Two Michigan prisons, including one in Standish, may have found a new lease on life.
The State of California is considering using them to house inmates from its own over-crowded prison system. But not everyone is happy.
Monday afternoon, corrections officers and their families were stationed along the side of M-61, protesting Governor Granholm's plan to close the prison.
The officers are trying to save their jobs and prevent the release of any more inmates from Michigan prisons.
David Olsik and his three children were among the protesters. He said he doesn't understand Granholm's decision to close Standish...
"She's claiming marketability, and she's putting money ahead of people's safety," said Olsik. "And then she says that California and other states want to look at this prison to possibly lease or something like that, and we don't even have enough room for all of ours. So she's putting money ahead of Michigan safety, and I just don't understand that."
Many of the protesters waved signs that were critical of Granholm, including corrections officer Paul Piche.
He's actually filed a recall petition against her.
"She's gotta go. She violated her oath," said Piche. "She tried to fix the budget by letting these prisoners out. She's already let several thousand prisoners on the street, and they're committing new crimes daily."
But filling the prison with inmates from California might be the best way to keep it open.
If the prison does close, it would put pressure on Standish's already tight budget, says City Manager Michael Moran...
"We're limiting overtime as much as we can," said Moran. "We have said no more new street projects; we can't afford to do those at all this year, maybe into next year."
If Standish closes, Moran said the city would lose at least 420-thousand dollars in revenue per year. And for a city with just 1,200 residents, that's a lot.
City officials never thought the prison would close, said Kurt Hillman. He's currently chair of the Arenac County Economic Development Corporation, and is a former mayor of Standish. He was on the city council when the prison was being built.
"Basically it was touted 20, 25 years ago that the prison is recession proof; there's no way you have to worry about the loss of jobs," said Hillman. "And I was just talking to another former mayor this morning, how wrong we were that the recession can affect the prisons. But it's obviously telling you though that how far down we've gone, in order to get to that point."
He said if the prison closes, schools will suffer as corrections officers transfer to other facilities, taking their children with them.
"Not all are Standish. There are certainly some in Pinconning, some in Tawas / Au Gres and so on," said Hillman. "But if you look at roughtly $7,000 per student, that's almost three quarters of a million dollars lost from this area as far revenue to the schools."
A wide range of Standish residents have gotten involved in the fight to keep the prison open.
Father James Fitzpatrick of the Resurrection of the Lord Catholic Church said the closure was announced on Friday, June 5. And he got involved the very next day...
"On Saturday, before mass, I realized that, you know, given the time frame, fairly brief from the announcement to the closing, that if we were going to try to stop it we had to do something right away," said Fitzpatrick. "So I decided that that weekend, beginning with the 5:00 mass, that we would have petitions out in the commons so people could begin signing up immediately."
"Within, oh I think maybe 5 days, we had over 8,000 signatures," he said. "And of course, when you consider that Arenac County, the population is 17,000, well, that's pretty good."
Back on the picket line, corrections officer David Olsik doesn't want the prison to close. But at the same time, he doesn't want Michigan prisoners to be released to make room for prisoners from California.
"It's close to the hospital. Close to the expressway. Close to the airport. It's centrally located," he said. "We were the discharge facility for all maximum security prisoners who were maxing out on their sentences. And for her to close it all because of a money issue, that she wants to loan it out to other states and jeopardize the people of Michigan's safety, I just, I don't, I can't accept that."
California officials are expected to tour Standish Max next month, and then make their decision.
And until then, all Standish can do is hope - and wait.
The State of California is considering using them to house inmates from its own over-crowded prison system. But not everyone is happy.
Monday afternoon, corrections officers and their families were stationed along the side of M-61, protesting Governor Granholm's plan to close the prison.
The officers are trying to save their jobs and prevent the release of any more inmates from Michigan prisons.
David Olsik and his three children were among the protesters. He said he doesn't understand Granholm's decision to close Standish...
"She's claiming marketability, and she's putting money ahead of people's safety," said Olsik. "And then she says that California and other states want to look at this prison to possibly lease or something like that, and we don't even have enough room for all of ours. So she's putting money ahead of Michigan safety, and I just don't understand that."
Many of the protesters waved signs that were critical of Granholm, including corrections officer Paul Piche.
He's actually filed a recall petition against her.
"She's gotta go. She violated her oath," said Piche. "She tried to fix the budget by letting these prisoners out. She's already let several thousand prisoners on the street, and they're committing new crimes daily."
But filling the prison with inmates from California might be the best way to keep it open.
If the prison does close, it would put pressure on Standish's already tight budget, says City Manager Michael Moran...
"We're limiting overtime as much as we can," said Moran. "We have said no more new street projects; we can't afford to do those at all this year, maybe into next year."
If Standish closes, Moran said the city would lose at least 420-thousand dollars in revenue per year. And for a city with just 1,200 residents, that's a lot.
City officials never thought the prison would close, said Kurt Hillman. He's currently chair of the Arenac County Economic Development Corporation, and is a former mayor of Standish. He was on the city council when the prison was being built.
"Basically it was touted 20, 25 years ago that the prison is recession proof; there's no way you have to worry about the loss of jobs," said Hillman. "And I was just talking to another former mayor this morning, how wrong we were that the recession can affect the prisons. But it's obviously telling you though that how far down we've gone, in order to get to that point."
He said if the prison closes, schools will suffer as corrections officers transfer to other facilities, taking their children with them.
"Not all are Standish. There are certainly some in Pinconning, some in Tawas / Au Gres and so on," said Hillman. "But if you look at roughtly $7,000 per student, that's almost three quarters of a million dollars lost from this area as far revenue to the schools."
A wide range of Standish residents have gotten involved in the fight to keep the prison open.
Father James Fitzpatrick of the Resurrection of the Lord Catholic Church said the closure was announced on Friday, June 5. And he got involved the very next day...
"On Saturday, before mass, I realized that, you know, given the time frame, fairly brief from the announcement to the closing, that if we were going to try to stop it we had to do something right away," said Fitzpatrick. "So I decided that that weekend, beginning with the 5:00 mass, that we would have petitions out in the commons so people could begin signing up immediately."
"Within, oh I think maybe 5 days, we had over 8,000 signatures," he said. "And of course, when you consider that Arenac County, the population is 17,000, well, that's pretty good."
Back on the picket line, corrections officer David Olsik doesn't want the prison to close. But at the same time, he doesn't want Michigan prisoners to be released to make room for prisoners from California.
"It's close to the hospital. Close to the expressway. Close to the airport. It's centrally located," he said. "We were the discharge facility for all maximum security prisoners who were maxing out on their sentences. And for her to close it all because of a money issue, that she wants to loan it out to other states and jeopardize the people of Michigan's safety, I just, I don't, I can't accept that."
California officials are expected to tour Standish Max next month, and then make their decision.
And until then, all Standish can do is hope - and wait.
