{"id":408056,"date":"2026-07-22T15:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/408056\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:32:21","slug":"santa-ana-looks-to-formally-oppose-countys-planned-halfway-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/408056\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Ana Looks to Formally Oppose County\u2019s Planned Halfway House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Santa Ana leaders have been pushing back against plans by county supervisors to convert a juvenile substance abuse treatment center<\/a> on the edge of town into a coordinated reentry center for ex-inmates, arguing the city has carried the brunt of OC\u2019s social service programs.<\/p>\n

[Read: Santa Ana Officials Rally Against County\u2019s Quietly Planned Halfway House<\/a>]<\/p>\n

For about two months now, Mayor Valerie Amezcua\u00a0 \u2013 a former probation officer \u2013 has publicly criticized county leaders for the planned halfway house, arguing they never sought input from local leaders and the city has done more than its fair share in terms of hosting social service programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really concerns me is that you know it is in Ward Three and nobody knew about it. Nobody shared with us about it,\u201d she said at the July 7 city council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cA reentry program in the city of Santa Ana will cause strain on our police department. It will cause strain on our city budget. We do support rehabilitation, but we carry the weight of every program in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amezcua also called for a public debate at the meeting on the proposed reentry center so residents could see which elected officials supported the center and who didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\"\"Michelle Aguirre, former interim county CEO, speaks to Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua during the Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

At their 5:30 p.m. city council meeting Tuesday, Amezcua and the rest of the city council are expected to direct the city manager to draft a resolution opposing the coordinated reentry center to temporarily house and help former incarcerated residents reintegrate into society.<\/p>\n

They are also expected to direct the city attorney to evaluate any legal actions they could take to prevent the center from being built in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite repeated concerns raised by residents, community stakeholders, and local officials, the County continues to advance a project that lacks community support,\u201d reads a June 16 letter<\/a> from Amezcua and City Manager Alvaro Nu\u00f1ez to OC Supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe central question before the County is not whether reentry services are necessary, but whether the responsibility for hosting those services should continue to be concentrated in the City of Santa Ana rather than more equitably distributed across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molly Nichelson, a county spokeswoman, said for years the county has worked to spread out critical social services programs for residents and county officials have tried several times to meet with city leaders but couldn\u2019t due to scheduling conflicts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all of our facilities, the County weighs client needs, program services offered, our current and planned real estate holdings and our present budgetary constraints. The process for the planned project on this site for the Coordinated Reentry Center followed this process,\u201d Nichelson wrote in a Friday email.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City has had scheduling conflicts which have made us unable to discuss this future project in totality. The County will continue to try to meet with our City partner in order to provide greater clarity on the project and provide more information as previously requested.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials say the initial request to meet came after complaints from city leaders and right ahead of the board of Supervisors\u2019 budget discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City believes the proposed discussions may not constitute meaningful consultation or afford the City an adequate opportunity to influence the County\u2019s decision-making process,\u201d reads a city staff report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The expected formal opposition comes as OC Supervisors set aside about $21 million for the center in this year\u2019s budget despite the pushback after having to use $75 million in one time funds to balance their books.<\/p>\n

During the budget discussions, Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento \u2013 Santa Ana\u2019s former mayor \u2013 publicly raised similar concerns to Amezcua and about the planned reentry center\u2019s location.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement Friday, Sarmiento said due to public discussions, county leaders did not approve improvements to the youth guidance center in Santa Ana initially proposed to be converted into the reentry center.<\/p>\n

He also said the issue highlights the need for robust engagement with residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed that a valuable resource for many justice-impacted folks was not shared more thoroughly with the host city, neighbors, and stakeholders,\u201d reads Sarmiento\u2019s statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless, it remains a good lesson for our County staff that early community engagement and robust advance notice are critical to the success of all proposed projects, especially those that are considered sensitive to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

OC Board of Supervisors Chair Doug Chaffee, who previously defended the location of the reentry center, refused to comment on the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is it? It\u2019s bounded by the flight control channel and freeways and is gated. It\u2019s not near any home or any type of threat. What this is doing is reducing the possibility of crime in the entire county and if we didn\u2019t have this kind of center, where would these people go?\u201d Chaffee said at the June 23 meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dare say many of them would be on the streets of Santa Ana unsupervised.\u201d<\/p>\n

County officials have said they already spent over $2 million to design the facility and the center wouldn\u2019t just serve people just released from jails, but also homeless people willing to get substance abuse treatment and mental health services.<\/p>\n

They also have said the allocation of the $21 million towards the reentry center does not lock officials in on the Santa Ana location.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, this project is in the planning phase but needs to come before the Board before final approval,\u201d Nichelson said<\/p>\n

Last month, Councilwoman Jessie Lopez and Councilman Phil Bacerra<\/a> also sent letters opposing the coordinated reentry center, echoing similar points made by Amezcua and Nu\u00f1ez.<\/p>\n

Lopez said that while the reentry center is important these types of services shouldn\u2019t be concentrated in one city and residents deserved more transparency on the proposed project.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany residents have expressed concern that decisions regarding this project have moved forward without sufficient community engagement or a transparent evaluation of alternative sites,\u201d she wrote in a June 23 letter to the OC Board of Supervisors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of one\u2019s position on the proposed facility, I believe residents deserve a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions that will affect their neighborhoods and quality of life for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just city officials writing to supervisors with concerns of a lack of engagement with local leaders about the proposed halfway.<\/p>\n

Congressman Lou Correa<\/a>, State Senator Tom Umberg<\/a> and State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia<\/a> also sent letters to supervisors urging them to work closely with Santa Ana leaders about the concerns.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Valencia called on supervisors to evaluate alternative locations for the center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I support investments in reentry services and programs that help individuals successfully transition into their communities, the location of such facilities must be determined through a transparent process that includes robust community engagement, careful evaluation of alternative sites, and consideration of the cumulative impacts borne by host communities,\u201d he wrote in a June 16 letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concerns raised by the City of Santa Ana, its residents, neighborhood leaders, local businesses, and community stakeholders deserve serious consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Santa Ana leaders have been pushing back against plans by county supervisors to convert a juvenile substance abuse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,11118,5039,128428,4222,67487,5043,4767,2267],"class_list":["post-408056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-avelino-valencia","tag-jessie-lopez","tag-lou-correa","tag-phil-bacerra","tag-tom-umberg","tag-valerie-amezcua","tag-vicente-sarmiento","tag-voice-of-oc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}