Sixty Attend

Work Camp Hearing

By M. D. Drysdale

"I think we’re being sold a bill of goods," declared former selectboard member Phyllis Forbes as 60 Randolph citizens listened to a presentation on a Department of Corrections work camp proposed for Randolph.

The meeting had proceeded smoothly last Wednesday evening until Forbes challenged spokesmen for the state—David Burley, director of engineering in the General Services Division, Roger Tetreault, project manager, and Bob Kupek, facilities director for the Department of Corrections.

Forbes charged that materials handed out by the trio had painted a rosy picture of the economic impact of prison facilities on a town. Studies in New York state have shown, she said, that towns with prisons lose population, housing, and jobs over the years.

Burley, the lead presenter at the Old Dorm Lounge, bristled at Forbes’ charges.

"There are three honest state employees here tonight," he said. "We’ve never tried to deceive you that this will be an economic boon."

Experience in Vermont has shown, he said, that Department of Corrections facilities have not had an adverse economic impact.

"Correct me if I’m wrong, but property values in Woodstock are not hurting too badly," he said later, in a reference to the Correctional Center that Woodstock hosted for many years.

Selectboad member Dawn Butterfield also had a problem with Forbes’ analysis. She had read the same studies, she said, but they were in reference to "huge, medium security prisons" which are not comparable to the 100-bed work camp proposed for Randolph.

"It’s apples and oranges," she said.

Great Idea, But …

Also adding a note of controversy to the hearing was Brookfield musician Bobby Gosh, who had led the opposition to a similar proposal 10 years ago.

"Work camps are a great idea and there’s a need for them," he conceded. "But why does the state put them in towns?

"Once and for all, take the state land and design a facility and don’t keep coming back and destroying the life of towns," he said.

Hurley explained that "there are no state lands that are not in a town" and he disputed Gosh’s characterization.

"Nobody in these towns is saying it is destroying the town," he said, referring to the eight towns that currently house correctional facilities.

Only one Vermont town so far actually has a work camp—St. Johnsbury. That facility has been in place for 13 years.

A short film quoted St. Johnsbury manager Mike Walsh as saying it was "a very positive experience."

The inmates spent 90,000 hours last year in work projects, for non-profit organizations like churches and schools, Kupek said.

Several questioners also pressed Hurley and Kupek on whether, once a work camp is established, the state might not later expand it into a full-fledged prison.

Hurley acknowledged that the state can’t write a guarantee against this into their contract with the town, and that in St. Albans a juvenile prison was eventually turned into an adult prison.

However, Kopek said the work camp is so different from a prison that to change it would mean starting all over again, including new permits. Also, he said, what the state needs is a work camp, not a prison.

"I don’t think there is really any chance of this ever being anything but a work camp," he said.

Several in the audience, however, remained clearly skeptical of that statement.

Most of the hearing allowed those attending to ask questions about the specifics of the work camp idea.

Prisoners assigned to the work camp are in jail for non-violent crimes and have established a good record in incarceration, Kupek said. Because work camp assignment is a desirable goal (inmates can work time off their sentences), the inmates have a powerful incentive for good behavior, he said.

Concessions Likely

Burley answered several questions about what concessions Randolph could get from the state if it agreed to take the work camp. Drawing on past experience, he estimated that the work camp would cost $8 to $9 million and from $1 to $2 million in economic concessions.

These might include contributions to the waste water treatment plant and extension of sewer and water lines down South Pleasant St. Ext. to the landfill area, which has been identified as the most likely location. Such an extension has been a goal of economic planners for years, but it has been deemed too expensive.

Selectbaord members several times guaranteed that the work camp question will be put up to a full vote of the town. They continued to indicate their own minds are not made up at this time and that they have heard a lot of both pros and cons about the proposal.