| Subject: BRACE YOURSELF SANTA MARIA |
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MJFAN
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Date Posted: 10:27:09 12/14/03 Sun
Along with the Township, the supporters are making themselves ready. Santa Maria resident Tracee Reynaud, works as a nurse and loves pop singer Michael Jackson. Like so many others who look past the sensationalist media image of the Music Icon, she admires Jackson´s music and charitable work. So much so that she has organized a support vigil for the singer at 1 p.m. today in front of the Miller Building at the Santa Maria Courts Complex.
Reynaud says she plans to be present next month when Jackson, is arraigned at the complex on what Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon says will be "multiple" felony child-molestation charges. Scheduled for Jan. 9, it is possible the proceedings may be pushed back. More bailiffs would be available for the Jackson case if the arraignment was to take place Jan. 16. a scheduled furlough for the Superior Court.
Though official charges have yet to be made and won´t be filed until sometime this week, it has been widely reported that the one making these allegations is a 13-year-old boy from Los Angeles County. Many people, including Reynaud do not buy the accusations. "We´re going to do a march around the courthouse and think positive thoughts," said Reynaud, who expects more than 20 people to join her.
Reynaud isn´t alone in her fascination with the singer. Officials are estimating more than 300 media outlets and hundreds more supporters, protesters supporters and onlookers will descend upon the city during the singer´s arraignment, and for any other future proceedings against the singer, according to Darrel Parker, who is the assistant trial courts executive officer. Among the nearby buildings are the city´s Police/Fire departments, the Town Center mall, City Hall, Public Library, Transit Center, Chamber of Commerce, Abel Maldonado Youth Center and a large residential area. The Santa Maria Courts Complex - in the 300 block of East Cook Street along South Miller Street - is in a busy area of the city. Officials have discussed moving the proceedings to the Santa Maria Fairpark at 937 S. Thornburg St., Parker said, but consider such a move unlikely. Because of the central location of the complex, and the high profile nature of the case, county, city and sheriff´s officials have already met, and are formulating plans to deal with the crush of people, said Santa Barbara County Emergency Services Director Bruce Carter.
The group, headed up by Carter, will address traffic, parking, security, building and grounds maintenance and sanitation. Santa Maria officials are doing their best to make sure that, during the arraignment, traffic is not disrupted for the thousands of people who work, shop or drive through the section of the city.
According to Police Chief Danny Macagni, because Cook and Miller streets are such major arteries, the city won´t close any lanes on those streets for parking, which is prohibited there,
No official plans have been made to monitor vehicle and pedestrian traffic around the complex, though extra personnel might be necessary, he said.
The ongoing rehabilitation on Main Street will not affect the flow of traffic around the complex, as work has moved east of the complex, said Marta Bortner of the California Department of Transportation. Most commuters to the courthouse will be taking the Stowell Avenue exit on Highway 101, she said, which circumvents the construction. City bus services might reroute to avoid the Jackson hoopla, said Joe Rye, services manager for Santa Maria Area Transit, who mentioned the high concentration of pedestrians walking from the parking lot at the Town Center mall to the complex as a possible impediment to timely bus service.
Parking at the complex can be difficult, even on the slowest court days, which is why a sign in the complex´s parking lot directs overflow parking to a three-story public parking structure at the Town Center across the street. There are about 1,000 spaces at that structure and more than 3,200 total at the mall, said Glenn Franklin of the Santa Maria Parks and Recreation Department. That should accommodate everyone who wants to park there, he said.
Cell phone communications used in the city might be disturbed by visiting satellite trucks, said county General Services Assistant Director Mark Mittermiller. To remedy the problem, temporary towers might be erected near the city to accommodate the additional communications traffic, he said, adding that, like so much in this case, that hasn´t been decided.
The Sheriff´s Department will coordinate security in and around the complex during the Jackson proceedings, according to Commander Mal Parr. The prosecutors in the case, District Attorney Tom Sneddon and Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen, will likely have protection furnished by the Sheriff´s Department, as will Defense Attorney Mark Geragos and his team, and Jackson himself, who is expected to appear at the arraignment. Sgt. Charles Ward, who supervises bailiffs at the complex, said three bailiffs handled security inside the courtroom during Jackson´s civil trial, and at least that many will be used this time. Metal detectors, which weren´t used during the civil trial but are commonly used in criminal cases, will also likely be used at the entrance into the courtroom for this case, Ward said.
The arraignment will take place at the Miller Division building, which houses six courtrooms, Parker said. The building includes Judge Rick Brown´s Department Eight, the largest courtroom in the complex, and the most likely to host a high-profile case like this. No judge has been selected for the trial, however, and Brown, who is technically retired and already presiding over the James Noriega triple-murder case, doesn´t seem like an obvious choice.
Security outside the courtroom would be a collaboration between sheriff´s deputies, whose jurisdiction is the courthouse, and Santa Maria Police officers, who are responsible for the grounds themselves. "If something out of the ordinary happens, like a traffic accident in the parking lot, we would handle that," Macagni said.
Like at Jackson´s civil trial, barricades may be erected around the perimeter of the complex during the criminal proceedings to limit entrances and exits onto the grounds, Parr said. The two entrances into the Miller building would likely be restricted to people who have a legitimate reason for being in the building, Parr said. "We´re not saying people can´t come to the court complex, but there´s going to be areas that are secured to control access," he said.
No law enforcement officials would comment on how much this security would cost, though several indicated they may go into their overtime budgets for the Jackson proceedings. The fans, protesters and media will likely require more bathroom and trash facilities than the complex currently has, Mittermiller said. "We´ll be bringing in some porta-potties and some extra trash receptacles," Mittermiller said, adding that visiting media will receive information on the location of trash receptacles. Trash collectors will likely increase pick-ups at the complex, and contract more maintenance workers to clean the bathrooms, said Mittermiller, who wouldn´t expand on how much of a dent the effort would make into the estimated $600,000 janitorial and refuse budget.
Adding to the frenzy at the courthouse will be the construction of a new 19,000-square-foot Court Clerks Building at the complex, which breaks ground in February and is expected to last through the end of 2004, Parker said. The $3.65 million construction would likely further restrict parking at the complex, Parker said.
The Jackson proceedings will not be a hassle for all, of course. Local hotels and merchants may see an increase in business when the news media, armed with expense accounts, descend on Santa Maria.
The 164-room Santa Maria Inn, perhaps the most convenient accommodations near the complex has experienced a boom in business, and anticipates being booked the week of the arraignment, according to General Manager John Reinacher. "We´ve had a dramatic increase of inquiries and bookings," said Reinacher, who also helps oversee the Inn´s sister property, the 184-room Radisson Hotel in Santa Maria. "All the major networks have called us." Both hotels are charging normal corporate rates, during the week of the arraignment, said Reinacher, who is also renting office space to visiting media.
The Town Center shopping mall also will benefit from the rush of visitors with money, according to General Manager Steve Watts. "I think it will be a spike in revenue for Santa Maria city-wide," Watts said. "Hotels, motels and food services will benefit the most, including our restaurants at the mall." Watts said he noticed a nominal bump in business when Jackson was in town for his civil trial, but he anticipates many more visitors this time around.
Other kinds of vendors, like those folks selling "Let Loose the Juice" T-shirts outside the O.J. Simpson murder trial, will likely find their way to Santa Maria as well, said City Attorney Wendy Stockton. Generally, non-food vendors require a business license, Stockton said, if not for Santa Maria, then from wherever they´re based. Food vendors require a city health permit, she said.
From anthrax scares to the annual Isla Vista Halloween celebration, the county has learned to cope with unusual situations, Carter said.
As for Jackson supporter Reynaud, she is so dedicated in her support of Jackson that she has developed a mantra.
"Justice for one, justice for all, stop trying to make Michael Jackson fall."
She has recorded a tribute to Jackson, called "Judging Me," set to a reggae beat.
Reynaud said she will attend Jackson´s arraignment, perhaps armed with a protest sign urging prosecutors to stop bothering the singer. How officials coordinate the activities of Reynaud and the throngs who share her interest in Jackson - and what it will cost - remains to be seen.
Source: Santa Maria Times
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