THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511130070
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Correction Enterprises is much like any other business, except it has run into a series of problems that has led officials to make changes.
The problems caught the eye of Correction Secretary Franklin Freeman, who has ordered that an outside consultant review safety at all Enterprises operations and train employees in safety procedures.
Freeman also pushed Enterprisesdirector Dan Stewart from his post and appointed him director of internal audit - at a salary of $71,540, or $16,000 more than the previous auditor.
The choice carried some irony.
In 1993, the department's internal auditor harshly criticized Stewart's office. The audit found that Enterprises had flouted a host of internal regulations and circumvented purchasing requirements. Stewart acknowledges that he didn't give his staff enough supervision, saying he was working long hours both as director and controller for part of the time.
``We had too many jobs to do, and some just slipped through the cracks,'' he said.
Enterprises employs about 1,800 inmates in 24 factories, farms and laundries throughout the state, making products that range from hamburger to paint, license plates to underwear. It produces much of its own money from sales.
Freeman said he was comfortable with Stewart taking over the role of the prison system's in-house watchdog.
``His management skills were called into question,'' Freeman said, ``but that would not necessarily disqualify him from being an auditor.''
Problems were glaring.
A $3.2-million meat processing plant in Lillington, completed in July 1994, has yet to open. While repair work and finger pointing continue, the plant's 12-month warranty has expired. Now the state is stuck with the $152,000 repair bill - and utility bills piling up at $6,000 a month.
Enterprises officials stored paint and raw chemicals in an Apex warehouse before needed repairs were made, housing combustible materials under a leaking roof and dangling live electrical wires. The Labor Department fined the Department of Correction $268,000.
Meanwhile, Enterprises officials expanded their ambitions for the complex, raising the renovation price to $4.4 million from the $1.1 million originally quoted to the Council of State and General Assembly.
Correction Enterprises has a history of safety problems in its plants, and its products are putting inmates and state employees at risk. A Central Prison inmate received third-degree burns and skin grafts on both legs after he spilled some Enterprises-made floor stripper on his pants. The label did not warn of the danger of chemical burn.
Critics are growing weary of the problems.
``Maybe someone's head needs to be in a vise,'' said state Sen. Frank Ballance, who chairs the appropriation subcommittee that recommends funding for the Department of Correction. ``If responsibilities aren't being met, then the hammer has to fall.''
Freeman, who has replaced Stewart with Les Martin, said problems are inevitable in a $50 million enterprise. He maintains that good things are being done, such as putting inmates to work, making supplies for the government and saving taxpayers money.
The operation can sell its products only to state or local governments, but it enjoys a preference over private business. A 1994 law requires all state agencies to buy the prisoner-produced goods unless the prison products don't meet specification or are in short supply.
Some products, such as license plates, have no competition. But private industry can supply floor cleaners, sausage and laundry soap, often at a cheaper price and higher quality. by CNB