THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412090613
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: VIRGINIA
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
John McCluskey paced, microphone in hand, on the stage above an openly hostile crowd.
He had come to Kiptopeke Elementary School Wednesday night to answer questions about the maximum-security prison the state may build outside Cape Charles.
``The Virginia Department of Corrections does what it says it's going to do,'' said McCluskey, who is second in command in the state prisons system. ``We'll tell you the truth.''
And the truth, according to McCluskey, is: If an environmental impact report gives the state a green light, Northampton County will get a 1,267-inmate maximum-security prison.
That's not what many in the audience of 650, the biggest crowd anyone could remember turning out for a local meeting, wanted to hear.
``This is not a done deal,'' said Edward Reynolds, a retiree. ``There's a plan under way to stop it.''
Protesters gathered around a lighted tent outside the school an hour before the meeting started. The tent was decorated with purple streamers, the official color of Citizens Opposed to the Prison. Many of the people wore purple ribbons, purple leis, purple shirts and purple hats. The children carried purple balloons.
Someone had obviously spent the day making dozens of magic-marker signs. ``No Prisons in Paradise,'' read one. Others were similar: ``Don't Get Conned. Tourists, Yes, Murders, No.'' And ``Keep the Tidewater Criminals in Tidewater.''
The protesters, both black and white, marched 100 yards or so to the school entrance, singing ``We Shall Overcome,'' and ``Jingle Bells,'' and chanted:
``One, two, three, four, keep your prison off the Shore.''
The atmosphere bordered on carnival.
But inside, everything changed. Chairs were jammed so tightly in the hot gymnasium that people could barely get to seats, and some were left standing.
Although heckling started almost immediately, McCluskey was there to impart information, and that's what he did. Some of what he said was new.
The Department of Corrections has put options on two more parcels of land adjoining the original 108-acre tract, and now has plans to buy 272 acres outside Cape Charles, he said.
McCluskey promised to stand by Northampton in any state or local negotiations for low-income housing grants. This was the first time he has publicly mentioned support for housing.
``I will be glad to pledge full participation in any effort on that behalf,'' he said. Some county residents said they would look more favorably on the prison proposal if McCluskey helped steer more state money to Northampton.
McCluskey was asked if the state would build Northampton a new county jail on the prison site. He chose his words carefully when answering. Virginia currently pays part of the construction fees for all county jails, he said. But he did not say if the state would agree to take on a higher percentage of the cost for a new Northampton jail.
McCluskey repeated his offer to transform the Cape Charles water and wastewater plants into the hub of a regional water and sewerage system.
``I see an awful lot of pit privies when I drive around Northampton County,'' he said. ``You have some issues that we could help you address.''
For the first time, McCluskey said that he had spoken with officials of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel about cutting tolls for prison employees.
Corrections officials at the meeting did not answer a number of questions. Local residents wanted to know what percentage of the state's prison population tested positive for HIV, hepatitis B and TB. They wanted to know the crime rate inside Virginia's prisons, and what the hurricane-evacuation plan for prisoners would be.
``How can you approach the community without these answers?'' shouted Dr. Lucas Lewin. Lewin heads the emergency room at Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital - the area's only hospital.
Frank Wendell, a member of the Cape Charles Town Council, wanted to know which local officials had supported the Department of Corrections in its plans for the county. He waved a copy of a news release from Gov. George Allen's office which stated that a majority of Northampton's supervisors and the Cape Charles Town Council approved of the prison.
``How can the governor be so woefully misinformed?'' asked Wendell. He said later that neither governing body has voted on the question. ILLUSTRATION: Staff map
by CNB