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The new RFP for more prison beds in Arizona is out and bidders will be expected to turn in their packages by February 24th.  Here in Globe, we don’t know who the bidders are at this point. We don’t know if the Emerald Companies who presented before the Globe City Council and EDC on the first go-round will be among the bidders this time. We don’t know even, if Globe is still considered as a site for contention. But what we do know is enough for continued concern and vigilance by all who want to protect this community from becoming another host for these ill-conceived projects.

The Mayor of Globe, Fernando Shipley and three of the six Globe Councilmen: Carmen Casillas, Mary Ann Uhl and Lerry Alderman voted last week to ignore a large majority of Globe and Gila County Citizens (2500+) and send a letter to DOC Director Charles Ryan telling him a “majority of Mayor and Council” were in support of a Private Prison.

In a 3-3 vote with Wheeler, Wilshire and Baker voting NAY, the Mayor broke the tie to give the letter of support a “majority.”  Hardly a resounding message.

In fact, Director Ryan would be well advised to know just how little support is actually contained in that letter.  That kind of ‘majority’ pales in the face of thousands of real citizens who have put their signatures, their faces and their facts on the line.

We know that the attitude of the three Council people – as stated by them at last week’s Council meeting- is dismissive and patronizing to the opposition. Uhl said she was “appalled” by the group’s questioning of the EDC, and Casillas commented that she thought these discussions with the public should be limited, noting that she has better things to do. Alderman accused the opposition group of presenting “lies by omission and veiled threats.”

Yet, in six months of public debate on this issue, none of the prison promoters including Mayor Fernando Shipley, EDC Director, Jerry McCreary, and Councilmen Alderman, Casillas nor Uhl have refuted any of the points made by the opposition with their own facts. Choosing instead to attack the members and tactics of the grassroots opposition. A group they now accuse of intimidating others. The same group which during the September presentation to the Council nearly 7 months ago, was heralded by the Mayor as one of the most civil, well-spoken, well-organized groups the Council had ever heard.

Funny how these charges of  “veiled threats” have arisen just in the last couple weeks. It appears that after 6 months of tone-deaf leadership in which a handful of pro-prison leaders have steadfastly refused to debate the merits of a private prison, they now find their voice to talk about some ‘veiled threats’ issued by the Opposition group. Weak!

The thing that is veiled here are the accusers’ facts. They can’t tell us – or anyone else it seems- just who was involved, or what was said. It apparently never seemed important enough to go to the Police, or confront the  organizers with this. Until last week. When they couldn’t think of anything else to say in the face of opposition except to scold and cast aspersions on those in the audience who have steadfastly opposed a Private Prison in Globe.

This week the DOC put out a new – and revised- RFP for 5000 beds. See Complete RFP Here

This RFP had been re-written in light of the Kingman fiasco just six months ago and has more stringent safety measures.

It also includes new language on page 36 which seems to cast doubt on whether Globe will even be considered as a viable site.

Page 37:

2.3.2
The Department has the ability to offer state-owned land for the purpose of this RFP. The following locations identified below along with the information provided on Attachment 10 can be used for the purpose of providing a response for the use of available state-owned land. The state-owned land identified within this section is the only state-owned land being offered for the purpose of this Request for Proposal. Offerors are cautioned not to include state-owned land that is not stated within this section as part of their offer.”

The locations identified within the section are: Florence, Lewis, Perryville and Yuma.

This language seems to preclude Globe, however in speaking with Barrett M, who is a Public Information Office with the DOC, he indicated that the language actually meant “State Land that is currently under DOC control. ” Really? It seems that the Department of Corrections- who is adept at writing RFPS – would have made the language clearer if that was the case. So what’s up?

This week a new report came out in the Arizona Republic on Kingman. www.azcentral.com/…/20110130kingman-prison-still-under-scrutiny0130.html

One of the “fixes” the State insisted on was beefed up monitoring. This is being accomplished by using more Corrections Department employees on site. But, as House Minority Chad Campbell says, ” …what’s the point of a private prison if we have to put (state corrections) personnel up there to make sure MTC is living up their obligations?”

When the City Council established a new Parks and Rec position, they did so with the idea that the new position would help bring in revenue to the City. So, last night, a relatively new Parks & Rec Director, Matt Jankowski,  presented his proposal to the City to bring in two major bands for next year’s Cinco De Mayo celebration and take that event to the next level. Working closely with Vice Mayor, Carmen Casillas who heads up Los Vecinos Y Campanero, the proposal involves bringing two Big Name bands to Globe  for two 1-day events. The bands: Little Joe Y Familia (a Tex Mex band) and Tierra (first Latino band to have four songs on the national charts) will bring a new brand of major entertainment to the area and a promise of profits to the City and organizers if all goes according to plan.

Although the event will not take place until Spring of 2010, the City Council was asked to commit last night to  a contract- and deposit- for two big-name bands, in order to secure dates. The proposal involved a $32,000 commitment to bring in Little Joe Y Familia and  Tierra for two 1-day events to be held at the Community Center on April 30th and May 1st to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. The City’s investment is $16,000, while Los Vecinos Y Campanero will put up the other $16,000.

Jankowski explained that he had already lined up verbal agreements from 3 major sponsors totaling $15,000 “or more” to help offset the City’s investment. The sponsors include the County ($5000), Golden Eagle Distributors ($5000 plus- depending on whether they will also be providing the the liquor sales), and Three Amigos Tequila, “an up and coming tequila manufacturer in the Valley” who has agreed to provide between $5-$10,000 according to Jankowski. In addition, “I have 273 commitments for tickets right now,” said Jankowski which translates into another $13,000 plus.

Both the City and Los Vecinos Y Campanero’s will recoup their investment if the event makes at least $32,000. If the event does much better than that, and Jankowski and Casillas believe it will, the City will take any profits above and beyond the costs, while Campanero’s will simply recoup their initial investment.

The tickets which are estimated to run $30 for a one-day pass and $50 for a two-day pass will be sold on-line through an agency and it is hoped people might even buy tickets to give as Christmas.presents. Councilman Lerry Alderman brought up the question of whether there would be any opportunity for people to attend portions of the event for free as they have been used to doing in the past, and while Jankowski said he would look into it, the logistics of splitting the event and managing the crowd who was attending for free and those paying for each day’s event makes that prospect highly unlikely. What is more likely is establishing lower ticket prices for kids under 12.

The event is expected to bring in 4-5000 people and do close to $200,000 in ticket sales according to the organizers.