http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/05/news/doc481f36458583f087651557.txt

Fight vowed over proposed Pontiac prison closure

5/5/2008

Bloomington Pantagraph

Kurt Erickson

SPRINGFIELD -- State and local officials vowed Monday to fight a plan to close the state's maximum-security prison in Pontiac.

For the second time since Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office, his administration has targeted the 137-year-old lock-up for closure as part of a proposal officials say will save money and allow the state to begin using a newer prison in Thomson.

Pontiac, home to Illinois' death row, was put in the crosshairs Monday after Blagojevich, a Democrat from Chicago, scrapped his earlier plan to close the maximum-security wing at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet.

As is usually the case with proposed prison closings, the Stateville proposal had been vigorously fought by local lawmakers.

As part of a deal worked out with Democrats in the Illinois Senate, the governor said he would save the 83-year-old Stateville and instead close Pontiac, which is represented by Republican lawmakers.

''This is just political in my mind,'' said state Rep. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga. ''Stateville is in a Democratic area and Pontiac is in a Republican area.

Pontiac inmates would be transferred to Thomson, which was completed in 2001 for $170 million, but never fully opened.

Once running at full capacity sometime next year, Thomson would employ about 610 workers, Molina said.

Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler said he and fellow residents remain skeptical about the latest plan.

''I just keep saying this over and over: I won't believe it until I see it,'' Hebeler said Monday.

Currently, the Pontiac prison houses 1,650 inmates. About 1,300 would go to Thomson, while the remaining 330 medium-security inmates would go to similar facilities around the state.

The 551 employees at Pontiac would be offered jobs at other area prisons, including those in Stateville, Sheridan, Dwight and Lincoln, said Sergio Molina, a top aide to Illinois Department Department of Corrections Director Roger Walker.

"We would obviously work closely with the union," Molina said.

Roberta Lynch, deputy director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, said the union was preparing to fight to keep the prison open.

''We don't think there's any reason whatsoever to close Pontiac,'' Lynch said Monday.

The plan to close Pontiac and open Thomson was noted in a letter sent Friday from Walker to state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, D-Joliet.

''We believe our goals can best be achieved at this time by keeping the maximum security portion of the Stateville Correctional Center open and by closing the Pontiac Correctional Center,'' Walker noted in his letter.

Wilhelmi was among those fighting to stop the proposed closure at Stateville.

Also fighting to keep Stateville open was Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, who is running to replace U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller in the 11th Congressional District, which contains a small part of Livingston County.

''I am pleased that a decision has been made to keep the maximum security unit at Stateville open,'' Halvorson said in a prepared statement. ''Keeping this facility open will mean that employees will not lose their jobs, families won't be forced to relocate and local vendors will not lose any business with the prison.''

State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said the state shouldn't close Pontiac, despite its age, when there is overcrowding within the state's prison system.

"It's an appropriate, functional facility," Rutherford said. "I cannot believe these guys."

While corrections officials said closing Stateville would have saved an estimated $31 million, Molina said closing Pontiac and opening Thomson will save about $4 million to $5 million annually.

There is little doubt closing the facility in Pontiac would hurt Livingston County's economy. In addition to its workers, the prison does business with many local companies.

A 2004 study commissioned after the governor threatened to close Pontiac found that Livingston County would lose nearly $40 million if the prison were to cease operating. Most of that money comes through the payroll paid to workers, but it also included figures for prison visitors as well as utility costs that are paid to the city.

The proposal to close Pontiac is not a done deal. The General Assembly will first hold hearings on the plan. And, lawmakers could budget enough money to keep the facility open.

"We'll follow the letter of the law. We'll make a very impactful case that this will be very harmful to the economy," Rutherford said.