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4/4/2017 <br />Print Article: Santa Ana's nmtto: Jails not schools <br />Vanir, a company with no connections to the local community, responded. As a construction management <br />firm, it was unclear how the company would effectively assess jail conditions for vulnerable prisoners and <br />detainees at the facility. And with a flimsy track record, at best, on alternatives to detention, it was doubtful <br />that Vanir could provide the city with an evaluation of alternative to detention options. <br />So, after the deadline to submit responses to the RFQ passed, the City of Santa Ana changed the scope of <br />its RFQ to only focus on jail reuse, which the city now defines as including "continuing Jail operations." The <br />city gave no notice of this change to the other bidder. <br />The other bidder was a group of four organizations: CIVIC, Californians United for a Responsible Budget <br />(CURB), Builders of Hope, and Torti Gallas + Partners. Together, we have over 90 years of combined <br />experience conducting reuse assessments on public and private buildings, running alternative to detention <br />programs, generating cost effective alternative to incarceration strategies, and monitoring jails, including the <br />Santa Ana City Jail <br />The city of Santa Ana has a simple choice to make tonight. Santa Ana can either contract with Vanir, turning <br />a blind eye to the growing community opposition in Orange County to public and private incarceration <br />construction. Or it can embrace the spirit of change and welcome an innovative reimagining of these <br />traumatic and oppressive facilities by reissuing the original RFQ. <br />Christina Fialho is the co- founder /executive director of CIVIC. Diana Zuniga is the statewide coordinator for <br />CURB. <br />© Copyright 2017 Freedom Communications. All Rights Reserved. <br />Privacy Policy & Terms of Service I Copyright I Site Mao <br />http:// www. ocregister. com/ common /printer/ view .php ?db= ocregister&id- 748451 2/2 <br />