The Associated Press has published a very good story about the Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill., and its efforts to keep the state from shutting down its prison.
The article spells out the stakes:
The roughly 12,000 people here find themselves in a struggle for their economic lives as they try to talk Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of closing the town’s second-largest employer to help fill a $700 million hole in the state budget. And the fight is as political as it is economic: The governor has hinted that if state legislators support his capital-spending plan, the prison might be saved.
It’s not just the 570 jobs that would leave this central Illinois town that worries Mayor Scott McCoy. It’s also the lost revenues for the city, construction firms, restaurants and other businesses. One study shows the area would lose more than $50 million a year.
I’m highly skeptical about the $50 million figure. Still, what’s remarkable is this is a town that actually wants to keep its prison around. Here’s why — it’s intrinsically linked to Pontiac’s history.
It opened in 1871 as a reform school outside town. Over time, Pontiac grew toward the prison, and became comfortable with it.
“Pontiac and this state have had a wonderful partnership for more than 130 years,” said McCoy, who was raised in a house across the street from the prison.
The governor says he’ll keep the prison open if the Legislature passes his capital spending plan. Given the vigorous opposition to the Pontiac prison’s closing and the town’s proximity to the Chicago media market, I predict a compromise will be reached to keep the facility open.
And it seems short-sighted to close an existing prison, especially when the growth rate of new inmates is never-slackening.
Given the horrible animosity in Springfield right now, the legislature’s outright hatred of Blagojevich, the retirement of Rod’s right hand man in the Senate, and the Gov’s desire to prove that he and he alone runs the state, I see a dire future for Pontiac. There’s the slightest chance that this ends well…and I certainly hope it does…but the man’s on a power trip right now like few have seen in the Land of Lincoln and it’s not going to stop until A.) January 2011 or 2.) Patrick Fitzgerald indicts him.
As President of the Route 66 Association of Illinois and as taxpayer in Illinois, I attended the hearings on Wednesday.
It was interesting to note that the hearing started with a speaker talking about coming up Route 66 and and driving past the old Route 6 District State Police headquarters.
(Note: Pontiac has been a forerunner in Route 66 preservation and history. Our Hall of Fame and Museum is now located in the old Fire Station off Route 66, open 7 days a week, hosting 10,000 visitors a year, because of the efforts of the city and our Association.)
Over 2500 people filled the auditorium, gym, balconies, and lined the hallways of the high school. Speakers were thruout the building and outside also. The turnout wasn’t just prison employees, but young people, families, merchants, senior citizens. People stood for hours listening respectfully to what was said. In the beginning there was no limit to the speeches, but since there were so many people
registered to speak, they ended up limiting the speeches to 4 minutes.
Mayor Scott McCoy gave an incredibly amazing speech citing how the prison and Pontiac have literally grown up together. The city was working on a multi-million, multi year deal with a developer that heard the prison was going to close and decided to move his
project to another state. The impact is huge financially – as well as the impact on the communities that will lose families – people who are volunteers, church members, Little Leage coaches, Scouting leaders, the social impact will be huge as well. This is an area where families take care of each other, and when some families are forced to move away, what happens to parents and grandparents?
Rod doesn’t have a problem saying he will spend $500,000 to keep the vacant prison maintained, but he doesn’t say what he will do with the physical properties that the prison owns as well. Will he appoint friends and family to “caretake” these homes… why sell in a flooded, depressed market the closing of the prison will create. Wouldn’t that be foolish?
I personally think the prison closing is a direct personal hit toward Senator Dan Rutherford. Dan is one of those guys who believes in checks and balances, and he calls out the Governor on his behaviour all the time.
In all my travels up and down the state I have yet to meet anyone who voted for Blago. In the meantime the prayer circles and letters and emails continue….
I agree, Cathie, that Blagojevich is an unpopular governor and has been for years.
However, it stunned me that Illinois Republicans choose an even more unpopular candidate — Judy Baar Topinka — to run against him in 2006. And it wasn’t even close at the end.
Frankly, the Illinois GOP has been in a complete shambles since the corrupt Gov. George Ryan era.
As a person who resided in Illinois for much of my life, I’m well-informed about the particulars of politics in the Land of Lincoln.