The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

But it was in there, along with Camp Pharsalia, Camp McGregor and Camp Georgetown, a name not on the list last year.

CONCERNED

Joy Gonyea, head nurse at Camp Gabriels, was home Tuesday and alarmed by the news.

The mood was “concerned” among prison coworkers, she said.

“We were told they weren’t going to close prisons but consolidate them.”

Already several crews have been moved from Camp Gabriels, she said, dorms closed and programs condensed.

“We were told (by officials) we have nothing to worry about until 2010, so I think a lot of people are in shock over this.”

The overall impact in the rural Town of Brighton and neighboring communities would be stunning.

Fiscal studies done by the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce last year put the local Camp Gabriels payroll loss alone at $7.1 million, with an economic impact close to $35 million affecting about 150 jobs and hundreds of people displaced.

“And we’re already closing a school up here (Lake Clear Elementary). These are scary times, period,” Gonyea said.

“I’m much more concerned this time. I’m certainly going to get my resume ready, where I didn’t last time.”

Employees at prisons that close would be able to transfer from one facility to another, cutting jobs by attrition.

PROGRAM FUNDS

Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) said she thought a visit to Camp Gabriels with DOCS Commissioner Eric Fischer last summer had delivered a solid impact.

“We are trying to expand programs with treatment facilities at St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and courses at Paul Smith’s College. But that costs money. We are still going to try to find money for those programs.”

Closing prisons downstate would make more sense, she said, given that they are more expensive to operate, in facilities with higher property values and offer more opportunity for reuse.

“It would seem as if that is how you would go about right-sizing your corrections department.”

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward (R-Willsboro) said she and Assemblywoman Janet Duprey (R-Peru) met with the governor and Budget Director Laura Anglin face to face Tuesday.

“They told us we have to come up with a way to close that fiscal gap,” she said of budget talks already begun. “He told us this is the worst crisis since the Depression.”

But prisons won’t go without a fight.

“I would argue this is a big economic-development issue for the North Country, and we will bring that to bear. The governor and Laura Anglin said, ‘Bring us your ideas’. Gabriels is on that list,” Sayward said.

Gonyea said the cut would be too deep here.

“He’s affecting the little people. I would ask if we could take a little from the top for a change, instead of from the bottom.”

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Rick Gonyea, Joy’s husband and a retired correction officer, helped mount a campaign last year, sending thousands of letters to Fischer pushing to keep Gabriels open.

“I’m figuring also we should start writing letters again,” Mr. Gonyea said.

UNION CONDEMNS PLAN

Union officials summarily denounced any plan to close prisons.

In a statement, New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association President Donn Rowe condemned the plan as a “shortsighted scheme.”

“DOCS has made a habit of haphazardly picking facilities for closure. In order for the right decisions to be made in these difficult financial times, DOCS should work with NYSCOPBA, potentially impacted local communities and the State Legislature to make sure we make smart decisions that impact the entire prison system, as well as public safety,” Rowe said.

He said the union is committed to its members and the communities they live in.

“We should all be concerned when a plan that impacts thousands of lives and the public safety of all New Yorkers is drawn in secret back rooms and announced via press release.”
http://www.pressrepublican.com/breakingnews/local_story_351163959.html