Town Hall Meeting Packs Ouachita Center

BY LEANN DILBECK –

Approximately 250 people streamed into the new Ouachita Center at RMCC for a town hall meeting called by District 20 State Representative Nate Bell to answer questions and provide information regarding the state’s request for expressions of interest to have a $100 million, 1000-bed maximum security prison built in their community. [CLICK HERE TO VIEW  FULL VIDEO OF MEETING]

Bell greeted those in attendance and quickly distinguished the prison issue from Sheriff Mike Godfrey’s intent to pursue a sales tax to fund construction of a new local jail.

He also explained that he felt it was his duty in his position to bring this opportunity and factual information to the people of District 20. “Five or six years from now, I don’t want to be the person who didn’t provide information to y’all about an opportunity. I don’t want to be that guy, who was your representative and knew about an opportunity, and didn’t bring it to you to allow you to make a decision.”

As he introduced the officials from the Arkansas Department of Corrections, he reminded those present that it was not a political debate and that the officials were there to provide information regarding the prison and not debate whether or not it should be in Polk County. Also in attendance were many county and city officials.

Shea Wilson, Public Information Officer for the ADC, spoke first and said clearly, “We want to find a community that wants us… we are not trying to come somewhere where we are not wanted.”

Mike Carraway, Assistant Director of Administrative Services, shared that the prison would bring 250 jobs with an approximate $20 to $25 million operating budget. He stated that it would generate 1.5 to 1.9 million gallons of waste water, 2 million gallons of water, and 400 kw of electricity per month.

The crowd was given the opportunity to ask questions. One of which addressed the demographics of the prison population. Wilson said that 52.2% are white, 44.2% are black, 2.9% are Hispanic and 0.7% are “other.”

Carraway explained that when inmates are paroled, they are not released from the prison into that community but are provided a bus ticket back to the community in which they are from. They dismissed notions from those in attendance that inmate families relocate, explaining that inmates can be transferred all around the state during their sentence. He also added, “We can’t control where a family moves.”

Many inquired how many of the jobs generated by the prison would be for local people. Carraway explained that 90 to 95% of the workforce will be hired local and that most of the jobs will be entry-level security positions requiring simply a high school diploma with an average annual salary of $25,000 to $30,000. The officials explained that their employee turnover rate is much lower when the staff are local. Carraway said the ADC current turnover rate is 37%. He added that it is very expensive to relocate a workforce. Qualified applicants must be able to pass a background check, physical assessment, and drug screenings.

As some argued statistics from the Census Bureau of a lowering of net income for the area, officials and Bell explained that the inmate population is added to the census information. Since they are not employed, it can skew the numbers. But Bell also pointed out that those numbers, many times, better position the community for grants or federal and state turn-back monies.

ADC confirmed that they do have rehabilitation and chaplaincy programs in place at the prisons.

The need to be located near a community college, Wilson explained, is to provide continuing education opportunities for staff and improves retention. Wilson said inmates will not be eligible for enrollment.

The officials also confirmed that the first $100 million spent in construction is open for bid to the private sector. After that, inmates are brought in and finish much of the work, saving approximately 40%.

The timeline provided is that the ADC will break ground in 2017 with the first $100 million of construction complete by 2018. Carraway estimated that it will take an additional 3-years to finish the work, with final completion some time in 2021.

Bell was asked about funding and he assured the crowd that there would not be a new tax for this and said the state continues to have budget surpluses so there would be adequate money in the budget. He said the need has clearly been established and cited National Crime Statistics from the FBI that shows 5 of the top 10 most dangerous small cities are located in Arkansas.

As Bell explained, the decision to pursue or not pursue, would not be his to make but that of the County Judge and Quorum Court. As of Monday afternoon, Ellison concluded, after much research and consideration, that the County does not have the resources to pursue.  [CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL STORY OF ELLISON’S DECISION]

Upon learning of Ellison’s decision, Bell said simply that all along his job was to bring factual information so informed decisions could be made and if that is the Judge’s conclusion, he supports it.

Other stories on this topic:

http://mypulsenews.com/town-hall-meeting-scheduled-regarding-pursuit-of-100-million-state-prison-facility/

http://mypulsenews.com/state-seeks-to-find-funding-for-proposed-maximum-security-prison/

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