Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Rushing over before the door closed, Cox got Allen's attention long enough to say, ``Governor, we do not want a prison in Wythe County.''
``I'm beginning to realize that,'' Allen said as the door shut.
Judy Phelan of Wytheville, a relative newcomer to Virginia, was in the elevator with two of her children. She did not recognize Allen until someone introduced him.
In turn, she introduced Allen to John Phelan, 12, and Michael Phelan, 11, as well as 10-year-old K.C. Smith, who was with her. All three youngsters wore white T-shirts with the word ``Prison'' in a circle with a slash mark through it.
The Wythe group, which came to Richmond in three chartered buses and a number of cars and vans, had been unable to arrange a meeting with Allen. But by then, he knew they were there, and why.
Six representatives of Citizens Against the Prison, formed to oppose a 1,500-bed private prison to be built this year two miles east of Wytheville by the Corrections Corporation of America, met privately with Alan Katz, a representative of Attorney General Jim Gilmore.
They also met with Public Safety Director Jerry Kilgore, who said his office would have to consider the favorable vote on the prison by the Wythe County Board of Supervisors, but that he also would consider the many letters of opposition he has gotten from county residents.
Other members of the Wythe group packed a room to meet with state Sen. Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield, and Del. Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville. They sat patiently for more than an hour because the legislators were delayed by a floor session.
Kilgore already has said that bids from private prison companies will be sought after the General Assembly concludes its current session and that the state will have 3,500 private prison beds under contract in Virginia by July 1, including 1,500 medium-security beds.
CCA, a Nashville, Tenn.-based prison company with facilities in a number of other states and several foreign countries, last year announced plans to build a 1,500-bed medium-security unit on a 533-acre site near Wytheville.
The company has a $10,000 land option that expires in May. It plans to purchase the land before then. CCA President David Myers has agreed to sell about 400 acres back to the county for $1 to ease concerns that the prison might expand later.
The convoy of prison foes had been scheduled to leave Wytheville at 7 a.m. but was delayed for an hour by icy weather.
``It's going up a degree every little bit,'' Bill Smith said, offering encouragement for passengers waiting aboard the buses.
``Whatever it takes, that's what we're going to do,'' Linda Butt, one of the CAP activists, declared as the trip got under way.
When turkey and bologna sandwiches were served during the trip, the passengers made comparisons between the lunch meats and the county supervisors who voted in favor of building Virginia's first private prison in Wythe County. The vote was 4-3.
The convoy rolled into Richmond with handmade posters, bearing such messages as ``CCA, Go Away,'' taped to bus windows with bits of adhesive bandages.
by CNB