Doctor Crants and Buck John hire former L.A. County D.A. Steve Cooley to persuade L.A. County Sheriff Department for new jail in Adelanto.
Posted Mar. 19, 2015 at 12:40 PM
Updated at 1:20 PM
ADELANTO — Former longtime Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, the 2010 Republican nominee for state attorney general, has been hired by high-profile developer Buck Johns and his partner Doctor Crants to lobby for a controversial jail plan that would house overflow L.A. County inmates in Adelanto.
The Adelanto City Council voted 4-1 in December to approve Johns and Crants' $324 million jail, which would house 3,280 inmates on 125 acres once constructed. All the inmates would be nonviolent and would not have been convicted of serious or sexual crimes, according to the developers. Adelanto stands to receive about $1.2 million per year in bed taxes if the jail is filled to capacity. The city also would get $898,000 per year for an administrative fee, $972,000 per year for water costs and $388,000 per year for sewer costs.
Johns said Thursday that he has been working with Cooley for the past 60 days and that the group hopes to present its proposal to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department next week.
"We’re working on it, we haven't been able to schedule a vote yet (with the Board of Supervisors)," Johns said. "We (hope) to be able to have a presentation with the Sheriff next week. Once we meet with the Sheriff and get the green light there — we won't go to Supervisors until we get encouragement from the Sheriff."
When asked how he thought Cooley's influence might impact L.A. County's decision, Johns said "trust me, we wouldn’t hire him if we didn't think so."
"He's one of the foremost public safety officials in the state," Johns said. "He’s been serving in that capacity for a very long time. I would think his support would be meaningful for those people looking to receive direction and input. I think he'll be very helpful."
The developers say the jail would create more than 5,000 jobs. More than 3,700 would be construction jobs, but 1,250 would be permanent jobs, according to an assessment completed by Evans, Carroll & Associates, Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla.
Johns said he hired an attorney to handle the paperwork to hire Cooley as a lobbyist and that forms were filed this week.
"It was submitted to the attorney we work with, Dana Reed," Johns said. "He’s well versed in how you deal with political issues. We've retained him, signed them and sent in the deposit. All that's completed."
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