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* 12:05 pm - Quinn to keep Pontiac open…

Pontiac Correctional Center is off the chopping block. In an announcement Thursday, Gov. Pat Quinn said he would halt efforts by his predecessor to close the maximum-security facility.

“Keeping Pontiac Correctional Center open will ensure nearly 600 people in the region keep their jobs, prevent hundreds of families from being uprooted, and allow Pontiac to maintain one of its largest sources of revenue,” Quinn said in a prepared statement.

The decision brought relief to those who had fought former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s effort to close the facility. […]

While Pontiac may be spared, it remains unclear what Quinn intends to do with Thomson, located north of the Quad-Cities.

The biggest supporter of Thomson’s prison is Rep. Mike Boland, who is a longtime Quinn ally, although the governor has appeared to distance himself from Boland somewhat since his inauguration. The decision on whether to fully open Thomson could be the more politically interesting move.

* 12:20 pm - More spending promises…

Quinn received a warm ovation Thursday at the Illinois Education Association’s meeting in Rosemont. […]

He didn’t provide dollar figures to the teachers union. But he told them education is his top priority.

Quinn says he wants to reduce public schools’ reliance on property taxes. And he’ll do what he can to protect their pensions and rebuild schools.

* 12:59 pm - Gee, what a surprise. Another hinky contract by the Blagojevich administration…

A state audit found fault with the way Illinois chose Pepsi as its exclusive soft-drink vendor.

Auditor General William Holland reported Thursday that the Revenue Department didn’t properly document how bids from Pepsi, Coke and other vendors were evaluated, how references were checked, or what evaluators discussed in meetings about the bids.

* 1:22 pm - I asked AFSCME what Gov. Quinn should do about the Thomson prison and here’s the e-mailed response…

Thomson was intended to relieve dangerous overcrowding, not to replace any other prison. If there is additional funding for Thomson it should be for that purpose. The governor should take this opportunity to start turning around a department that was terribly mismanaged by his predecessor: That means hiring adequate staff and relieving overcrowding to reduce inmate violence and lower overtime costs.

Check out this correlation between staff cuts and overtime costs:

* DOC staff, 2001: 16,930

* DOC/DJJ, 2009: 12,700

* DOC overtime cost, FY02: $12 million

* FY08: $44.3 million

Clearly the money wasted on overtime is better spent to restore adequate staffing levels.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:07 pm

Comments

Props to Quinn for getting this one right. Well done, sir. I don’t envy his next decision regarding Thomson.

Comment by Gene Parmesan Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:11 pm
Maybe it can be used to house corrupt politicians? After Fitzy is done, we may need the extra space.

Comment by How Ironic Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:14 pm
so, we are reopening parks and now having two prisons open (or mothballing the actual state-of-the-art prison). Boy, you’d think the state was flush with cash. It seems this gov is doing everything he can to make sure no one is ever angry. Being Gov is about making hard decisions, not making sure that everyone is happy.

Comment by anon anew Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:16 pm
===not making sure that everyone is happy.===

That problem will be solved during next week’s budget address.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:17 pm
No, he didn’t get this one right. Prisons should not exist to provide jobs for locals–a modern version of feeding off the misery of others. There is a substantial body of research which shows that the criminal justice system overrelies on incarceration and that a subsantial percengage the corrections population can be better and more cheaply served through community-based parole and social programs.

No doubt the many private contractors who pay into the right political coffers for the privilege of access to our taxpayer money played a role in this decision.

Plus ca change.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:19 pm
The governor’s words do indicate the decision was reached to placate the prison employees and local business interests. While that’s a good political maneuver (and I like stable families who have jobs and aren’t uprooted), it’s not the reason we have prisons. This state really needs to re-think its penal system.

Comment by Fan of the Game Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:27 pm
Make nice with as many as you can now, because the howls are coming.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:29 pm
Here is a money raising opportunity, open thompson. The, whetehr by moving IL inmates to thomson and opening space elsewhere, or just using thompson, charge local counties and/or the feds to house their overflow inmates at our prisons.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:31 pm
I don’t support not closing Pontiac because of the jobs and local business interests. I support not closing Pontiac because of the blatant political gamesmanship that was played with its closing. Pontiac, despite its age, is in considerably better shape than Joliet. If you’re going to close a prison let’s close Joliet. It needs millions for repairs to keep it operating at a safe level.

However, I agree with you Cassandra, that it would be better long-term public policy to get away from prisons as ‘economic development’ and to free non-violent drug offenders.

Comment by Gene Parmesan Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:33 pm
Corrections needs better overall strategy. The petty drug crimes like smoking weed, you need to move those into cheaper digs and put those people in programs, not in a high security facility. Save the tougher prisons for the tougher criminals, the dealers, the armed robbers, murderers, etc. At one time Blago talked about doing that, having cribbed it from someone else’s notes I expect, but nothing much came of it since. While I don’t want to go back to what George Ryan did, building prisons as stimulus projects, we don’t have a shortage of criminals to put away in Illinois- population counts of the prisons and the understaffing of guards and wardens would say otherwise.

And we need many more probation officers out there than we have now. That’s some productive hiring we could do that helps reduce crime AND brings money to local areas, and not just to one town that has its eggs in one huge basket.

Comment by Gregor Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:51 pm
oh, yeah, cause Pontiac is such a happy place filled with dope smokers…. Cassandra, Pontiac is filled with dangerous people. incarceration is not a jobs industry. it is a safety program.

Comment by Amy Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 12:54 pm
Quinn has half of the right answer. The other half is to close the inside maximum security Statesville Prison and transfer the inmates to Thompson and the other maximum facilities statewide. Gov Blago couldn’t stand the political heat of closing Statesville and tried to close Pontiac instead, which wouldn’t save any actual money. We’ll see if Quinn will stand up for taxpayers and close Statesville. The savings could be $15 to $25 million a year.

Comment by Louis Howe Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:00 pm
Until the sentencing laws are reformed, we need all of these prisons. And we need to hire a lot more COs to watch the inmates, staffing is dangerously low.

In the future, if a prison becomes too old to function properly, a new one need to be built next to the old one and the old one torn down. It’s silly to have communities bidding and forcing the staff to pack up and move.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:10 pm
Pot Ill go you one better. Why not have prison industries invovled in repairing/renovating or construction neccessary to upkeep or improve existing facilities? We have inmates who have trades expereince, and others who would be willing to learn. this would proide inmates with exp. and training in construction to help them find jobs, and provide lower cost repairs/upgrades for correctional facilites. instead we just repair major breaks, an let the buidlings decay around us.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:13 pm
Cassandra - are you serious? If so, open the residential treatment facility in your neighborhood for these poor misunderstood lads from Pontiac prison. I talked to a former inmate a couple weeks ago when he got out. He was thankful to be out. He said when they started putting the Pontiac guys in the prison he was at it got way more dangerous and tense. At most, they scared some not so bad prisoners straight.

Comment by Belle Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:18 pm
One could almost plagiarize a commercial and say

“Pepsi - the choice of a corrupt adminstration”

LOL

Comment by tanstaafl Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:19 pm
“Clearly the money wasted on overtime is better spent to restore adequate staffing levels.”

No mention there that it would cost about $200 - $250 million to restore those 4,000 staffers at DOC, in order to save $30 million in overtime?

I know - its not all-or-nothing, but the overtime cost alone doesn’t sell it for me. You can expect to have overtime costs if you are staffed just right. Paying a little bit in overtime can sometimes be preferable over hiring on a whole new staff person.

But if you are paying someone 2.5 times their salary becomes you don’t want to hire one additional staffer, that’s not smart.

Comment by George Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:30 pm
Didn’t Coke actually file a formal protest over the bidding process?

Comment by hornets Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 1:40 pm
I didn’t say the prison inmates are nice people. I said that all the research I’ve seen lately, and there is a lot of it, indicates that for many offenders, prison is an expensive and ineffective means of corrections. Add to that the extreme racial disproportionality of the prison population, and you have a major boondoggle. But as long as the contractors and the unions keep the political contributions coming, politicians will ignore the research, whatever the cost to society.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 2:05 pm
Should the Pontiac prison remain open? Governor Blagojevich said no, because he had some politicians he wanted to punish.

Governor Quinn had this answer, ““Keeping Pontiac Correctional Center open will ensure nearly 600 people in the region keep their jobs, prevent hundreds of families from being uprooted, and allow Pontiac to maintain one of its largest sources of revenue,” Quinn said in a prepared statement.

Wow! When are we going to get a governor capable of making a decision to keep Pontiac prison open, based on say, consideration of our incarceration needs?

We can never get to the right answer, when the guys in charge seem to base their decision on other criteria. No wonder we’re so screwed up!

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 2:11 pm
Prison Schmison!!! Does this mean I can finally get a real Coke in the Capitol or the Stratton????

Comment by Coca Cola Girl Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 2:25 pm
VM,

I think you are twisting the Gov’s words to fit your agenda. It doesn’t make sense to uproot 600 employees/familys to simply move operations to another facility.

Now, if the prision was slated to close because they had a 00.00% occupancy rate, and the Gov said “No, because we want to keep it as a revenue engine for the city and surrounding area” I would conceed your point.

Comment by How Ironic Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 2:28 pm
I’m choking as I type this, but I agree with Cassandra.

GQ (that’s Gov Quinn) didn’t make a speech about what was efficient or necessary, his rationale (at least as reported in the press) was focused on jobs.

If Pontiac is to remain open, it should remain open because it makes sense to operate a prison there, not because it brings jobs to the region. The revenue that it brings comes straight out of the taxpayers pocket.

I’m a little disappointed by GQ. So far he has proven unable to say “no” and is giving every appearance of a tax and spend Democrat (and mind you, to the extent that I affiliate with either party, I’m a Democrat).

Comment by Cynic Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 2:49 pm
“substantial body of research which shows that the criminal justice system overrelies on incarceration and that a subsantial percengage the corrections population can be better and more cheaply served through community-based parole and social programs.” Why don’t you take that sign to a Jennifer Hudson Concert. I’ll buy the tickets.

As George points out the numbers don’t add up. The fact is the OT is much less than paying staff. Conservatively if you pay staff 45k per year you won’t replace 985 of the lost 4000+.

Quinn’s biggest failure and why he has lost the trust of the state employees is because he has not cleaned house of the political hacks making twice what their position justifies that Blago hired. We have to work the budget problem on both ends and Quinn could be a hero if he dropped the AX on the Blago hires, but as we are seeing he does not have the moxy to do so.

I can name several people without the skills or training for their position who were hired for more than their predecessor. Until he whacks some of them, we must oppose any tax hikes.

Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 3:36 pm
Pepsi, I keep remembering John Belushi on Sat Nite Live going ‘cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, pepsi, pepsi! No Coke, Pepsi’. As to Pontiac prison, that closure was a political payback that put guards in danger as well as some out of a job. I thought we were trying to create jobs in a bad economy, not eliminate a much needed service. Bravo Quinn for correcting another Blago wrong!

Comment by Belle Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 3:47 pm
@ Belle - I agree that the closure of Pontiac was politically motivated; however, that’s not the point. The question is whether we need this faciliy to remain open. If there’s a need to keep the prison open, that’s ok. But Quinn didn’t focus on the necessity of the prison, he focused on jobs and frankly, that’s not ok.

I’m beginning to think that AFSCME is running state government, not our Governor.

Comment by Cynic Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 4:09 pm
Cynic “I’m beginning to think that AFSCME is running state government, not our Governor”

Well, if AFSCME were running the state I bet we would not have 45,000 inmates smashed ito space meant only for 34,000. Nor I would also wager we would not have understaffed prisons which put the inmates and the staff in danger. Just saying.

Comment by Princess Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 4:47 pm
The unfortunate problem that DOC faces is the utter LACK of direction and focus on its mission…custody and care of incarcerated individuals. While DOC had always had it fair share of political promotions, it has never been as bad as the last 10 years. The individuals running the show are clueless. Ryan/Snyder and Blagojevich/Walker took it to a new level. Most (not all) past promotees used to work their way up the ladder. Sometimes I get misty eyed thinking about the good ole Odie Washington days.

Tougher laws and longer sentences have resulted in an increased number of people in the system. (Don’t believe the hype when DOC says recidivism is down.) This is an unfortunate consequence of “getting tough on crime.” I bet most people driving by a prison think about the “bad guys” that are locked up there. I also bet that they never give one thought about my sisters and brothers working in that same prison, who day in and day out, leave their families not knowing if they will return home. If you think we are overpaid and underworked, walk a mile in our shoes.
Govenor Quinn, thank you for keeping Pontiac C.C. open.
P.S. Leave our pensions alone.

Comment by Gallery Walker Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 5:16 pm
DOC mismanaged??? That is the greatest understatement in IL government history. These guys don’t know up from down.

Comment by PolPro Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 5:19 pm
Pepsi,no Coke. The evaluation of this bid came under the aegis of Shared Services. Another outfit that Blago conveived……actually it was from the brilliant minds at Bureau of the Budget.

That’s why IEMA has a bill trying to get out of Exec Order #6. Ask the State Police what they think of Shared Services.

Comment by PolPro Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 5:23 pm
How about we save time and money by putting a wall around the towns of Cicero and Rosemont, and giving everyone inside three to five years on general principle?

Comment by Bubs Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 5:34 pm
Listen to the patriot

“Quinn’s biggest failure and why he has lost the trust of the state employees is because he has not cleaned house of the political hacks making twice what their position justifies that Blago hired. We have to work the budget problem on both ends and Quinn could be a hero if he dropped the AX on the Blago hires, but as we are seeing he does not have the moxy to do so.”

I can name several people without the skills or training for their position who were hired for more than their predecessor. Until he whacks some of them, we must oppose any tax hikes.

Comment by Leave a light on George Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 6:40 pm
I am amazed at the number of corrections experts that post on this site. Cassandra, there is a lot of research out there to dispute just about any point you would like to make.

As 18 year veteran of the IDOC, I think that I am qualified to make a couple of points. 1st the IDOC has nothing to do with sentencing of convicted felons. The courts handle that based on the laws that are passed by our elected officials. If we as the electorate don’t want politicians to get tough on crime then quit voting for them. And a side note on that. Dig a little deeper in the research and you will find that many non-violent drug offenders have been arrested multiple times before they actually make it to the DOC.

As far as closing prisons goes, there needs to be a comprehensive bi-partisan commision established to review IDOC facilities. Senator Radogno recommended this when Stateville was on the block. Undoubtedly they will find that some of the older facilities may need to be closed at some point because they are to old and expensive to maintain. This should be based on engineering and finances, not politics. I would suggest a 5,10, 15 and 20 year plan that would outline a timeframe for closing and possibly replacing existing structures. Instead of closing a facility and uprooting the staff, why not look at replacing the existing structure as close to the old location as possible?

These jobs have and are continuing to be used as political goodies by our elected officials. This needs to curtailed as much as possible. Prisons are a necessary evil in our society. You liberals that argue that it has evolved into an industry of minority oppression should speak to many of the victims who suffered or are continuing to suffer from horrible acts committed against them.

The non-violent drug offender is a rarity in prison. Most of the drug trade in Illinois is controlled by Gangs who are extremely ruthless and violent. Prisons were built and are over capacity because of the scourge of gang activity in Cook County and the Metro-East. If this minority oppression, then all I have to say to the minority is don’t join a gang and commit crimes.

As an IDOC employee, I EARN a comfortable living for my family. But each day I walk inside the prison I am accepting the risk that I could be injured or even killed in the line of duty. We do this to earn a living but also to protect the public. Most DOC staff don’t want or expect gratitude but a little respect would not hurt.

The next time you hear of a horrifc crime committed and the offender is arrested,tried, and convicted, don’t forget where that person is going — to jail. And the DOC staff will be working dilligently to keep that criminal behind bars for as long as the court has determined.

Comment by southern illinoisan Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 7:06 pm
Overtime and reduced staffing are NOT necessarily linked in a direct relationship. Actually, better management of the 12,000+ DOC staff can have significant impact on overtime expenditures. In FY06, the year of the Harvey Rose Facility Efficiency study, DOC/DJJ overtime was reduced by over 15% while the actual staffing fell by nearly 400. Assuming an average payroll cost of $70,000, that’s a $32,000,000 potential annual savings.
DOC needs to operate more efficiently before adding additional staff. For example, allowing a state-of-the-art Thompson prison to set vacant while maintaining Statesville’s crumbling facility makes no sense. AFSME’s statistics are selective and don’t represent the many real opportunities available to a Quinn administration to improve the management of state resources. The main problem DOC faces is poor management execution left-over from the Blago administration.

Comment by Louis Howe Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 7:35 pm
Bubs, your comment is way out of line. Good people in both places. I hear Bill Cellini has a nice place in Springfield, and Rezko and Stu Levine had mansions to die for on the North Shore.

Virtue a function of geography? C’mon.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 7:45 pm
@ Princess - Quinn’s not talking about need for the prison, he’s talking about jobs. Do you not see the difference between the two? If you’re going to dole out jobs, spend the money where it’s most needed — there are plenty of places in the state that need jobs.

Patriot is right, Gov Q talks like a tiger but acts like a kitten. He has yet to really clean house of the many Blago cronies that still permeate state government. The Sun-Times gave him a veritable road map of the most questionable hires and he still hasn’t chopped some very deserving targets. We should be demanding that the state rid these leeches on the payroll before we’re asked to swallow a tax increase.

Comment by Cynic Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 8:08 pm
It is ridiculous to only serve Coke or Pepsi. Put in those gas station soda machines that have several selections.

I am Pepsi, only.

Comment by Sangamon Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 8:13 pm
Cynic “@ Princess - Quinn’s not talking about need for the prison, he’s talking about jobs. Do you not see the difference between the two? If you’re going to dole out jobs, spend the money where it’s most needed — there are plenty of places in the state that need jobs”.

Cynic, you got one little quote, the man has not given a detailed accounting for his actions. Besides that, just what does your stand in reasoning mean?–”If you’re going to dole out jobs, spend the money where it’s most needed ..” Are you going to spin me the Capitol Plan now? You know the plan a few months ago Blago and the supporters were touting as a ‘job program’. Are you going to tell me that all the plans projects should be in only the places/area that needs ‘jobs’ most. to heck with the actual project? Maybe next you’ll try telling me that the fed money thats’ coming should only go to a limited number of select areas that have a need for a set number of ‘jobs’. If you’re going to spin it, spin it fairly. Take TS for instance. Blago’s own plan there was to move it from Springfield to give it to Harrisburg, you remember–I believe it was stated as ‘IDOT’s goal was jobs in Sountern Illinois. I don’t believe you’ve given me your title. Just what is your position that you qualify to decide where and what is needed?

Like it or not the states prisons are over crowded. They are also understafed. Pontiac was not even the prison that was initially on Rod’s agenda. You do recall how it changed from Joliet to Pontiac like overnight, right? Obviously no real thought was put into closing Pontiac.

Comment by Princess Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 8:45 pm
There has been a lot of mismanagement in the DOC for some time now. It became a problem with George Ryan and Don Snyder skimming off the top for their own benefit, and got far worse with Blago, Walker and their cronies gutting DOC/DJJ and replacing every competent A/W to Director with individuals who can’t get a even grade to stay permanently in the position. Now DOC is stuck with a bunch of acting wardens, acting directors who are nothing more than yes men lackeys for fear of being sent back to their previous positions or fired. AFSCME has to share some of the blame for being afraid to endorse a candidate in 2006. Bottom line DOC needs more staff, more bed space, and competent administrators.

Comment by Ultra50k Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 9:13 pm
Louis Howe - I agree with you. AFSCME provides selective numbers - while not mentioning that perhaps it is cheaper to pay fewer employees overtime than paying for these employees over the long-term, including pension costs. All AFSCME wants to do is increase their membership rolls, they too often don’t have the public interest in mind.

Comment by FlackrBackr Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 9:59 pm
@ Princess - spend the money where needed means that we should spend the money on the programs/projects that we need most. Heck, if we need prisons more than schools or roads that’s fine. My point is not that I’m anti-Pontiac, it’s that when the Gov talks about keeping it open in terms of jobs, I will take him at his word that it was his main concern.
Unfortunately, it’s expensive to run a prison and if we don’t need it I’d rather see the money invested in the state’s infrastructure.

Comment by Cynic Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 10:10 pm
cassandra, racial disproportionality must be looked at in terms of economics. there’s more crime in poor communities. more poor african americans, more poor criminals, more african americans in prison. you’re not seeing lots of well to do african americans in prison. the racial makeup of prisons may be disproportionate but that does not mean the inmate is innocent. or do you advocate releasing rapists because of the disproportionality of the population incarcerated?

or to put it another way, map the reports of crime.you will find it in poor neighborhoods disproportionate to that in more well to do areas. is that unfair too? and who is at fault? does it mean we don’t arrest in certain neighborhoods because it is disproportionate? ask the victims and they will tell you that things aren’t hard enough on criminals.

Comment by Amy Thursday, Mar 12, 09 @ 11:07 pm
Regardless of his offenses, Donnie Snyder made DOC facilities safer and better places to work for corrections officers and other DOC employees. Ask DOC employees, and they may say they didn’t like the china or the airplane rides, but they felt their facilities were adequately staffed and governed by rules that made them safer.

Comment by Fan of the Game Friday, Mar 13, 09 @ 8:23 am