February 16, 2001

Recent (articles) in the local papers are once again trying to sway public opinion in favor of another prison for our area. Regrettably, these articles are not backed by any hard facts, but consist of more of the same half truths and misguided assertions that the proponents of prison building have been feeding us for some time now. The Brush Valley Preservation Association would like to respond to some of these vague assumptions with the truths that we have uncovered.

First, while BVPA still supports the building of a new prison, (if on the right site and not burdening the general population), studies we have obtained indicate that the highly touted economic boost to local economies does not exist. One recent writer claimed that his prison has five local contracts, mostly for food items. We must question, however, if these contacts are truly "local." At any rate most supplies will come from the federal prison system's own Unicore factories using prisoner labor, not the local work force. All else must be bid on. This makes it highly unlikely that local businesses will profit much at all from this arrangement.

Concerning local prison contracts, the questions must be asked: What is the NET profit to area businesses? How many LOCAL jobs will be created? And what is the overall benefit to the ENTIRE community?

As to the issue of prison employees the claims of 400 plus new local jobs at $35,000 a year is, to say the least, optimistic. The starting salary of prison employees is approximately $22,000. This can be verified by viewing the Federal Bureau of Prisons' own web site. Also, the actual number of local people hired will be much less than has been claimed. In a study done by Professor Ruth Gilmore at U.C. Berkeley, she determined in California, locals accounted for less than 20 percent of the work force in a new prison. In 15 years of operation this number still has not reached 40 percent for any California prison. Remember that the proposed Northumberland County prison will be built to help house the relocated inmates from Washington, D.C.'s soon to be closed Lorton facility. It is our understanding that Lorton's staff has been given preference for jobs at those prisons constructed to house their prisoners, thus lowering even further the odds of our local people getting a prison job.

Interestingly enough, the D.C. Prisoners' Legal Services Project reports that rebuilding Lorton, even in impoverished areas of D.C., was rejected when it became clear that the promise of economic development was overstated. The original Lorton land may be used for a mix of purposes. DCPLSP writes "At present it appears that much of it (Lorton) will be devoted to park land and preserved for the purpose of conservation." Is it possible they know something in D.C. that we don't?

In Mrs. Gilmore's article she also states that "The lack of amenities in a town, coupled with the dominance of a prison on its social and economic horizon, may discourage other industries from locating in the town which might, for all other purposes, be perfectly suitable. In California, all new prison towns have had great difficulty attracting other industries."

The people of our area need only look about them to see that there has been no economic boom associated with all of our area's prisons. If there was, what has happened to the Victoria theater, K-mart, Jamesway, Penney's, Acme, Clark's, Stage, Alumo, Woolworth's? You get the picture.

BVPA wants people to remember that there are alternate sites under consideration (despite the claims incorrectly made in Mr. Strausser's letter) and we support the building of a prison on one of them. We DO NOT, however make any excuses or apologies for our opposition to the destruction of Brush Valley. Our members have the right to voice our opinions about how our tax dollars (both federal and county) are spent. Perhaps if Brush Valley is not the site of a new prison, the water company may then have more incentive to sell it for recreation. We HAVE found the money to do so. Hopefully our elected leaders will realize we need a real plan for our community and they must take advantage of this opportunity to improve the quality of life for all of us. John R. Faraguna