Central Ill. lawmakers continue to fight to keep Pontiac prison open

Sunday, August 31, 2008 6:53 PM CDT

By Tony Sapochetti
tsapochetti@pantagraph.com

PONTIAC -- Central Illinois lawmakers continue to do everything in their power to keep Pontiac Correctional Center open.

Mike Ingles, former Pontiac mayor and former president of the Illinois Municipal League, is using his connections to influence other mayors and other leaders to tell Gov. Blagojevich why the prison should stay open.

“I know of no one in Central Illinois that has a better statewide network than Mike Ingles,” said state Sen. Dan Rutherford, a Chenoa Republican.

Ingles first will contact mayors in communities near prisons, since those sites would be overcrowded if Pontiac closed.

“Some of the mayors that have correction centers in their community I know, some I don’t, but we are certainly going to contact them,” Ingles said. “Right now, the governor is going to make the decision, and he’s going to make it in the confines of the budget process.

“We are asking the mayors to contact the governor about the impact this would have in their community and make the case to budget the money to leave Pontiac Correctional Center open,” he said. “We are all in this together.”

Ingles was mayor of Pontiac for 16 years, on the City Council for 10 years and with the Illinois Municipal League for 11 years.

A recent public hearing on the prison closure is available for viewing via a link on Rutherford’s Web site, www.danrutherford.com.