Fresno wants inmates to clean highways. But who pays for it when they get hurt?
Fresno area officials say they are close to reinstating a program in which low-level offenders would do cleanup alongside area highways, but just who would be liable for workers’ compensation remains a sticking point.
Caltrans and Fresno County Probation representatives said on Monday such a program would put 10 to 15 adult offenders out on highways 41, 99, 168 and 180 every weekday, and 20 on weekends, to beautify the trash-strewn roadways.
Fresno County’s program came to an end in late 2018 after the county and state couldn’t come to an agreement on worker’s comp, according to Kirk Haynes, the county’s chief probation officer.
“It’s really successful and most people would prefer the work program instead of going to jail,” he said.
The cost to cover the liability was not immediately clear on Monday, when area elected officials met with Caltrans and others. “I think the funding of that liability is not the challenge, it’s who’s going to be that entity that absorbs that liability,” Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said.
Regardless of the cost, everyone in the room agreed the highways need beautification.
Caltrans uses a visual inspection of random sections of highway to rank how poorly they are maintained for trash, according to John Liu, deputy district director for maintenance and operations in Caltrans District 6. Fresno’s highways are on par with many other central San Joaquin Valley highways, which is to say they need some work.
Paying for homeless cleanup, too
That said, Caltrans District 6 used about 76% of its funding for maintenance in 2018 to clean up homeless encampments and other blighted areas in the city of Fresno, according to Caltrans.
The offender labor force could help because Caltrans lacks the workforce to keep up with the ever-increasing highway trash, Liu said. The maintenance team has not grown since the end of the Great Recession.
The adult offender program would be offered to people found guilty of low-risk misdemeanors who have short sentences, according to officials from Fresno County Probation.
Locking trash cans?
A parolee program to clean up the roadways is already in place, and the city is working on awarding a one-year contract to a company to help pick up trash on highways, according to city staffers. Leaders said they are also looking at requiring businesses citywide to lock up their trash cans, a requirement already in place for downtown shops.
Councilmember Garry Bredefeld said it’s the state’s responsibility to clean highways, but city and county leaders are willing to work with state leaders to improve areas that can leave an impression on passers-by.
“We build (highways) but we don’t maintain them,” Bredefeld said. “It’s a terrible image for the city as people come into the city and drive through the city, and it’s a big issue that we hear over and over and over.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2019 at 1:27 PM.
