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| Ohio To Cut Prison Jobs |
| By Cleveland Plain Dealer |
| Published: 06/15/2001 |
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State prison officials plan to eliminate 1,100 jobs to balance the budget but still may have to close an institution, a department spokesman said recently. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction expects a 2.9 percent budget increase in fiscal 2002, which begins next month - far from the 8 percent and 9 percent increases of the last several years. With a new prison in Toledo, an expanded facility in Conneaut and salary increases for workers, the $1.61 billion budget will not cover expenses, prison officials said. 'We've never had to operate like this before,' department spokesman Joe Andrews said. 'We've never gone into a year with this kind of concern about meeting our budget.' The department imposed a hiring freeze in January and has eliminated some positions through attrition. Workers close to retirement will be eligible for a two-year early retirement incentive beginning Aug. 1. Their positions will not be filled, except for essential employees. Layoffs will follow, Andrews said. Union officials fear that reducing employees, particularly corrections officers, could jeopardize safety. Lou Leonard, a prison counselor, works alone with up to 75 inmates at a time. A corrections officer is supposed to be within eyesight. 'We are totally dependent on corrections officers to watch us as we carry out treatment, counseling and reduce potential problems with mentally ill and drug-affected inmates,' said Leonard, a representative of the Service Employees International Union. 'I don't want to work with inmates not knowing if there's back-up in case of a problem.' Peter Wray, communications director for the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, said that more employees like Leonard may be left alone with large groups of inmates. The union opposes personnel working alone with inmates. In addition to reducing staff, the department plans to terminate outside contracts for pre-release treatment and use state employees to provide those services. Andrews said the department also is investigating combining services among several prisons. |
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He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. Hamilton Lindley His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.