Public hearing set to gather data on private prison Commissioners say they must know more before committing. Public hearing set to gather data on private prison near Lawton
LAWTON — Comanche County commissioners say they want more information before approving a proposal for a new prison in the eastern part of the county.
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Commissioners met Monday morning and took no action on a proposal from GEO Group Inc. to build a medium-security, 1,536-bed prison. GEO already operates a 2,400-bed prison that houses inmates from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Commissioners decided to take no action and instead schedule a public hearing, said Commissioner Gail Turner, who moved to table the proposal. Commissioner Susan Ulrich also voted to table the motion.
"I just feel like we need more information,” said Turner, whose district includes the 160 acres where GEO wants to build. "You can't read it in the paper and then be expected to vote on it on Monday morning.”
The proposed site is near the site of GEO's existing prison in east Lawton.
A public meeting to discuss the prison proposal has been scheduled for 9 a.m. July 28 at the courthouse.
Commissioner Ron Kirby, a former state legislator, made the motion to approve GEO's proposal Monday morning at a special meeting.
In a written statement, Kirby said GEO's proposal was a "win-win situation,” and he was disappointed in the commissioners' vote.
"I don't understand the vote. I do not see any downside to the new facility being built,” Kirby said.
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The Lincoln County Commissioners who dealt with the Stroud proposal were absolutely (and continue to be) slaughtered because they wanted the prison to remain a City of Stroud issue, not a county issue and refused to sign a resolution authorizing construction. Kudos to Commissioners Ulrich & Turner for not giving in without the public first getting a voice in the matter. People in Stroud are being criminalized because they questioned the project and wanted to vote on something which would have brought such significant change to the community (some good, some bad). Interestingly, at one of the Stroud public meetings with GEO representatives, the question was asked of Don Houston why they wouldn't just expand in Lawton. His response, among other things, was that you can sometimes just get too big. Hmmm...
Thank goodness Comanche Commissioners Ulrich and Turner voted to give this proposal a true public hearing. This is far too weighty a decision to be added on to as a last minute amendment to a Special Meeting calendar.
Former Representative Kirby treats GEO like a doting grandma: He's completely unable to say "No" to their every demand, no matter how outrageous.
This same prison proposal was also touted in Lindsay, to the point where a Memorandum of Understanding to go forward was drawn up, and in lovely Spavinaw last year, where GEO's proposal reminded residents of the song, "Big Yellow Taxi." ("They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.")
In both Stroud and Spavinaw, GEO proposed to build unacceptably close to a school. A GEO competitor, CEC/CiviGenics, also now faces the school distance for-profit prison requirement hurdle in Lindsay.
Commissioner Kirby also should be asked to explain why he inflated the supposed anticipated GEO payroll to almost double its apparent size. The excuse that GEO claimed it was true just isn't good enough. This is an outfit that pays guards $7.28 an hour in Texas, after all.
GEO originally approached city officials in Stroud with the proposal in April. During a town meeting to discuss the prison proposal, many community residents spoke out against a plan for GEO to build a facility in Stroud.
Residents signed a petition to keep GEO, which is based in Boca Raton, Fla., from building a prison in the city limits. An effort to the build the prison in the Lincoln County city was shot down as well.
Officials from GEO refused to comment about the prison project in Stroud when contacted last week. Stroud City Manager Steve Gilbert deferred comment to GEO. However, in Thursday's Stroud American newspaper, Gilbert blamed the "anti-prison group” for the loss of the prison and said that public opposition has "created an anti-progress, anti-business force field around Stroud.”
When GEO officials attended a town hall meeting in Stroud, Kirby accompanied them and spoke to the group. Former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer also addressed the crowd on GEO's behalf.
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Former Representative Kirby treats GEO like a doting grandma: He's completely unable to say "No" to their every demand, no matter how outrageous.
This same prison proposal was also touted in Lindsay, to the point where a Memorandum of Understanding to go forward was drawn up, and in lovely Spavinaw last year, where GEO's proposal reminded residents of the song, "Big Yellow Taxi." ("They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.")
In both Stroud and Spavinaw, GEO proposed to build unacceptably close to a school. A GEO competitor, CEC/CiviGenics, also now faces the school distance for-profit prison requirement hurdle in Lindsay.
Commissioner Kirby also should be asked to explain why he inflated the supposed anticipated GEO payroll to almost double its apparent size. The excuse that GEO claimed it was true just isn't good enough. This is an outfit that pays guards $7.28 an hour in Texas, after all.