Supporters upstage prison foes

Wednesday, May 26, 1999

Photo caption: Northern Center employee Lisa Grunewald holds a sign supporting the special needs prison and continued use of the Northern Center this morning. Supporters of the prison carried such signs at a rally outside the LaFayette Town Hall Tuesday night, where a meeting of prison foes was supposed to be held.

BY MARK GUNDERMAN

THE CHIPPEWA HERALD

A planned meeting of opponents of the proposed special needs prison at the Northern Center turned into a rallying point for proponents Tuesday night.

Opponents gathering at the LaFayette Town Hall were greeted by supporters of the project carrying signs backing the project.

"I would say we had 200 to 300 (people) there. The opponents were pretty small. I don't think they had more than two or three dozen," said prison supporter Buster Davis, a Northern Center worker and head steward of the professional workers' union.

Bob Mitchell, who organized the supporters' rally with Davis, estimated 150 proponents and only about a dozen opponents.

Al Ellefson, an SGI employee who helped organize the opponents' meeting, said he couldn't estimate how many opponents were present, because the group inside the town hall was "mixed."

"The meeting was supposed to be a planning session for people opposed to the prison. It turned into a discussion," Ellefson said. He admitted being surprised by the outcome.

Mitchell said the supporters' rally was put together quickly.

"Tuesday morning we decided there hasn't been a lot of information from people who support the prison," Mitchell said. "We passed some fliers out and we expected to primarily get people from the (Northern) Center, but there were people from all over."

Davis said Northern Center workers took fliers home and distributed them in their neighborhood and made phone calls encouraging people to attend.

"My jaw dropped when I saw the parking lot" at the town hall, Mitchell said.

"I'm not surprised because I think people are really behind it this time," Davis said. "We learned our lesson on the Supermax. We are much more organized this time."

Two years ago, the state showed interest in locating a super-maximum security prison at the Northern Center grounds, but opponents were able to handily defeat the proposal in a referendum.

This time the state is proposing to convert the Highview building into a sort of nursing home for elderly prisoners, or for those with special medical needs. The state seemed poised to go ahead with the project until recently, when vocal opposition surfaced.

Supporters feel the Tuesday night showing indicates strong support for the prison.

"I feel strongly about the geriatric prison," said Connie Lake-Moe, a Northern Center worker. "Number one is job security and what it will bring into the community."

Lake-Moe feels the continued state presence could lead to continuation of use of the Northern Center, which would be best for the community, and its residents.

"I think it's very important we continue to offer stability for them," she said.

Ellefson is afraid of what the geriatric prison could lead to, and the show of support doesn't change his perception.

"If anything I think it reaffirms my impression that many people, including people at the Northern Center, haven't been given all the facts and don't realize what we are getting into with a prison," he said.

Ellefson conceded that the state would likely do exactly what it says it's going to do in the upcoming budget period. But it is what comes after that that concerns him.

Ellefson said there is no description of a special needs prison in state codes. The Highview project would be a medium security prison. When the next budget comes around, the state will be expanding the project into a full medium security prison.

"We continue to have an expanding prison population. They are going to need more prison space," Ellefson said.

Battle lines are now being drawn for an upcoming meeting at the Chippewa Falls Middles School June 5, when state officials are expected to attend. Both sides in the debate say they will have their supporters there in force.