City council authorizes attorney to initiate litigation regarding CCC closure
The city of Susanville is continuing the fight against the proposed California Correctional Center closure.
“After a special meeting of the Susanville City Council on June 10, 2021, the following announcement was made out of closed session,” read the announcement posted to the City of Susanville Administration Facebook page Thursday evening. “The City of Susanville City Council Authorized City Attorney Prentice Long, PC to initiate litigation against the State of California regarding the closure of CCC.”
Earlier in April, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced the upcoming closure of CCC, one of the two state prisons in Susanville. The closure, expected to happen by June 2022, will include the loss of about 1,080 jobs. Many locals — governments officials and county residents included — were upset at the announcement, saying it was done without transparency, and without regard to the economic impact to the area. CDCR noted the decision did not come lightly, and was done by taking in to account several factors including staff turnover, cost to operate per bed filled and the decreasing need for dorm housing across the state.
In the months following the announcement, residents and local officials have made steps to stop the closure.
Local residents attended a protest in front of the State Capitol steps in May, and a petition, titled “Cancel the closure of the California Correctional Center (CCC)” is set up on Change.org. By Friday morning, the petition had about 2,023 signatures.
A website, whyccc.org, was also constructed to serve as a hub for donations and lists to contact elected officials.