Morgan Hill uses Cal Fire inmate crews to help in public works projects

How to get things done when the budget is tight, is a challenge many cities face on the Central Coast. For the first time ever, Morgan Hill is exploring the idea of having inmate crews do some needed jobs in the city. The move could save the city some money.

“We’re always looking for ways to do the work that needs to be done to best serve our community in the most cost effective manor,” Maureen Tobin with the City of Morgan Hill said.

Morgan Hill said it has a growing list of things that need attention and fixing, too much for it’s staff to handle. Using Cal Fire’s low risk inmates may be the most cost effective solution. The city’s paying about $200 every day to use Cal Fire inmate crews on various projects in Morgan Hill. Tuesday was day two for inmate crews working to clear out roadside vegetation and over hanging trees for fire prevention.

Cal Fire officials said the work in Morgan Hill will not affect crews response time to fire calls. In fact, on day one, inmates were diverted to a fire in Aromas.

“The project work benefits us because it spreads those crews around otherwise they would centrally be located at their camp and not actually out there. So Monday it probably saved them an hour in response time because they were centrally located at that fire,” Cal Fire Division Chief Jamie Norton said.

There’s about 15 to 18 members on an inmate crew under supervision. Morgan Hill said having inmate crews doesn’t mean they’re cutting back on city jobs.

“This will allow us to provide more service to get jobs done that perhaps were not able to be done in the past and to free up crews to do other things that are more important that only city crews can take care of,” Tobin said.

Other counties across the state also use inmate crews inmate crews including Santa Cruz. Morgan Hill said it chose to do a pilot program before making a final decision.

“We’ll be evaluating how well it works, and what other possibilities there might be,” Tobin said.

Morgan Hill officials said they should know within a week if they want to continue using inmate crews from Cal Fire.