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Pontiac residents worried about economic effect of prison closing
By Tony Sapochetti
tsapochetti@pantagraph.com
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PONTIAC — Mel Trevino said he didn’t have to think twice when he was asked if he would put a “Save Pontiac Prison” sign in his front yard on West Bennett Street.

“I’ve got the same feeling that a lot of people have: It will hurt,” he said of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposal to close Pontiac Correctional Center to save money.

“All of these people will be out of jobs and it will hurt the economy,” he said. “It’s just sad, I don’t like to see people laid off … for whatever reason because it hurts them and their whole family.”

Trevino is among a growing number of residents in Pontiac and neighboring committees who are being approached to display signs or banners and wear T-shirts or buttons to show support for the prison.

Blagojevich announced Monday that his administration plans to close the Pontiac facility in February and transfer inmates to a recently built but still unused prison in Thomson. The move triggered calls from local officials and lawmakers for a closure moratorium and a review panel to evaluate the state’s entire prison system.

Many residents, meanwhile, are doing what they can to voice their opposition to the closure.

“(The employees) are all good people, and they deserve a good living,” said Ernie Charlier, who also has a sign in his front yard in Pontiac. “If they close that prison, it will cripple the town and put a dent in the economy.”

The Illinois Department of Corrections says the proposal would save about $5 million annually, and the prison’s 551 workers would be transferred elsewhere.

Stephanie DeLong, owner of DeLong’s Casual Dining and Spirits, former corrections officer and wife of a current officer, has said she would make “Save Pontiac Prison” T-shirts and hand them out at her restaurant.

Pontiac Mayor Scott McCoy said he has not heard of any “grassroots” movement as of Thursday, but he is aware that the closure appears to be the main topic of discussion.

“I have been getting calls from people who want to write letters of support or start a petition, and right now we are just making sure that we have all of our ducks in a row,” McCoy said.

“They are fighting for their community and we are fighting for the community,” McCoy added. “We are all in this together, and it is appreciative that people are active and want to participate. A lot of the little things we can do could add up.”

Former Pontiac Mayor Mike Ingles said that when talk of closing the prison arose in 2004, a wave of community support welled up in the community.

Community support is an important part of influencing what happens, but people need to remember that fundamentally it is a matter of politics, he said. He added that people advocating to keep the prison need to marshal their arguments.

“I think it’s extremely important that we should separate emotion from facts,” Ingles said.

The fate of the prison became a topic of discussion Thursday night for Livingston County Board members at an administrative committee meeting.

“Whatever we can do, we will step up to the plate,” Livingston County Board Chairman Bill Flott said.

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Reader comments on this story - 2 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

observation8 wrote on May 9, 2008 11:17 PM:

" The prison closing is just Governor Rod's payback to Senator Rutherford, among others, who wouldn't play ball with the governor over the past couple of years. The Governor is notorious for this, and unfortunately, Pontiac's economy has become a pawn in his political game. Thanks, Rod. "

OGS wrote on May 9, 2008 1:17 PM:

" Say NO to Blago,,,save Pontiac prison! "
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