By David Mercer
The Associated Press
Ill. prison’s official closure date earlier than expected
PONTIAC, Ill. — By Thursday morning, a commission considering Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to close a central Illinois prison will have a mound of new information to weigh -- the opinions of dozens of people who would be directly affected.
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is holding a public hearing Wednesday at Pontiac Township High School on the plan to close the Pontiac Correctional Center that is expected to draw hundreds of people.
The governor wants to close the prison, moving its 1,600 inmates to a largely unused prison in Thomson, in northwestern Illinois. He says the move would save about $4 million as the state struggles to pay its bills while coping with a deficit of roughly $700 million.
But Pontiac, a town of about 12,000 that’s 40 miles northeast of Bloomington, would lose 570 jobs at the prison. The facility, which has been here more than 130 years, is the second-largest local employer.
One of the people planning to speak at the hearing, Stephanie DeLong, said the governor isn’t considering the people who hold those 570 jobs.
DeLong’s husband, Kevin, is a correctional officer at the prison, and she owns a restaurant in town that she doubts would survive the loss of the facility.
"(Blagojevich) refused to move his family to Springfield because he didn’t want to interrupt his daughter’s lifestyle. I’m thinking, I’ve got five kids and they don’t want to interrupt their lifestyles.”
Blagojevich has been heavily criticized in downstate Illinois for his insistence that he live in Chicago rather than the state capital.
Like a lot of people in Pontiac, Mayor Scott McCoy sees politics rather than economics in Blagojevich’s plan.
He points out that, last week, Blagojevich suggested the prison might be saved if the legislature passed his long-sought capital-spending plan that also includes roads, bridges and schools.
“There is no possible rhyme or reason to closing Pontiac, and it’s not good for anybody in the state of Illinois,” the first-term mayor said.
Blagojevich spokesman Brian Williamsen insisted the governor has no ulterior motive.
“Certainly closing the prison is not something he wants to do,” Williamsen said. “At the same time, though, the funding needs to be available.”
The commission, which is a bipartisan legislative panel, can’t block the governor’s plan. Its recommendation, which could come at any time between this week and late September, is purely advisory.