THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060382
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: VIRGINIA
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Ellie B. Savage wants a maximum-security prison in Northampton County. After 23 years as county treasurer, he's seen too much poverty - and the damage it does to families - to reject what he considers a golden opportunity to create good-paying jobs.
Numbers speak to Savage. He says Northampton's unemployment rate ranged from 5.4 to 9.4 percent in the year ending in August. The median family income is about half the state's. Northampton is the poorest county in Virginia.
But what really convinced Savage that the prison would be a godsend was the county's working poor - the people who can't afford to pay their taxes. Year after year, couples with low-paying, seasonal jobs have flowed through his office, destitute and desperate.
``I have such strong feelings about this, and the benefits it could bring the people, that it's been like a religious experience for me,'' Savage said.
The proposed 1,267-inmate, maximum-security facility would create 425 jobs and an $18 million payroll. That economic impact would be multiplied at least four times as the money trickled from hand to hand, Savage said.
Not everyone wants the prison or its money. Opposition to the proposed facility has exploded in recent weeks. Protesters say county officials didn't give local residents an opportunity to debate the issue.
That claim worries Savage. He has minutes of public meetings in April and May 1993 showing that many of the key leaders of the new organization, Citizens Opposing the Prison, voiced their opinions.
Savage was one of 16 people appointed by the county Board of Supervisors early in 1993 to look for solutions to a crowded and outdated county jail. He was also on the six-member subcommittee of the Jail Task Force that first recommended contacting the Department of Corrections about locating a prison in Northampton.
At that point, the county's main goal was to find a cheaper way to build a new jail. Sharing a kitchen or medical facilities with a state prison looked promising.
But a multimillion-dollar, recession-proof state payroll didn't look bad, either.
``We researched it and were convinced that the prison was a clean industry that would be of tremendous benefit to Northampton County,'' Savage said.
Prison supporters have a whole list of possible benefits for Northampton. Corrections officials have talked about connecting to the Cape Charles water and sewer plants, possibly upgrading them to meet the increased demands. The enlarged plants could become the hub of a regional system in the Cape Charles/Cheriton area.
In a meeting about two weeks ago with the prison's project manager, Cape Charles officials said the town has a ``moral obligation'' to eventually connect Cheriton to the water and sewer system.
Some local residents are wondering if, as an added incentive to welcome the prison, state officials might smile on Northampton's future grant requests for low-income housing or other financial-assistance programs. County Administrator Tom Harris was careful to neither encourage nor discourage such an idea.
``We realize, when it comes to grant applications, that we would be in a pool with other applicants, and that the grants would be given according to the merits of each project,'' Harris said. ``At the same time, we understand that large-scale, interrelated economic development components will be looked upon favorably by this administration.''
Harris said the board is compiling information on communities where Virginia prisons are located. It will try to determine the prison's potential impact on Northampton County's services. Only then, said Harris, will the supervisors decide whether to support the prison construction.
Savage is one county official who knows where he stands on the subject. He likes to tell a story about a man in Summerset County who had opposed a corrections facility in his community. Years later, after the facility was built, the man told Savage everything had worked out well.
``He personally felt his opposition to it was the dumbest thing he'd ever done,'' Savage said. ``And that's a quote, unquote.'' ILLUSTRATION: Ellie B. Savage
Northampton County treasurer
by CNB