By Gina Potthoff, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @ginapotthoff | Published on 05.23.2013 7:31 p.m.

The trial for a 19-year-old former St. Joseph High School student accused of having unlawful sex with a fellow student is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Superior Court in Santa Maria.

Shane Villalpando

Shane Villalpando, who graduated from Righetti High School last June, was charged in April 2012 with raping a 14-year-old girl while he was a student at the Orcutt Catholic high school.

Villalpando, who will be tried on lesser charges, appeared in Superior Court in Santa Maria on Thursday for a trial confirmation hearing after rejecting a plea offer earlier this year.

Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday and is expected to last about 10 days, according to Deputy District Attorney Brandon Jebens.

He said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Karapetian will be taking over for him during the trial, and Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rick Brown will preside over the case after the recent death of Judge Edward Bullard.

Last November, Bullard ruled that Villalpando would be tried on three felony counts of unlawful sex with a minor, three felony counts of child abuse, and one felony count of rape by use of drugs.

Villalpando, who posted a bail bond and is not in custody, originally was charged with three felony counts of forcible rape, one felony count of administering a drug, and one felony count of dissuading a witness.

The 14-year-old victim’s complaint alleges Villalpando raped her on multiple occasions between Jan. 28 and April 13, 2012, and then tried to prevent or dissuade her from reporting the incidents to the police.

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @magnoli | Published on 05.23.2013 1:23 p.m.

A Santa Barbara man was arrested for allegedly molesting two 5-year-old children he was babysitting, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.

Carlos Israel Xitumul-Pineda

Officers Josh Morton and Adrian Gutierrez responded to a child-molestation call Tuesday on the Westside, and later arrested Carlos Israel Xitumul-Pineda, 36, Sgt. Riley Harwood said.

Xitumul-Pineda is a family friend who babysits the two children when their regular babysitters are unavailable, and was doing so on Tuesday afternoon when the mother returned home, Harwood said.

The mother found the front door locked and blinds closed, which she found unusual, he said.

She went inside and found Xitumul-Pineda and the children in “states of partial undress,” police said.

“When she questioned the children about what had taken place with Xitumul-Pineda that afternoon, she realized that they had been molested,” Harwood said.

The father returned home moments later and they confronted Xitumul-Pineda, telling him they were going to call police, and he then left the residence.

Officers arrested Xitumul-Pineda outside his own home on suspicion of intercourse or sodomy with a child age 10 years or younger by a person 18 years of age or older; sodomy against a victim’s will by force, violence, duress, menace or fear to a victim under 14 years of age; and committing a lewd act upon a child under 14 years of age.

Crimes Against Persons detectives are assisting with the follow-up investigation and conducted forensic medical examinations and child forensic interviews with the victims.

When interviewed, Xitumul-Pineda admitted to molesting the victims on multiple occasions over the course of five months, Harwood said.

He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail with bail bonds set at $250,000.

Santa Barbara firefighters and other emergency personnel responded Monday night to what police are saying was a DUI crash that left a 3-year-old boy serious injured. His mother was arrested on felony charges. (Urban Hikers photo)

Santa Barbara woman faces felony DUI and child-endangerment charges

By Lara Cooper, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @laraanncooper |  Updated 9:39 p.m. | Published on 05.21.2013 7:43 p.m.

A Santa Barbara woman is facing felony DUI and child-endangerment charges after she allegedly crashed a vehicle into a lamppost, severely injuring her 3-year-old child, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.

Kate Hatrey Walters

Kate Hatrey Walters, 24, was arrested Monday after crashing a friend’s vehicle, which injured both women, as well as the boy, according to Sgt. Riley Harwood.

Officers responded at about 7 p.m. Monday to a call of a disturbance involving intoxicated subjects outside of Harry’s Plaza Café, 3313 State St., Harwood said.

Investigation revealed that the women had driven from the area, and were involved in a traffic collision near the intersection of State Street and Broadmoor Plaza, Harwood said.

At the scene, “they encountered Walters, heavily intoxicated and distraught, seated to the rear of the car she had been driving,” Harwood said.

Her injured son was being cradled in the arms of a citizen.

The boy was bleeding from abrasions to his neck, and firefighters and paramedics were working to free a 21-year-old woman from the vehicle who was “heavily intoxicated” and “combative,” Harwood said.

The woman owned the vehicle, but Walters had been driving at the time, he said.

Walters started drinking heavily earlier in the day, Harwood said, and had gone to Harry’s at 5 p.m. with the friend, taking her son with her.

“At the restaurant Walters continued to drink with her friend, and both became heavily intoxicated, unruly, and argumentative with restaurant staff,” Harwood said, adding that the women were asked to leave and a taxi cab was called for the women by restaurant staff.

“While waiting for the taxi, Walters and her friend continued to cause a disturbance, prompting the restaurant staff to call the police,” Harwood said.

Before officers could arrive, the women got in the car with the child.

Walters nearly collided with two other parked cars in the Loreto Plaza parking lot, prompting another witness to call the police while a restaurant employee took note of the description of the involved vehicle and its license plate number for the responding officers.

After exiting the parking lot, Walters drove two blocks westbound on State Street until she reached the intersection with Toyon Drive, Harwood said.

“She struck the curb at the northwest corner of the intersection and drove up onto the sidewalk, striking the State Street/Toyon Drive street sign there, and then collided with the lamppost of a city street light,” Harwood said.

The force of the collision caused the airbags in the vehicle to deploy, and inspection of the vehicle revealed that the child seat used by Walters’s son had not been properly installed.

Walters was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision,  but her friend was not, and all three were transported to by paramedics to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

After Walters’ arrest, officers notified Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services.

Harwood said that Walters refused to let officers take a blood sample to determine her blood-alcohol level, but a search warrant was obtained, and a hospital nurse later took a blood sample from the woman.

The toddler sustained multiple injuries from the collision, including a broken neck, and was admitted to the hospital for treatment.

Harwood said that Walters’ friend was still undergoing medical evaluation at the time the investigation concluded.

Walters was treated for minor injuries, medically cleared, and booked at Santa Barbara County Jail with bail bonds set at $100,000, Harwood said.

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @magnoli | Published on 05.21.2013 3:03 p.m.

Bail has been increased for the suspect in last week’s Milpas Street shooting incident in Santa Barbara.

Emigdio Hernandez, Jr., 18, attended an arraignment hearing Tuesday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.

Hernandez is being charged with attempted murder with a gang enhancement and other felonies.

He was arrested Friday while making an appearance in court on another case, Santa Barbara Police Sgt. Riley Harwood said.

No one was believed to have been injured in the shooting, which occurred around 3:15 p.m. May 14 near the Taco Bell at 821 N. Milpas St.

His arraignment was continued to Thursday, and his bail was increased to $1.115 million from $700,000, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Hilary Dozer.

Police initially couldn’t confirm whether the incident appeared to be gang-related, but now say it is.

Several witnesses reported seeing a man with a rifle and hearing the sound of a gunshot, Harwood said.

A witness told Noozhawk that a man on foot pulled a gun after being accosted by two men in a vehicle.

Police Chief Cam Sanchez has twice referenced this incident to the City Council, first when talking about the proposed gang injunction, and again Monday, when he also asked the council for two additional officers on Trikkes to patrol the Milpas Street and State Street business corridors.

The shooting came one day after a stabbing on East Gutierrez Street, in which a 19-year-old gang member was found with a contusion to his head and two puncture wounds on his lower back, according to Harwood.

The victim was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment.

Police have said the two incidents don’t appear to be related.

By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @magnoli | Published on 05.20.2013 7:03 p.m.

Sexually violent predator Tibor Karsai was conditionally released in northern Santa Barbara County on April 15 from Coalinga State Hospital, and has since been living in a motor home with all expenses paid by taxpayers.

Taxpayers are footing the bill for sexually violent predator Tibor Karsai’s living expenses after he was released as a transient in northern Santa Barbara County.

Karsai, 59, was released as a transient after the District Attorney’s Office fought it for more than a year.

He was convicted for forcible rape in Santa Barbara County in 1974, was paroled three years later to San Luis Obispo, and was convicted of forcible rape in Placer County six years later.

He was sentenced to 26 years but transferred to the state mental hospital later, where he was designated as a sexually violent predator and then applied for conditional release.

Karsai is only the third sexually violent predator to be released as a transient with no fixed address, which means he lives in a motor home, wears a GPS tracking device and is monitored 24/7 by guards with Liberty Healthcare Group.

While the District Attorney’s Office fought hard to keep Karsai from being released as a transient in this county, the office has no role in his supervision unless he commits a crime or violates his court conditions, District Attorney Joyce Dudley said.

The state has a $3.2 million contract with Liberty Healthcare Group to monitor 10 sexually violent predators who have been released from state hospitals and track the court cases of anyone applying to be released or going through the court process of release, said Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the state Department of State Hospitals in Sacramento.

Liberty also searches for housing for the sexually violent predators who have been ordered released by a court.

Montano said he could not provide a specific cost for Karsai’s supervision, treatment and personal expenses.

Karsai is expected to be self-supporting for food, clothing and personal expenses, but the state provides funding as a loan until it can be repaid, Montano said.

All conditionally released sexually violent predators can apply for and receive general assistance through county programs as well, he noted.

“Generally speaking, individuals can receive permission to work after some period of time in the community where they have demonstrated adjustment to those supervising them,” Montano said. “Emphasis is put on treatment and community adjustment before permission to work is granted.”

The supervision is extensive, at least for now. Karsai has to register monthly instead of yearly with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, which is the requirement for sex offenders who have a permanent address.

He is tracked by GPS and has to get all travel — where he’s going and what routes he’s taking — pre-approved by Liberty Healthcare.

Any variance from the pre-approved plan, or breaking rules regarding treatment, drug screening and surveillance, will result in going back into custody, Montano said.

KSBY approached Karsai soon after his release, when he was parked along Highway 1 in Guadalupe, and he told reporters he wanted to be left alone.

“Leave us alone. Allow me the opportunity to get back into society the best I can. Let me go back to pick up the pieces of my life,” he told KSBY.

The security guards are in place 24/7, but the security level is re-evaluated and can be reduced over time based on behavior, Montano said.

“Security can be eliminated if and when two conditions are met: the patient demonstrates he is appropriately adjusting to the community, and the risks are determined to be at a minimum,” he said.

The person still has GPS monitoring, is subject to searches and has to report to in-person meetings after that point, if he ever reaches it, he added.

Karsai’s particular rules come from a civil court order, and he’s not allowed to travel outside of the county.

There are only two previous cases of sexually violent predators being released as transients — one in Santa Barbara County in November 2007 and one in Ventura County.

Kenneth Rasmuson was released in 2007 from Atascadero State Hospital. He was convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in 1981 and abducted a 3-year-old boy in 1987.

He was sentenced to 17 years in prison and was granted parole after nine years of that sentence, after which he transferred to Atascadero State Hospital in 1996.

He was released to Santa Barbara County in 2007 and lived near Lompoc before he eventually moved to Washington state.

An 18-year-old Santa Barbara gang member has been arrested in a shooting that occurred May 14 outside the Taco Bell restaurant on Milpas Street. (Tom Bolton / Noozhawk photo)

18-year-old suspect taken into custody while making a court appearance

By Tom Bolton, Noozhawk Executive Editor | @tombol | Published on 05.20.2013 3:06 p.m.

An 18-year-old Santa Barbara-area gang member has been arrested in connection with a shooting incident last week on Milpas Street, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.

The suspect, whose name and photo were not released because the investigation is continuing, was taken into custody Friday while making an appearance in Santa Barbara Superior Court, said Sgt. Riley Harwood.

He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder with a gang enhancement and other felonies, Harwood said.

Bail was set at $700,000.

No one was believed injured in the shooting, which occurred at about 3:15 p.m. May 14 near the Taco Bell restaurant at 821 N. Milpas St.

“Detectives can now confirm that this is a gang incident,” Harwood said. “However, it does not appear related to the previous day’s stabbing of a gang member on 900 E. Gutierrez St.

By Tom Bolton, Noozhawk Executive Editor | @tombol | Published on 05.18.2013 1:41 p.m.

Eighteen people were arrested Friday in a gang sweep through the Santa Maria Valley conducted by several local law enforcement agencies, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s detectives, assisted by narcotics investigators, the Santa Maria Police Department, and the county Probation Department, conducted directed patrols in areas frequented by gang members and involved in narcotics activity, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover.

“During the course of traffic enforcement stops and pedestrian contacts, 18 people were arrested for a variety of criminal violations,” Hoover said. “As of this point, none of the persons arrested during this sweep have been charged with a gang enhancement.”

Investigation of those arrested was continuing, Hoover said.

She added that probation personnel conducted a series of compliance checks, and made four additional arrests.

TOUGH SALE: What City Attorney Steve Wiley was selling regarding the merits of the proposed gang injunction, none of the people packing the City Council chambers were buying. (photo by Paul Wellman)

Blank Check, Slippery Slope, or Another Tool in Toolbox?

BY INDEPENDENT.COM | PUBLISHED ON 05.16.2013

More than two years after City Hall took its first legal step to enact a gang injunction, the Santa Barbara City Council held its first public hearing to discuss the matter, drawing a spirited, boisterous, combative, and often offended crowd that far exceeded the holding capacity of the council chambers. Not one member of the public spoke in favor of the proposed injunction ​— ​which, as written, would significantly limit the rights of 30 alleged adult gang members from associating in public with other gang members.

Many of those who spoke argued Santa Barbara would be far better served if City Hall did more to address the core reasons why young people join gangs​ — ​poverty, educational inequities, lack of opportunity — rather than expend limited resources on expanding police powers for further gang suppression and locking up young Latinos. They included a Harvard-educated UCSB professor; young Latino males claiming they’re already profiled and stopped by police with no probable cause; Brown Beret activists coming from Santa Paula; a retired Episcopalian minister; the wife of one of the 30 defendants named in the proposed gang injunction, reading a letter written by her husband explaining how he’s changed; another gang-injunction defendant himself; scores of activists with Latino-rights organizations like CAUSE and PODER; young men associated with Mi Palabra, a gang-intervention program; longtime community agitators with the ACLU; newly arrived student activists attending City College; an intervention specialist from Oxnard; and the proverbial many, many more.

Others expressed anger the council waited two years before consulting with the public on so charged an issue. Daraka Larimore-Hall, chair of the Democratic Central Committee, noted with outraged sarcasm that the council spent far more time in public deliberations over the fate of BevMo! when it was first proposed yet effectively excluded any public input prior to embracing the proposed injunction behind closed doors. “The reason to listen to the people before the train has left the station,” he stated, “is to make sure it’s heading in the right direction.”

Such rhetorical flourishes notwithstanding, Santa Barbara Police Chief Cam Sanchez remained convinced that the proposed injunction remained “a useful tool in the toolbox” of gang suppression. In the past 24 hours, the chief stated, Santa Barbara had been rocked by two incidents of gang violence. On Monday, a 19-year-old gang member was stabbed twice ​— ​though not fatally ​— ​in the back on East Gutierrez Street. The following day, Sanchez added, there was what he described as a likely gang-related shooting by the Taco Bell on Milpas Street. Although no one was injured from the gunfire, Sanchez objected, “There are innocent people walking down the street.” (Police spokesperson Sergeant Riley Harwood confirmed that the stabbing victim was a known gang member, but he said no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting incident.) Sanchez also noted that in the past 21 years, 16 people have been killed in Santa Barbara because of gang violence. Four of those victims, he added, were not gang members. The gang injunction would help keep the community safer, he argued, by limiting the access of veteran gang members to potential new recruits.

Tuesday’s hearing on the gang injunction was informational only. No vote took place. Of all the councilmembers, only Grant House expressed any change of mind. Just earlier that day, House had expressed strong support for the injunction, arguing Latino parents needed help keeping “bullies” and gang members away from their kids. But by the evening’s end, House ​— ​whose term expires this year ​— ​expressed concern that the injunction might do more harm than good, sowing alienation and suspicion among the community upon which the police department must rely to be effective. He asked whether it was still legally possible to pull the plug on the proposal if a majority of the council wished to do so. The answer, he was told, is yes. But the votes were clearly not there to change course. The only other councilmember against the injunction is Cathy Murillo. Mayor Helene Schneider and the rest of the councilmembers either affirmed their support or silently endured the barrage of critical commentary. If the anti-injunction contingent failed to change the council’s collective mind, they successfully elicited repeated pledges from City Attorney Steve Wiley not to expand the scope of the proposal beyond what’s now on the table.

For years, Chief Sanchez had opposed any suggestion that Santa Barbara needed a gang injunction. He changed his mind a few years ago, after a spate of gang-related killings, beginning with the stabbing death of a 15-year-old at the hands of a 14-year-old in front of Saks Fifth Avenue in 2007. Three high-profile deaths of non–gang members came in quick succession afterward, prompting Sanchez and City Attorney Steve Wiley to reconsider.

Santa Barbara Police Chief Cam Sanchez (photo by Paul Wellman)

(Where Sanchez spoke movingly about having attended the funerals of teens slain in gang violence — and the freshness of gang violence — numbers provided by the county Probation Department tell another story. In the past five years, juvenile crime and gang-related incarceration have dropped to a 10-year low throughout the county. The number of juveniles on the South Coast serving out gang-related terms and conditions as part of their probation has dropped by fully one-third. The number of juveniles who either pleaded guilty to or were found guilty of felony charges dropped to the lowest level since 2005 in 2011, and the same holds true for violent offenses. In fact, the overall number of cases referred to County Probation has dropped by 44 percent in the past five years.)

Wiley and Sanchez set out to initiate a new legal action that would name specific gang members ​— ​“30 gang thugs,” Wiley repeatedly called them ​— ​and would bar them from associating with other gang members in public “Safety Zones” like schools and parks. Enjoined gang members would not be allowed to drive together in the same car ​— ​especially on excursions into rival territory. They would also be prohibited from going to Fourth of July festivities along the waterfront or El Mercado during Fiesta. Violators of the injunction could be found guilty of contempt of court and face civil penalties of $500 fines or five days behind bars.

When Wiley filed his first legal documents, he also included legal language that would allow him to add up to 300 “John Does” at a later date. This, more than any single detail, generated concern that the injunction could creep, spread, and expand far beyond the 30 “worst of the worst” initially named. For community activists concerned about ethnic profiling, this was the smoking gun that City Hall would be targeting Latino males sporting short hair and wearing baggy pants and plaid shirts. One speaker said the John Doe proviso was a “blank check” and not just “another tool in the toolbox.” As such, he said, it constituted a “bait-and-switch.”

Wiley stressed repeatedly the inclusion of John Does was an inconsequential legal formality common to all civil filings and that he had absolutely no intention of amending the list of the individuals named. As a matter of practice, he said, the Does would be eliminated from the filing once the injunction trial starts. He also stressed that he could not ​— ​as a matter of law ​— ​include anyone under the age of 18 in the current complaint. Of the 30 named, he elaborated, 28 had extensive felony records. About 15 were either in state prison or county jail. All were adults. (Attorney Tara Holland-Ford, who represents one of the “worst of the worst,” disputed that Wiley was legally precluded from filing against juveniles and said that he had told her at a meeting shortly after the injunction was filed that he intended to do that. Likewise, she took exception to Wiley’s contention that any of the 30 could “opt out” of the action simply by renouncing any gang affiliation. Ford stated that the injunction language Wiley proposed would not allow the opt-out clause until three years after the injunction took place.)

Wiley also disputed many of the claims made by critics that the injunction would allow law enforcement to take action if two or more of the enjoined gang members happened to be riding a bus together, attending class together, or taking their children to school at the same time. Wiley said such concerns were unwarranted and that he would never seek such broad authority because “it would be stupid” to ask. Judge Colleen Sterne, he said, would never grant it anyway. She would ask, he said, “What are you doing? Why are you wasting my time?”

For the time being, however, the proposed injunction remains suspended in legal limbo, where it’s been hung up for the past 18 months. To make the case that the 30 named defendants are actually gang members, Wiley sought to use police records dating back to when they were juveniles. Juvenile records are highly confidential, and the extent to which Wiley ​— ​who is working in conjunction with Hilary Dozer of the District Attorney’s Office ​— ​can have access to those records has become the focus of a prolonged secondary legal battle. It’s up to Judge Thomas Adams, who handles juvenile cases, to determine how much access, if any at all, Wiley and Dozer can have to those records. A ruling by Adams on that dispute should be coming soon. After that, it will be up to Judge Sterne to determine whether the injunction is justified, whether there’s sufficient evidence to enjoin the 30 parties named, and exactly what behaviors the injunction should and should not limit.

Nearly 50 people spoke Tuesday night. Some were eloquent, some mumbled. All
were against it. None of the parents who asked the chief and other councilmembers for help keeping their kids out of gangs showed up. Councilmember Bendy White ​— ​who, along with Mayor Schneider, asked that the hearing take place ​— ​stood by Chief Sanchez but said he was struck by the “real hit of anger and frustration” in the room and the need to deal with it “in a constructive way.” Councilmember Murillo insisted that prevention and intervention were called for, not polarization. Councilmember House said he worried that the injunction would promote “targeting, stereotyping, and labeling” and undermine the considerable good will Chief Sanchez has compiled over the years through community outreach.

The mayor expressed hope that the meeting helped clear up many of the misconceptions about the proposed injunction and suggested that both sides wanted the same thing. Schneider noted that City Hall had been steadfast in its financial support to nonprofits ​— ​$700,000 per year ​— ​during the recession, many of which deal with at-risk teens. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department, she said, spends $2 million per year on programs serving underserved kids, and if young Latino males are being harassed by police because of their clothes, she said, that’s an issue that needs to be addressed regardless of the injunction.

By Tom Bolton, Noozhawk Executive Editor | @tombol | Published on 05.14.2013 5:53 p.m.

A probation search has led to the arrest of a Casmalia man on a variety of drug charges, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.

Joseph Vincent Davirro Jr.

Joseph Vincent Davirro Jr., 50, who lives in a trailer on the 2900 block of Associated Road, was taken into custody last week, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover.

The arrest came during a routine probation search of the property, Hoover said.

“During the search, sheriff’s detectives came into contact with … Davirro, who resides in a camp trailer on the property,” Hoover said. “Davirro exhibited signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance, and was acting irrationally. He also refused to identify himself or to comply with verbal orders.”

During a sweep of the property, deputies searched Davirro’s camp trailer and found evidence of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and a marijuana plant inside, Hoover said.

He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of possession of a dangerous drug, possession of drug paraphernalia, cultivation of marijuana, being under the influence of a controlled substance, and obstructing/resisting arrest, Hoover said.

Davirro posted bail, Hoover said, and the case was referred to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.

Board approves contracts for initial design and management plans

By Gina Potthoff, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @ginapotthoff | Published on 05.14.2013 9:47 p.m.
More than $8 million was committed to the design and management of the North County Jail project Tuesday, a clear signal that the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will continue making the development a priority.

The supervisors voted 5-0 to approve spending about $8.2 million to move the project forward by hiring a project expert, architect and engineer, construction manager and contractor on payroll.

Some contract language was changed before the vote, as well as an addendum guaranteeing that the supervisors would see a cost-analysis for why a contractor on payroll was necessary for the $96 million project.

The 376-bed jail, which would be built on 50 acres outside Santa Maria on Black and Betteravia roads, could be completed as early as May 2018.

Most of the funding — $89 million — will come from the state, with the county footing the rest.

On Tuesday, the county supervisors hired Liebert & Associates Inc. as the project expert, to be paid no more than $426,385 over six years; Rosser International Inc. as architect and engineer, to be paid about $5.4 million over six years; and Kitchell/CEM, Inc. as construction manager, to be paid no more than $2.27 million over six years.

The board also approved a final environmental impact report for the project.

All officials — except Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf — expressed concern about providing benefits to a temporary contractor on payroll, who will be paid $133,575 over two years beginning later this month.

“I just hate paying somebody’s vacation and days off when that person isn’t even an employee,” Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said. “I just really don’t like the practice.”

County CEO Chandra Wallar said the employee in question, who already works part time in the General Services Department, would be necessary because the high-risk nature of the jail project — one of the largest the county has ever seen.

Wallar reminded the supervisors that all contracts awarded would be within budget, and that the county has many other contractors on payroll.

Other topics of discussion included examining renewable energy sources for the facility, such as solar, and testing to determine whether the jail could use water from a well already on the property.

Most of the supervisors said they’d like stronger language to require construction contracts go to local residents to bring much-needed jobs to the North County, and Wolf noted it would’ve been better to have seen these million-dollar contracts before late last week.

Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam took time to make sure fellow officials understood the reason for the project.

“We’re not building a new jail because we need a work project in the North County,” Adam said, adding a desire to stay within budget regardless. “We’re building a new jail because we have prisoners that we have had to release. We’re building something that’s safe for the prisoners and safe for the deputies. Local labor is important but we need to get this job done.”