State officials abandon Susanville, Lassen County
The high water from a tide of protest against state bureaucrats who seek to end the relationship between Susanville’s Morning Glory Dairy and The California Correctional Center and High Desert State Prison continues to rise.
Lassen County District 2 Supervisor David Teeter, representatives from the Susanville Diary and a caravan of supporters planned to attend a California Prison Authority Industries meeting last Friday, Jan. 25 and try to get some information about why the state agency wants to end its 55-year relationship with the local dairy that supplies milk and eggs to the two local prisons. Teeter also wants to know who made the decision and how and when was it made.
According to estimates, if CALPIA supplies those eggs and milk to the prisons, it would charge $110,000 more annually than Morning Glory charges and offer less service — two deliveries per week instead of three.
And if the dairy loses the prison accounts, it will also lose its volume pricing, which leads to higher prices for Susanville shoppers and higher milk costs for Susanville’s schools. And it could lead to layoffs by the dairy and perhaps force it to close.
A dire situation, indeed, and an incomprehensible end to a relationship that stretches back more than half a century.
The Lassen County Board of Supervisors directed Lassen County Counsel Bob Burns to ask the state attorney general for an opinion on CALPIA’s actions. The board also asked the Lassen County District Attorney to make an inquiry as well.
The warden at CCC and the Lassen County Superintendent of Schools also have written letters of support for Morning Glory Dairy.
And a representative for Assemblyman Brian Dahle’s office inquired last week about a “number of excellent questions” the newspaper asked a CALPIA public information officer earlier this month. He asked if the newspaper had received a response. We still have not.
“Thanks,” wrote Bruce Ross, Dahle’s district director when the newspaper provided information on our contacts with the state officials. “I’ll follow up. We were very much looking forward to hearing the answers to your questions, as well as I few I had.”
Help save Morning Glory Dairy: Write a letter, make a phone call, send an email
If you would like to get involved in this effort to save a portion of our local economy, here is some contact information for government leaders. Teeter encourages local residents to make as much noise as they can to try and get this decision reversed.
Gavin Newsom, c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814. Phone (916) 445-2841. FAX (916) 558-3160. Email: governor@governor.ca.gov.
Brian Dahle, District 1 Assemblyman, State Capital, Sacramento, CA 95814. Phone (916) 319-2001. Email: assemblymember.dahle@assembly.ca.gov.
Ralph Diaz, Acting Secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 1515 S. St., Sacramento, CA 95811. Phone (916) 324-7308. Email: ralph.diaz@cdcr.ca.gov.
Charles (Chuck) Pattillo, general manager, California Prison Industries Authority, CALPIA, 560 East Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630. Phone: (916) 358-2650. Email: linda.beirne@calpia.ca.gov.
