C-3. The demands on the County infrastructure and space are dynamic. They are driven by demographic changes, changes in the nature of County services and changes in law. County departments have responded by developing a prepared need (wish list) for renovations and midterm capital improvements. These needs are documented in the County Five Year Capital Improvement Plan. (F-1) C-4. Some of the County-owned properties are irreplaceable and necessary for cultural, recreation, safety, health and education reasons. Some are not irre- placeable or have portions of their acreage which are not of signifi cant value to the County. (F-6, F-8, F-12) C-5. The County, as a result of demanding fi nancial needs, can no longer have the luxury of properties remaining without specifi c economic use or long-term need. Some of the properties may not be generating a positive or a useful cash fl ow and require a business case analysis for their management while others could be sold, leased or improved in other ways. (F-6, F-8, F-12, F-15, F-16) C-6. There are a variety of population projections to be drawn upon for planning the future of Ventura County. Population projections for the County need to factor numerous issues in order to be useful for facility planning. Key issues like Proposition 36, the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiative, and the relative high cost of housing must be considered by the County and factored in to such projections. (F-4, F-14) C-7. Due to the driving time from the East County, additional measures need to be taken to ensure that citizens of the East County have better access to County services. Individual County agencies have responded to this issue. (F-10, F-17,
No recommendations for this finding

Conclusions 1

No Responses Found 2

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Ventura County Board of Supervisors Elected County Office
Ventura County Sheriff Elected County Office