Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 21, 1995 TAG: 9508210039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
Brace for a host of wailing and teeth gnashing between now and November over keeping violent criminals off the streets.
But don't expect much straight talk about the astronomical cost of locking away all the bad actors.
That's because General Assembly candidates from both parties will respond to the public's ambivalence about crime.
That ambivalence was borne out in a recent statewide poll conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University for The Roanoke Times and its sister paper in Norfolk, The Virginian-Pilot.
People want more than anything to feel safe. But few relish the thought of their tax dollars going to construct prisons if that means taking money away from schools, health care and other state services, the poll found.
In that survey, the vast majority of respondents - 86 percent - chose education when given the choice between increasing state spending on schools or prisons.
The data validates what citizens have told the two newspapers about issues that matter to them in a series of round-table discussions across the state this summer. "Why in the world do we build more prisons to put more children in, when we can't educate our children?" asked Pat Radcliffe, 46, the mother of four from Roanoke.
A Virginia Beach mother of two, Jane Baum, 39, says our school system needs more attention. "We spend less money on the child than we do on the criminals," she said.
On crime, the public wants it both ways.
"It's difficult to adjust the public's understanding of the situation," said Paul Goldman, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party. "Sooner or later, you have to tell them."
Politicians would rather wait - at least until after the November elections that will determine which party controls the General Assembly.
Republicans and Democrats alike are trying to score points with the crime issue.
Gov. George Allen led the Republican crusade last fall to abolish parole and lengthen prison sentences for violent criminals.
The result is a prison-building binge the scale of which never has been seen in Virginia. The state's inmate population, up from 18,340 to 22,657 in the 20 months since Allen took office, is projected to reach nearly 42,000 by the year 2001.
Allen wants to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars, meaning the bill won't come due until long after he leaves office in January 1998. At the same time, he wants to cut taxes.
"This is one of the great frauds of all time," said G.C. Morse, a speech writer for former Democratic Gov. Gerald Baliles. "There is a disconnect between what Allen advocates and his willingness to step up to the plate and pay the bill."
Democrats who control the General Assembly had doubts that building prisons alone would put an end to rape, murder and mayhem.
Still, the majority of Democratic lawmakers fell in behind Allen last fall, fearful that a failure to do so would brand them as not sufficiently tough on crime.
Their compliance leaves Democrats with little room to complain about building new prisons.
Instead, Democrats have begun questioning the Allen administration's competence in managing a rapidly expanding penal system.
Analysts say the Democrats, too, are trying to have it both ways: They want to be seen as tough on crime, while at the same time playing to the public's misgivings about the costs.
"It's a useful countermeasure to partly neutralize the Republican issue toward crime," said Larry Sabato, a political commentator from the University of Virginia.
Today, Democrats will seek to regain the initiative on crime when a House of Delegates subcommittee opens hearings on several recent high-profile incidents.
These include: Delays in contracts for private prison facilities; a massive cost overrun at a Big Stone Gap prison; a handgun found in the typewriter of a death-row inmate; and questions about corrections chief Ron Angelone's tenure as head of Nevada prisons.
Scott Leake, director of the Joint Republican Caucus, said the Democrats simply are trying to chip away at Allen's popularity.
"One of the classic things you try to do in a political campaign is to take your opponent's strongest asset and try to turn it into a liability," he said.
Leake said today's hearings have been in the works for months: Last winter, pollster Alan Secrest penned a secret memo - misdelivered to a Republican lawmaker - that advised Democrats on the proper course in neutralizing Allen on crime.
"Democrats do not have to be seen as less enthusiastic than Allen about putting criminals away," Secrest wrote. "Instead, they should show that they are less enthusiastic about more lavish Pentagon-like spending waste."
Gail Nardi, spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party, denied that the hearings were politically motivated.
"Legislative oversight is not a partisan issue," she said. "It would be a dereliction of duty to open a trap door and shove a lot of money down there without knowing what's in there.
"This isn't just politics. Obviously, this is an election year and politics get splashed on everything. But if this weren't an election year, we'd be doing the same thing. The list is too long - there's too much smoke."
It remains to be seen, however, if the hearings produce any fire.
There will be questions about price-gouging private contractors and bond counsel; death-row security lapses; and prison doctors in Nevada who got paid for hours they didn't work.
But don't count on questions that might help reconcile the public's conflicting desires for safe streets and low taxes and good schools.
by CNB