Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown has raised the issue of selling San Quentin Prison to private developers for an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion..
It’s an issue that’s been raised repeatedly without success over the years. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed selling it to raise money for the cash-short state. Even then-Governor Ronald Reagan proposed the shutdown in the 1970s. Numerous local politicians support the closure.
A Marin Independent Journal editorial noted some of the problems a closure would raise, including: Where would the 5,247 prisoners, including over 700 condemned inmates, go?
The state recently completed a $136 million Central Health Services Building at San Quentin, and plans are moving forward to build a new $360 million Death Row.
Republican Sen. Jeff Denham thought the property was worth $2 billion and introduced legislation to allow development on the property, without considering Marin’s low-growth policies. The legislation failed.