Message to Quinn: Fund Thomson
By RICH BIRD -
rbird@svnmail.com -
800-798-4085, ext. 591
THOMSON – Area legislators representing the village of Thomson – and even some who do not – have pledged to meet with Gov. Pat Quinn with the goal of finding the money to bring the largely empty prison here to full capacity.
State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, speaking on behalf of himself and state Reps. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, and Patrick J. Verschoore, D-Rock Island, said they would request the private meeting “to get [Quinn] on paper and see where he stands” with regard to the prison.
The three lawmakers each spoke to about 100 people, mostly Department of Corrections employees and their families, who gathered for a rally Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of the Sunrise Cafe within sight of the prison.
If the sign boards and petitions weren’t clear enough, the sea of black T-shirts spelled out the message of the day: “Governor Quinn, Please Fund Thomson.”
The maximum-security prison, which sits on the north side of town, was finished in 2001; about 700 workers are needed to run it, but the $54 million a year needed to operate it at full capacity never was budgeted.
Instead, a wing was opened in September 2006, housing about 140 minimum-security inmates and roughly 70 staff. An Illinois Department of Corrections official said then that it was the first step toward fully opening the prison, although no timetable was given.
The building has cost the state roughly $1 million a year to maintain.
Amid his tumultuous ouster over charges of public corruption, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered the closure of the 137-year-old maximum security prison in Pontiac, and directed that it’s 1,500 inmates be shipped to Thomson; however, after a series of delays in court, newly-minted Gov. Pat Quinn quickly reversed that decision last month, effectively giving thee Livingston County prison a stay of execution and leaving another question mark to loom over Thomson.
When Quinn unveiled his fiscal year 2010 budget proposal, with no additional funding for Thomson, DOC employees Randy and Kathy Newstrand organized the rally.
“We did this to bring attention to the legislators,” Kathy Newstrand said. “What made it urgent is the governor didn’t propose any funding. ... I’m concerned about the employees that were hired and what will happen to them.”
Roughly 300 new DOC employees were hired to staff Thomson in anticipation of prisoner transfers from Pontiac. But with Quinn’s reversal, those employees have found themselves filling open spots in other prisons throughout the state.
Meanwhile, Sacia said the DOC is spending in excess of $60 million a year in overtime to staff existing prisons, “and we can’t get $40 million to open Thomson Prison. This is a no-brainer.”
With more than 50 days before a final vote on the budget, there is plenty of time to work with Quinn, Sacia said.
“We simply need to convince the governor – a reasonable, sensible and prudent individual – that we have to get this facility open,” he said.
Jacobs, referencing Quinn’s participation in the Pontiac situation, was more stressful in his desire to see Quinn take an equally active role in Thomson.
He went to Pontiac,”: Jacobs said. “Now Gov. Quinn should get his ... self here.
“I don’t care if they want to push excess prisoners here. I don’t care if they want to close down another prison to do it. I want this prison open.”
