California's budget crisis forces cuts in small towns

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By S.A. Miller

REDDING, Calif. | Tim Amen pushes open the front door of the Shasta County jailhouse and steps into the sunshine, having served about half of his 48-hour sentence for drunken driving.

"It's pretty nice I got out a day early but you know, no big deal, I guess," he says as he beat a quick getaway down the sidewalk.

California's budget crisis just dealt him a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, yet one more example of how a combination of fiscal stalemate, dysfunctional politics, a plunging credit rating and double-digit unemployment have left the Golden State looking pretty tarnished these days.

Mr. Amen is one of about 60 prisoners cut loose early since Sheriff Tom Bosenko started reducing the jail population about a week ago to save money — part of deep cuts in jobs and services under way in cities and counties across the state.

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Budget breakthrough or bust

An entire floor of the three-story jailhouse will stand vacant, shrinking capacity from 381 inmates to about 230 in Shasta County, a rural community of about 180,000 people in the northern reaches of the Sacramento Valley.

Nearly 100 more inmates will be cut loose early by the time the third floor is completely emptied. The smaller capacity will then trigger ongoing early releases, freeing people locked up for burglary, theft, drug crimes and other nonviolent offenses.

Redding is by no means alone.

Local governments across California are laying off office staff and public-works crews, closing parks and playgrounds, reducing hours at libraries and calling off time-honored parades and festivals in a desperate drive to balance the books.

"It is going to be apparent to the public that we can't provide services they are used to," said Pamela Thompson, city attorney for the town of San Bruno, a bedroom community about 10 miles south of San Francisco.