Debbie Boyd Calls Prison
Powwow
Columbia County, FL (posted
Dec 15,
2009)
By Stew Lilker
Assemblywoman Debbie Boyd (green jacket) listens to
County Manager Dale Williams (blue shirt on right).
Around the table, clockwise, are Mike Belle, Debbie
Boyd, Ashley Cook, Gina Reynolds, Mark Hunter (not seen)
Stephen Bailey, Lynn Banister, Jim Poole, Nathan Riska,
Leonard Bembry, Dale Williams. (Titles at end of story)
State Assemblywoman Debbie Boyd, in a hastily called
meeting at Columbia County IDA headquarters, went on a
prison fact finding mission yesterday morning. In an
effort to get everyone at all levels of government on
the same page regarding the proposed federal prison, Ms.
Boyd invited representatives from the Federal level to
the local level to attend this fact finding meeting.
The
hour long meeting began with IDA Director Jim Poole
going over an extensive laundry list of questions and
complaints regarding the proposed federal prison: the
prison was nonprofit -- now it's for profit; there was
originally a housing component -- now there is none;
prisoners could be moved 2300 miles from their families;
the prison development looks like a Ponzi scheme; there
are no constraints; it's is a speculative prison and the
operators can pull out at anytime.
Mr. Poole also mentioned that he could not find a
representative contract between a prison operator and
the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
County Manager Dale Williams' advice was "Don't sign
anything."
Senator Nelson's Regional Director, Ms. Lynn
Bannister said the Senator did not receive anything from
the Federal Bureau of Prisons, but that it could have
gotten lost in the mail (room) in Washington. Ms.
Bannister said she would see what she could find out.
Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter voiced his
concerns about deputizing members of the prison staff.
After listening to everyone speak, assembly woman
Debbie Boyd said this is a local (as in Columbia County)
issue.
At the conclusion of the meeting your reporter
brought up the letter of support written on July 1, 2008
by the Columbia County Commission, explaining that the
letter had somehow fallen off the table. This letter,
written to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, clearly
explained the support of the project by the county
commission.
Sheriff Hunter and Com Bailey listen to Ms. Boyd.
Your reporter said, "It says that the county's in
favor of it; we have the educational facilities; that
this is a good place to do business ..."
Mr. Poole said, "It doesn't say any of those things."
The letter, which was obtained by the Observer after
months of stalling by County Manager Dale Williams, was
claimed to not be in the possession of the IDA, other
than in a packet of documents provided by Mike Harling's
Capital Markets Group. It clearly shows that the County
Commission and the county manager supported the project.
After some fumbling around and no explanation by
Commissioner Bailey or anyone from Columbia County on
why this letter had gone missing, it was read by Mr.
Poole, making the reason for it's disappearance, quite
obvious.
The amazed look on Ms. Bannister's face spoke for
itself as Mr. Poole read and the aides of the other
representatives listened: (go
to letter)
Lynn Bannister
"Please accept this letter
as our support for this project to be located in our
community. We are anxious to provide the necessary
support and assistance to make this project a success
for all parties involved."
"Thoroughly understanding
the mission of the Bureau of Prisons and its dependency
on quality personnel, we feel that this area provides a
suitable workforce as well as a great place for those
employees and families to reside with our overall
lifestyle quality, educational, and civic resources."
"We have other detention
facilities in Columbia County and are familiar with the
environmental impact as it pertains to the construction
of a correctional institution in our jurisdiction and at
this time have no concerns regarding same."
The letter was signed by Board Chairman Dewey Weaver.
Com Bailey explained that the Board had "an emergency
– a special meeting called last year [July 1, 2008] on
this. Had done no research on the company and knew
nothing about it..."
In documents obtained by the Observer, it is clear
that before the July 1, 2008 special emergency meeting
the county had been in communication with Municipal
Capital Markets Group; the wording of the letter had
been pre-approved, and that Com Bailey's
characterization of the events leave much to the
imagination or he was just not in the loop.
In Columbia County, Florida -- it is business as
usual.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those in attendance were:
U.S.
Senator Bill Nelson’s Regional Director - Lynn Bannister
U.S. Senator George Lemieux’s Staff
Assistant - Ashley Cook
U.S. Congressman Ander Crenshaw’s District
Representative - Nathan Riska
State Representative Leonard Bembry
State Representative Debbie Boyd
Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter
Columbia County Commissioner
Stephen Bailey
Columbia County Manager Dale
Williams
IDA Director Jim Poole
IDA Deputy Director Gina Reynolds
District Aide to State
Representative Debbie Boyd - Mike Belle
