LINCOLN - A Lincoln alderman is asking residents to speak out against a move to commute the prison sentence of former Gov. George Ryan, the man who closed one of the city's main employers.

Lincoln Alderman Joni Tibbs said residents should remember Ryan's decision in 2002 to close Lincoln Developmental Center, which housed 383 developmentally disabled people and employed 698 workers. Ryan cited safety concerns at LDC.

"Our city was really hurt by his actions," Tibbs said. "It's difficult to put into perspective the pain of people losing their jobs and their homes. The revenue for our city was damaged. And it hurt the residents and the family members housed at the facility."

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he planned to ask President Bush to commute Ryan's 6½-year sentence to time served. Ryan was convicted on corruption charges in 2006 and is expected to be released in 2013 from a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Springfield Democrat previously said he definitely wouldn't be asking Bush to fully pardon Ryan, therefore wiping the former governor's record clean. Durbin is only considering asking Bush to let Ryan out of prison.

Durbin said Ryan has already paid a price.

"His family name has been damaged. He is at an advanced moment in his life removed from his family," Durbin said previously. "He has lost the economic security which most people count on at his age, and he is separate from his wife at a time when she is in frail health."

Tibbs is encouraging Lincoln residents opposed to the pardon to write to Durbin, Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis-Kavelman and each alderman.

"I feel everyone should send their own personal letter rather than just have one form letter that everyone signs," Tibbs said.

"The more letters he opens, the more impact it should have," she said. "And I think it really makes a difference if the letter is sent from the heart."

Alderman Verl Prather, who has made his own push to have the city ask for more federal money for local infrastructure projects, agreed with the proposal.

"It's time we let our legislators know how we feel about their actions," he said. "It won't do any good to sit here and talk about it if they don't know understand our feelings."

Letters can be sent to Sen. Richard Durbin, 525 S. Eighth St., Springfield, Il 62703.

Mike Riopell contributed to this report.