City Twitters

9 June 2009 - 5:00am

The City of Santee is using Twitter and Facebook to protest a planned prison expansion on nearby county land.

"A marketing firm contracted by the city has set up a Web site, Facebook page and Twitter account under the handle 'nojailexpansion.' The city is using the sites to lobby against the county's proposed $300 million expansion of the Las Colinas Detention Facility in Santee.

“Keep in mind this is not akin to advocating for a position or a candidate as part of an election campaign,” Santee City Manager Keith Till said. “This is a public policy debate.”

The county has proposed replacing the 810-bed Las Colinas women's jail – the only all-female jail in the county – with a new, 1,216-bed facility. The site would increase from 16 acres to 45 acres in the center of the city. County officials are preparing an environmental impact report on the project, which could go to the Board of Supervisors later this month.

In place of a mug shot, Santee's Facebook page features a graphic that says, 'Jail Expansion: Know the Facts.' Below that are postings discussing how quickly the city is growing and the potential for increased traffic, and saying that the plan is a misuse of taxpayer money."

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, June 8, 2009
Bookmark and Share
In recent years, some public officials and civic leaders have begun to question the existing models for dealing with homelessness, arguing that the persistence of the problem shows that what has been done up until now isn't working.