The Orange City Council added the proposed state prisoner re-entry program at Theo Lacy Jail to last night's agenda as an emergency item.  Both Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson and Assemblyman Todd Spitzer were there to address the council on the subject.

I spoke with Orange Councilman Denis Bilodeau this morning about the issue. Denis said he believed the city's settlement agreement with the county on Theo Lacy is "ironclad" and that the county has no business  siting the re-entry program at Theo Lacy without Orange's consent.

According to Bilodeau, Todd Spitzer told the council he had met with then-Sheriff Mike Carona in August 2007 about this issue. Carona assured him the re-entry program would be sited at Musick Jail in Irvine, as part of the jail expansion.

Which raises the question: what happened between now and August 2007 that led to moving the re-entry program from Irvine to Orange?

The Orange City Council directed staff to put together a resolution protesting the Board's decision. My conversation with Councilman Bilodeau leads me to believe this is a first step and Orange will go to the mat over this.