City drafts letter in support of keeping prison open

[September 20, 2011]  On Monday evening, John Black, AFSCME union representative for Logan Correctional Center, and Dale Ridgeway, AFSCME union representative for Lincoln Correctional Center, were both in attendance at the voting session of the Lincoln City Council.

Black took the podium and briefly said the prison was facing a serious issue with Gov. Pat Quinn' s proposed closure. He asked the city to continue to support the prison as they have in the past.

Ridgeway also addressed the council, remembering and thanking the city for their support when the governor was proposing layoffs in 2009.

He reported about an email he had attempted to send to Quinn' s office, saying he received an email back referring him to another office. He contacted that office and got the impression from the person he spoke with that he or she didn' t really consider the issue to be important. He said when he commented to that effect, he was told otherwise, but still he was not satisfied with the responses he did get.

He ended by thanking Mayor Keith Snyder and the council for their continued support of both the prisons in Logan County.

And finally he issued a comment directly to Quinn: "Gov. Quinn, I want you to remember that the citizens of Lincoln are not going to stand, cannot stand to take another hit…"

Snyder thanked Black and Ridgeway for coming to the meeting. He said there were opportunities coming up for the community to show their support of the prisons, and ended by saying, "We' re not going to take this lying down."

Below is the letter that Snyder has written and will sign along with the city clerk, city treasurer and all the aldermen. In addition, identical letters will be sent to each of the four legislators representing this region.

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(Copy)

September 19, 2011

The Honorable Pat Quinn
Governor James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph, Suite 16-100
Chicago, Il 60601

Dear Governor Quinn,

We are writing to express our strong opposition to the closure of Logan Correctional Center here in Lincoln. The loss of the 357 jobs at that facility would have a destructive effect on our local economy, and the assimilation of the 1,970 inmates housed at Logan would negatively impact an already dangerous situation existing within the Illinois correctional system.

Logan Correctional Center is a major employer in Lincoln and Logan County. All of the 357 families affected by your proposed closure do not live in Lincoln, but every one of them contributes to our economy in some way. For a community that still has not completely recovered from the closure of the Lincoln Developmental Center in 2002 and a community, like most in Illinois, that continues to struggle with the negative effects of a declining national economy, closure of this facility would be devastating.

Beyond Lincoln, the closure of Logan Correctional Center would create a dangerous situation for the entire State. As we hope you are aware, Illinois' medium- and high-minimum security prisons already house 74% more inmates than they were designed to hold. Closing Logan will push that figure to over 90% above capacity. Why would you subject correctional officers and Illinois residents to such a dangerous situation?

These are tough times for all of us and budget dollars are short for every level of government. Allow us to suggest what we have done at the local level: evaluate every single program and redirect limited dollars to the most vital services. We are sure that if you do that, you will find no more vital expenditure than keeping Illinois residents safe and our communities strong.

On behalf of the 357 families who stand to lose jobs, the 14,500 people of Lincoln who stand to suffer economically, and the 11 million residents of Illinois who stand to lose security, please keep Logan Correctional Center open.

[By NILA SMITH with text of letter from Mayor Keith Snyder]