10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 17-23, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS For years, the conventional wisdom has been that to reduce rush hour travel times on Highway 68 between Salinas and Monterey, there were two options: replace the nine signaled intersections with roundabouts, or add more turn lanes to them. Both are estimated to cost upward of $200 million. Over the past two years, thanks in large part to the advocacy of Corral de Tierra resident Dwight Stump, both of those costly options have been shelved indefinitely in favor of something far cheaper: Installing adaptive AI technology to all nine traffic signals, which will theoretically reduce travel times as the signals optimize the flow of traffic as they take in real-time information. Last year, the board of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County— which plans traffic projects on the corridor, while Caltrans builds them— approved spending up to $500,000 to install adaptive AI to the signals to see how well they worked. Since then, TAMC’s board approved up to $700,000 to reimburse Caltrans for any other costs it may incur to make the project operational. It’s the first project of its kind locally, and one that Caltrans considers a pilot, which will bring added costs like training. The details of the reimbursement agreement are now awaiting final approval from Caltrans headquarters in Sacramento. Once approved, Caltrans can start ordering the equipment. It’s expected to come in within six weeks; installation is expected to go quickly, a matter of weeks. Adaptive AI signals will be installed at all nine intersections by 2026. And if they are effective, the millions that would have been spent on roundabouts can instead go toward other projects. Full Circle Adaptive AI signals are coming to Highway 68, and roundabouts may be out for good. By David Schmalz In 2019, Garrett Scheff, a 43-yearold man who suffered from mental health issues, was accused of stabbing a pregnant woman to death in Salinas. A few months later, his ability to stand trial was called into question. Under state law, he had to undergo mental health evaluations to determine whether or not he could proceed, and was deemed incompetent. He was placed in a queue to receive treatment before returning to court. Scheff’s case is not unique. On July 1, 2025, County Administrative Officer Sonia De La Rosa announced to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors there were 44 of these individuals in fiscal year 2022-23 and 84 in 2023-24, exceeding the county’s cap by 25 and leading to over $1.4 million in penalties owed to the state. “We have no control over this,” Supervisor Luis Alejo said. “We’re getting fined for some artificial number. Don’t penalize the county.” This process of evaluating and treating felony defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial, known as IST, stems from a lawsuit filed a decade ago, when the ACLU sued California’s state hospital system for leaving disabled defendants in jails without treatment or due process. The suit claimed the Department of State Hospitals and Department of Developmental Services let individuals suffer in jails for months: One plaintiff was sexually abused, another died by suicide. The ACLU won the lawsuit, which led to statewide standards requiring counties to properly evaluate and treat individuals who committed felonies in case they are deemed mentally ill and incompetent to stand trial. Monterey County’s baseline was set following recommendations from an IST workgroup convened by state agencies, using total felony IST determinations made in 2021-22. (Superior Court judges make competency determinations based on input from mental health experts.) The vast majority, 90-95 percent, of these individuals are represented by the Monterey County’s Public Defender’s Office, according to Assistant Public Defender Tom O’Keefe. Initial assessments are typically made at arraignment, but doubts about a person’s ability to understand court proceedings or assist counsel in their defense can be made at any stage in the process. Depending on the individual’s needs—for example, if someone needs specific medication or has a more severe mental health condition—treatment settings can vary from outpatient care (less common in Monterey County) to state hospital or jail-based competency treatment. But assessing baseline numbers for this population is, of course, complicated, says Chief Deputy Public Defender Michelle Wouden. She notes that the levers of control rely on the strength of social programs, including mental health infrastructure, early intervention efforts and broader socioeconomic and cultural attitudes toward mental illness. This law also took effect during the pandemic, which reduced social interactions and created barriers to treatment. “Individuals who have strong social support, economic support, housing support aren’t the ones that we’re seeing in the system,” Wouden says. “I’m sure there was a lot more support in place for individuals prior to the pandemic, and it feels like we’ve gone a little bit backwards from that.” Chief Deputy Public Defender Michelle Wouden attributes an increase in defendants deemed incompetent partly to a loss of support during the Covid-19 pandemic. Competency Queue The County is reckoning with a growing number of individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial. By Katie Rodriguez Traffic on Highway 68 between Salinas and Monterey regularly backs up with commuters at rush hour. Turning lanes or replacing traffic lights with roundabouts were long considered the best fixes. “We’re getting fined for some artificial number.” DANIEL DREIFUSS NIC COURY
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==