On Monday, a press conference and demonstration was held against Los Angeles County’s decision to house juvenile offenders at Camp Joseph Scott in Saugus, with City officials and members of the community gathering together to object against the decision.

L.A. County’s decision to place juvenile offenders in Camp Scott near Saugus homes was protested against by a gathering of local residents and members of the Santa Clarita City Council at a press conference on Monday.

“Thank you all for joining us here today,” said Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste. “I would like to announce that today the City of Santa Clarita has officially filed suit against the County of Los Angeles.”

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In attendance were Mayor Pro Tem Jason Gibbs, City Manager Ken Striplin, Councilmembers Marsha McLean, Bill Miranda and Cameron Smyth as well as representatives from the offices of Congressman Mike Garcia and Senator Scott Wilk.

“The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, lawsuit calls for the County to follow state laws and ensure that proper CEQA review for the Camp Scott plan is completed,” Weste said. “This must be done before the Department of Juvenile Justice, also known  as the DJJ, makes its final designation of the facilities for its transition project before any alternative facilities are dismissed.”

Weste referenced the fact that on March 15, despite opposition from L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and the Santa Clarita City Council, the County’s Board of Supervisors approved Camp Scott in Santa Clarita for use in housing offenders.

The Board’s approval of Camp Scott in Saugus as a secure youth treatment facility (SYTF) for violent juvenile offenders occurred with the County’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Subcommittee not consulting with the City of Santa Clarita.

“I am very happy about the turnout,” said Councilmember Bill Miranda. “What we have to do is we have to keep fighting it… I was mayor last year when this subject first came up, wrote a letter to all the Supervisors, told them directly, individually this is a bad thing, this a wrong thing to do, they have many better options than this. They persisted. And now, we have no choice.”

Once Mayor Weste’s speech ended, the protesters in attendance at the press conference erupted into a chant of the words “No prison here!”

Signs written by demonstrators included various messages including “Jails do not belong in communities” and “SCV’s Safety Matters.” Several demonstrators spoke up about their feelings on the Camp Scott decision.

“I’ve lived up here since 1974, and this is the worst thing that could ever happen to this community,” said Sheila Yumbar, a local demonstrator. “My kids live very close, we’ve got schools all around here, we’ve got parks in this area, we have families, we have a lot of elderly people that it’s not safe for…These criminals get out of here, and horrible devastation will be done to many people.”

Other demonstrators had different opinions that echoed the overall opinion of the protesters that denounced the Camp Scott decision.

“It isn’t just about the neighborhood, about high-risk offenders, it’s about safety too,” said Michelle Webster, another demonstrator. “It isn’t a safe place, I’ve been here during the fires when we’ve had to evacuate and it is hard to get out.”

CEQA is designed to inform lawmakers of the potential environmental impact of legislative decisions. It is being cited in the lawsuit as Camp Scott sits on the 28700 block of Bouquet Canyon Road in a fire-prone area near an almost century-old dam.

For more information on CEQA and its attributes, click here.

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