THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 21, 1995 TAG: 9508210027
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Virginians want more than anything to feel safe. But few relish the thought of their tax dollars going to build prisons if that means taking money away from schools, health care and other state services.
Those conclusions of a recent statewide poll conducted by The Virginian-Pilot and Virginia Commonwealth University have left state politicians in a quandary: where to put the growing number of violent criminals?
The vast majority of survey respondents - 86 percent - chose education when faced with the options of increasing state spending on schools or prisons.
The poll supports what citizens have told newspaper reporters about issues that matter to them in conversations 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, a mother of four children from Salem.
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.
But can the public have it both ways: safer streets, but without new prisons?
``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. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats alike are trying to score points with the crime issue.
Gov. George F. Allen led the Republican crusade last fall to abolish parole and lengthen prison sentences for violent criminals.
The result is an unprecedented prison-building binge. 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 corrections 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 great frauds of all time,'' said G.C. Morse, a speechwriter for former Democratic Gov. Gerald L. 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.
Such compliance leaves Democrats with little room to complain about building new prisons. Instead, they 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 that 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.
Questions about corrections chief Ron Angelone's tenure as head of Nevada prisons.
Scott Leake, director of the Joint Republican Caucus, said Democrats are simply 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 wrote a secret memo - mistakenly delivered to a Republican lawmaker - that advised Democrats on the proper course in neutralizing Allen on crime.
``Democrats do not have to been 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 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,'' she added. ``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.''
KEYWORDS: PRISON VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB