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| Coolidge AZ: Another private prison |
| By trivalleycentral.com |
| Published: 08/24/2011 |
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Mayor Byron Jackson is bullish on Eloy’s four private prisons, and it’s not because he once worked in the system. He says that Corrections Corporation of America has been a good partner with the city ever since it took over or built the four prisons. The city of Coolidge is backing a proposal by Management and Training Corporation to build a 3,000- to 5,000-bed facility there. Coolidge city officials are as excited about the prospect as Jackson. Is it good business? Jackson insists the answer is yes. There may be a perception outside the city that Eloy is just a prison town. Jackson says that is not the case. He points out that the four prisons are located six miles from the city center and that there has been only one documented case where a prisoner escaped — he was captured 100 yards away. Is Coolidge next to have a minimum-medium facility built three miles from its city center? Early indications are that the shakers and movers as well as a majority of citizens in the city of 12,800 located in the heart of Pinal County are for it. A mandatory public hearing held Aug. 18 in the council chambers of the Coolidge Police Department building attracted an overflow crowd of 225. “With our 20 percent unemployment, we need jobs,” Coolidge City Manager Bob Flatley says. “It would bring 400 to 800 good-paying jobs here. The fact is we need to jump-start our job opportunities.” In essence, Coolidge is going through the same process that Eloy experienced almost 20 years earlier. While unemployment remains high in the city of 10,800, Jackson insists that has nothing to do with the prisons. “The jobs are here,” says Jackson, Eloy’s four-term mayor who has lived in Pinal County all of his life and in Eloy for almost 20 years. “CCA pays well in comparison to other [employers] in the area. One of our understandings from the beginning was that [CCA] would offer jobs to locals. They gave us a commitment they would do it.” Flatley agrees that prison jobs are not for everyone. But he believes MTC would deliver on its promise to give qualified Coolidge residents the opportunity to secure employment. And he doesn’t see much opposition to having the private prison in Coolidge city limits. “There are a substantial number of Coolidge residents who work in the prison industry,” Flatley says. “Prisons have been in Pinal County for many years.” While Jackson says less than one-quarter of the 1,200 people employed by the four prisons are from Eloy and that unemployment remains high there, he doesn’t blame CCA. Read More. |
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