To three union presidents, who are also prison correction officers, the concept of outsourcing prisoners from the state is “Tom Foolery.”
The correction officers, who held a press conference at Council 4 AFSCME headquarters Monday, criticized Lt. Gov. Candidate Mark Boughton’s idea of outsourcing the corrections function by sending prisoners out of state — a plan they say failed tragically under Gov. John Rowland.
Rather than saving money, this attempt at privatization was, according to them, a financial drain. The state paid out $2 million to the family of two inmates who died while under supervision at Wallens Ridge, Va.
On his campaign Web site Boughton states “… nothing wrong with outsourcing our corrections function, for every 500 prisoners sent out of state, the State of Connecticut could save as much as 11 million dollars.”
*
Boughton said he was unaware of any such statement on his Web site and added that he doubted Foley would take such a stand. However, Foley on several occasions has argued for “outsourcing” major tasks performed by the state government.
A call to Foley’s campaign was not returned.
Last May, at the conventions, Foley said he would “shift state services to outside contractors where it can be shown that equivalent service levels can be provided at less cost.”
In June, CT Mirror (ctmirror.org)reported that Foley said “the key is to move major tasks performed by state government’s roughly 50,000 unionized workers such as road maintenance and social services even more into the private sector.” Acknowledging that this would probably put him in collision with unions and a Democratic controlled legislature, he said “there are probably big opportunities to save money by outsourcing.”
Then in August, CT News Junkie (ctnewsjunkie.com) quoted Foley as saying “our Department of Corrections incarcerate[s] too many people. I’m told if we change our rules and had alternative forms of punishment for non-violent criminals we could also save several hundred million dollars.”
“This is déjà vu all over again,” said Jon Pepe, president of AFSCME Local 391. “Foley and Boughton need to look at history. This is not a fresh idea. It’s a bad idea. It’s more ‘Tom Foolery’ from candidates who are out of touch with regular citizens.”
Pepe said in 2003 when the state realized the program costs them “twice as much as anticipated” it scrapped the program and inmates were returned to Connecticut.
Before that, there had been the cost of transporting inmates’ families to and from Virginia for visits, also video monitoring of prisoners in a controlled area.
“We’re saving the public money,” Pepe said. “There are no riots like there used to be; prison employees are doing the job they’re supposed to be doing.”
Union presidents also pointed out that outsourcing corrections functions would force the closure of prisons, which would devastate local economies, resulting in a downward spiral of joblessness, lower tax collections and a further strain on public services.
“Privatization will close prisons and the economic effect on surrounding communities will be devastating,” AFSCME Local 387 President Dwayne Bickford predicted. “Connecticut’s track record shows that privatization equals corruption at the highest levels of government.”
The union presidents said Connecticut needs solid leadership in Hartford — leaders who understand the needs of front-line prison employees who walk a tough, law-enforcement beat. Any proposal to export inmates, and with them prison jobs and economic development, shows, they argued, a lack of concern for the Connecticut residents and the correctional officers who risk their lives to keep them safe.
“What job opportunities will await relocated prisoners when they’re released and returned to Connecticut?” Bickford asked rhetorically.
“We need a chief executive who appreciates our services, understands our jobs and doesn’t need on-the-job training,” said Luke Leone, president of AFSCME Local 1565. “We don’t have that kind of confidence in Tom Foley and Mark Boughton.”
AFSCME Locals 387, 391 and 1565 comprise Council 4’s NP-4 Corrections Bargaining Unit. The three unions represent 5,000 front-line prison employees, including correctional officers, treatment officers, parole officers, and maintenance staff.
Source:-http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2010/10/25/news/doc4cc63dd103b5f480901292.txt
