Alameda County supes settle Santa Rita Jail wrongful death lawsuit

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COUNTY NEWS

ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

—SANTA RITA SETTLEMENT—The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted in closed session on Tuesday to approve a $1.3 million settlement with the father of 25-year-old Jonah Andrews, who died in custody at Santa Rita Jail in 2020.

—While in custody, Andrews, who suffered from a schizoaffective disorder, was seen snorting his medication and drinking large amounts of water.

—Sheriff’s deputies were notified of Andrews’ behavior, but he was later left unchecked in his mental health unit for longer than 30 minutes, which is the minimum amount of time allowed for an inmate like Andrews to be left unsupervised.

—OPPOSITION TO JAIL EXPANSION—The county’s settlement on Tuesday occurred at the very end of the Board of Supervisors meeting.

—But it dovetailed with a number of public speakers who spoke out strongly against a proposed $80 million expansion of the Santa Rita Jail to accommodate inmates with mental and behavioral health issues.

—The advocacy group Oakland Rising held a rally prior to Tuesday’s board meeting to highlight the county’s large amount of funding for Santa Rita Jail. You will likely hear more opposition to the jail expansion over the next two weeks as the Board of Supervisors finalize their fiscal year budget.

—COUNTY HOUSING ELEMENT—Alameda County’s Housing Element was due last January. But a significant loss of staff over the past three years has put the county way behind in sending the housing element to the state.

—Covering only unincorporated Alameda County, just 41 percent of its allotted 1,769 housing units were issued building permits during the 2015-2023 Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) eight-year cycle.

—In 2022 alone, Alameda County issued building permits for 106 new units. Of those, 83 were accessory dwelling units.

—If the county had trouble keeping up with their previous RHNA numbers, the next eight years will be even more challenging. By 2031, the county is expected to build 4,711 new housing units in the unincorporated areas.

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