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July 20, 2006
CO: 300 attend meeting to discuss (and oppose) GEO prison
Even tho this story makes it sound like there were equal numbers of people both for and against this GEO prison, the facts are that only 12 to 14 people testified in favor of it.
Two of them were from the White family. The head of that family stands to make $2 M for selling his property to GEO. His wife would also make money off the sale, as she is a realtor in town.
Apparently, the GEO people and the Town Board were shell-shocked by the numbers of people against the prison. At the Board meeting following the public meeting, the Board refused to even bring up the subject of GEO. The Board spent most of the night trying to get rid of the Mayor. This action has nothing at all to do with the prison.
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300 residents show up at Ault meeting to discuss prison
Emma Schmautz, reporters@greeleytribune.com
July 19, 2006
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20060719/NEWS/107190069
Debate over whether to allow a men's medium security prison to be built in Ault has divided the normally quiet community.
Almost 300 Ault residents overwhelmed Tuesday night's town board meeting to discuss the pros and cons of allowing the Florida-based company Geo Group Inc. to build a 1,500 bed private prison in Ault. So many people showed up that the meeting had to be delayed half an hour to move the meeting to the larger VFW building.
The issue pitted neighbor against neighbor with strong opinions and statements made by nearly 50 people on both sides of the issue.
"Geo is like Wal-Mart. They could care less about this town," said John Jablonski of Ault. "They want to use us to make money."
The majority of the crowd was strongly against the prison but faced opposition from a vocal minority of Ault's business owners. They believe the prison will be the economic boost Ault's dwindling economy needs to survive.
Sheila Kelsey, owner of the House of Bargains, has lived in Ault for 34 years and said that during all that time little economic growth has occurred.
"The prison would be in my front yard, but we desperately need the business," Kelsey said. "If we do not get this business, this town will die. It will be a ghost town."
Many of those against the prison did not like its close proximity to town and called it a safety hazard, a drain on resources such as water and an overall detriment to the well-being of Ault.
Amber Kauffman, who has lived in the town for five years, said she is all for growth but not at the expense of having to live near a prison.
"We came here to live in a small town and a small community," Kauffman said. "A prison would change the dynamics of this town."
Her husband, Ty Kauffman, said that if the prison does go in, the company wants to run water and sewer lines across his fields which would hurt his annual hay crop.
Ty Kauffman said that if the prison does come to Ault, he will be out of town in two weeks.
"You do so much to your home to loose it all," he said. "It's a nightmare."
Ken Fortier, a representative from Geo, said the prison would bring jobs and purchasing power to Ault.
He said that Geo is the largest private corrections facility company in the world and operates high and medium security prisons on many continents including the world's largest private prison in South Africa and a facility that is part of the Guantanamo Bay complex in Cuba.
"Step away from the emotions to the notion of what economically 300 jobs mean to the town of Ault," Fortier said.
There was still a lot of questions left in the air on Tuesday. Board members did not tell the crowd when, or if, they would sign a contract with the company.
Posted by lois at July 20, 2006 10:19 AM