week of 1/22/03
 
 
 
  Organized opposition to prison takes root
By Scott McLeod

A group calling itself the Friends of Haywood County is urging commissioners to take Haywood out of the running for a new state prison.

“Our mission is to oppose a maximum security prison,” said Jackie Curé at a county board meeting Jan. 20. “We would encourage you to come up with some alternatives. We don’t believe this is economic development.”

Curé’s group held its first meeting Sunday where about 35 people showed up, and then about a dozen members came to the county commissioner meeting on Monday. The group as a whole believes that a prison will not be good for the county.

Terry Collins, another member of the group, told commissioners she feared that a 1,000-bed facility could easily grow as the state’s needs for prison beds increased.

“Is there the possibility that this could increase from 1,000 to 1,500 to 2,000 beds?” asked Collins.

The possible siting of a new prison in Haywood County has been discussed for many years, but it came to the forefront this summer primarily for two reasons: an early version of the state budget recommended closing the 106-bed minimum-security prison in Hazelwood that employs 40 people; and County Manager Jack Horton sent a letter to the state Department of Correction June 20 saying the board of county commissioners was “very interested” in siting a new prison and that the board was currently “in the process of trying to identify a suitable site.”

Since then, the finalized state budget kept the Hazelwood facility open. Still, the state’s prisons are overcrowded and demand for new prison beds continues to increase. State officials have plans to build several new 1,000-bed prisons.

A new county board is also in place, and though it is still looking into the matter, its members vowed to proceed openly.

“Let me assure you no decision or commitment has been made on this,” said Commissioner Mark Swanger at Monday’s meeting. “Before we do anything on this, there needs to be fact-based research. I have grave concerns about a new prison here.”

Bethel resident Dave Curphey, who is not a member the Friends of Haywood County, said he was against a new prison, but he admitted he did not have all the data. More important at this point, he said, was for the process to remain open.

“What concerns me most is that this issue gets going in something less than the public eye,” said Curphey.

Swanger promised that would not happen.

“I can assure you, all I know you’ll know,” he told those at the meeting.

The state requires that any county that wants a new prison give it the necessary 150 acres. The site also must have water and sewer. County Manager Jack Horton said Department of Correction officials are interested in putting a new prison in the western end of the state, and Haywood is one of two counties that have expressed an interest. At this point, he said county staff will run a computer check to find out how many potential 150-acre contiguous tracts there are that might meet the state criteria. After that, the potential tracts will be presented to commissioners.

“That one fella said we should gauge public interest before we check for sites, but I think we should check for land first to see if there is even any need to go forward,” said Horton after the meeting.

Swanger also reminded those attending the meeting that a segment of the county’s population does support the need for a prison.

“Out of fairness, we must proceed with fact-based research,” he said.

The economic impact of the jobs that would accompany a new prison are being touted by those who support building in Haywood County. According to state officials, the starting salary for a prison guard is about $23,000 per year and the average salary is $26,000 per year. The job requires only a high school diploma or a GED, that the applicant be 21 years old and not have a serious criminal record.

In a county that has lost hundreds of manufacturing jobs and whose workforce is comprised of a majority of people with just a high school diploma, those requirements sound good.

“People in Haywood County might be more receptive to this now due to the fact that so many plants have closed and we are in need of jobs,” Jay Hinson, the county’s economic development director, said last summer while discussing the issue.