Pierce County makes the case for McNeil Island prison
JOSEPH TURNER; The News Tribune
With the McNeil Island prison clearly in the cross hairs for closure, Pierce County community leaders are going to make their case for keeping the 1,300-inmate facility open.
Government officials, union representatives and other community figures will be meeting Friday to discuss their response to the closure possibility.
The Pierce County Central Labor Council is organizing the meeting, which is set for 4 p.m. in the International House on Pierce College’s campus in Steilacoom.
“We’re trying to get together stakeholders who would be impacted by the closure,” said Patty Rose, the labor council’s secretary-treasurer. “Anytime you are threatened with losing 600 or 700 good-paying jobs with benefits, we’re concerned about that.”
About 600 of the 700 workers at the McNeil Island Corrections Center are members of Teamsters Local 117, which represents the custody officers and most of the other workers inside the prison. An additional 100 workers are not represented by unions.
It’s not just about jobs, said Teamsters Local 117 secretary-treasurer Tracey Thompson.
Overall, the Teamsters represent about 6,000 Washington prison workers across the state, and at least three other facilities besides McNeil Island are considered logical candidates for closure. They include the reformatory at Monroe prison complex in Snohomish County, part of the state penitentiary in Walla Walla and the women’s prison at Pine Lodge in Eastern Washington.
All of those facilities are old, and the McNeil Island prison also is more expensive to operate because all workers, inmates and supplies must be delivered by ferry and barge.
“We are making the case as the labor representative,” Thompson said. “But the meeting on Friday really is about the community groups making the case for what would happen if the prison were to close.”
A consultant, Christopher Murray and Associates of Olympia, has been hired for $462,000 to recommend which prisons and other facilities should be closed to save money. Along with prisons, they are looking at closure of state facilities that house juvenile criminals and the developmentally disabled. They are required to meet with unions and community leaders as part of their study and will likely meet next month with McNeil stakeholders.
The final report must recommend how to eliminate 1,580 prison beds, 235 beds at the juvenile facilities and 250 beds at the centers for the developmentally disabled. That’s about a 10 percent cut for prisons and 20 percent or more for the other facilities.
A final report to the Legislature and governor is due Nov. 1.
The closures are intended to help state lawmakers find $12 million in budget savings, part of the $120 million in cuts that were made to the state prison’s overall $1.8 billion two-year budget.
State Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, whose legislative district includes McNeil Island, said he thinks the Legislature is being “penny wise and pound foolish.” The Legislature this past session relaxed sentencing and supervision for many offenders.
“All of these things are just going to drive the crime rate up over the next year or so,” Carrell said. “We’re going to have more recidivism. I just don’t see how we can be closing any prisons and have the capacity that we’re going to need.”
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com
Joseph Turner: 360-786-1826
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