Appleton, Minn., prison gets $7.5 million cut in value
June 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm in West Central Tribune
BENSON The market value of the privately owned Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton its prison beds empty for nearly 2½ years has been reduced by $7.5 million to a new value of $14 million.
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I heard it costs almost 10 grand a month for the utilities. I also heard there is no contract talks and no interest as of now to fill beds at Appleton. There was talk that many homes are boarded up or foreclosed on and the state has taken over some due to taxes not being paid. Sad situation and the biggest revenue source is not there. I heard the state is not even interested in buying the prison even if it was for sale?That is hard to believe that CCA will just let this prison sit empty and not try to sell it? There is another CCA facility that was built brand new to hold 1200 inmates in 2007, and they have yet to get any contracts so the facility remains closed. This prison was also built in a small town.
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Private Prisons were never the answer but they are built in small towns were hard economic times are a big reason the rural towns push to have them built, they provide jobs, but at what cost? The town where the 1200 bed prison was built defaulted on their 27M dollar loan and the bank is left holding a note for the last 5yrs since the prison was built. Most of the private prisons are down south. CCA or GEO will never get a foothold in the Midwest and there are a good number of reasons.
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7.5 million cut in taxes-another tactic by the republicans– they want everything- they just have a problem anti-up the $$ to pay for it.
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Sorry Elton the prison company did that. The state gave them 1200 prisoners and whatever happened between the state and former warden is anyones guess but the DOC pulled the inmates as well as the DOC in Wis. Prisons like CCA never saved the tax payers money and they were warned that if they didn’t keep the staffing numbers up they would not send them anymore inmates when they learned of the dangerous shortage of staffing. There is a the law that states there has to be so many staff per convicts. The Prsion managed to work without a union, with shortcuts, but the promises to increase wages, and other employee benefits never took place.
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Elton don’t worry about MN you live in a state that doesn’t pay taxes. Hey maybe CCA can come out there. Oh wait the gov doesn’t want anything to do with transcore an affiliate of CCA who managed to lose an inmate headed for SD who murdered a child. CCA is full of problems, escapes assaults, and they even hired a former convict convicted of murder who was managing a womens unit, that is until the police dept had numerous charges against him for sexually assaulting females. Do the research before you carry on about how great CCA is! Goodriddens and thank you union officials who believe there is no shortcuts in Corrections or our jails!
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Baseless, prove me wrong Elton? Again you put a far right spin on everything but had you worked for a union you might have been paid a fair wage. You might have also received a decent pension, and not a 401k that was probably looted? All those employees laid off at Appleton received unemployment because they didn’t have enough in the retirement. The stocks that were once 47.00 a share went to 25 cents a share, and many lost there retirement. Of course Mr Crants the CEO cashed his in before the bottom dropped out and made off wtih millions. The board wanted to have him charged with insider trading but instead let it go. Again Elton prove me wrong. Do the research, I knew several people who worked there and I am sure they are not going to lie, they have nothing to gain by it…They said when CCA came in the company knocked the union out, didn’t give out the raises they promised, and took their sick and vacation giving them 10% of what they earned. Again Elton are they lying? CCA knocked themselves out of the private prison in MN and we are a better state without them…
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Jimmy whoever you spoke too you are correct, I worked there for 7yrs, and we did have ACFME, the same union that represented the state corrections. I was a sergeant out there at the time CCA came in, and claimed we were security guards, it was a big blow to many of us. Also I was a representative for the union before it went bye bye, a low blow to many officers who risked their lives everyday. CCA was not truthful, and they sold us out, and back peddled with every promise they made. I was in Master control one time when the Warden came over and said with CCA coming in you will never have to worry about your jobs again!
I never stuck around, and took a job with the county jail, and so glad I did. We have a union and make a much better wage. Our healthcare is a bit high but it is like this everywhere. Jimmy I could tell you stories some would not believe, but I still have friends out there who were devoted to the prison and wanted to retire.
Many of us lost most or all of our retirement when stocks crashed and CCA went bankrupt. Our prisons was the model prison for CCA, but one factor was our location, and the state deciding that they didn’t want inmates in the private prison anymore. As for employees testifying about the safety issues at CCAPCF, they did, and I knew one of them, he was a former ST Cloud Police officer. I can’t help but feel bad for all those employees laid off, or forced to relocate to stay working for CCA. I recently heard Appleton has some homes boarded up including a friend of mine who sold his home before CCA went belly up, and now the state took it for back taxes. Most of the employees working there left town, left their homes, and never look back, it is sad!
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Thanks Joer for helping me to prove Elton wrong! Since you worked out there at one time we are getting the story from the source. I just hope Elton doesn’t call you a liar as well? I knew CCA considered the MN prison the model of their company, because in other CCA prisons there have been numerous problems. I read lots of stories including those from Law enforcement who were not notifed until hours later after 6 murders escaped from Youngstown Ohio prison, a CCA prison that was suppose to be minimum security inmates. The inmates the prison boarded were from Wash DC, and they were allowed to wear their street clothes. The gov was so upset he closed the prison. There were incidents in TN, NY, TX, FL, ARZ to name a few. Now GEO has come into play, they are in competion with CCA. I haven’t researched GEO, but you can bet they were another Private prison company that changed their name after having issues and problems.
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What kind of proof are you looking for, to prove Joe worked at APC and then PCF/CCA?? Not like he’s going to scan and post old check stubs, so… what would do it for you, Elton?
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Just think Elton if your wife didn’t have a union could you inmagine the pay. Elton unions don’t force companies to do anything, they make them open their books. Based on what their overhead is and what profits are, workers are then given raises and cost of living. Unions do not break companies Elton and again the propaganda and misleading by some is one real reason employees are taking a real hit while CEO’s of corporations bailout using golden parachutes. My son lost his job, his 401K and his healthcare while the company went under and those upper supervisory personal were paid off. You see Elton his company wasn’t even union as was the case for 100 other companies that went belly up. This country has been about the rich getting richer, and those who give 20 to 30yrs of their life working, lucky if they can pay the monthly bills while working a part-time job. There is no such thing as retirement anymore, and the unions are not responsible!
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1. My wife does not work for a union jimmy. She did at one time, the teamsters, but if you think working for less then $12 an hour and $800 a month family medical is what unions are there to help you get then you go for it. She did not find it good and since MN is a right to work state she still had to pay dues.
2. You always miss the point jimmy. The prison in Appleton was closed due to pressure on politicians from unions. So yes jimmy unions do close down companies when the steal the jobs of people who don’t want anything to do with a union, example = Appleton Prison.
3. The unions have a lot of responsibility for what is happening. They fought for wages and benefits so high that companies could no longer make a profit and closed down. This can be pinned directly on the unions. There is a reason why unions are going away, people don’t want them holding them back. Performers want to get compensated for the great job they use so they leave union companies and go to non-union companies to receive better pay. In the end all that leaves at the company is the low end performs that need the union to keep their jobs because their performance is so bad.
4. I highly doubt that your son lost his entire 401k unless he was foolish enough to put all of his money in the companies stock. If that is the case he has only himself to blame.
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Alright Elton, now if you worked out there how come you never knew there was a union out there? Next please tell me when you worked out there, from date of hire to end of your employment out there. Elton please tell me what post you worked at in the Prison. Once again Elton the union never shut us down, they were gone in 97 when CCA took over, so please explain this too me because your posting makes very little sense. The prison lost the DOC contract because the state had available beds and the Commission of Corrections ordered all beds in the state filled. Appleton closed because the economy played a big part of their demise.
There just was not enough support for a private prison. Like other states CCA facilities closed or never received contracts and remain closed, even some that were brandnew. You see if the state has no abundance of beds then they will contract with the area jails or the Private prison. The MNDOC boarded over 1200 beds to Appleton and when short term offenders were sent to jails, suddenly more beds became available within the states. The MNDOC pulled every inmates from everywhere in the state back to their prisons. Appleton tried in vein to get out of state contracts but every lead dried up. Employees were given option, so Elton if you worked out there this would have been something you would have known? Employees could either transfer or take unemployment. I have plenty of friends out there several who still work there in maintenace.
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Seriously, are you all adults coming on here and making all these little digs against someone who doesn’t have the same opinions as you do or are you all small minded 5 year olds?
I do not look at all topics but every one I do look at, the same bunch is on and denigrating each other like little kids.
Is it too much to ask that you refrain from the petty insults?
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This thread has gotten out of control.
I removed a number of posts from it that broke our rules–particularly those regarding keeping civil and not making personal attacks–and should the issue continue the thread will be locked down and the people involved may be either put on moderation or blocked from the site entirely.
Keep it civil, please. Argue against ideas, do not call people names or imply they are dumber than a brick.
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It is safe to say Elton never worked out there! The proof Elton is looking for has been given, when a former employee gave a pretty good detailed explanation for the closing of the Appleton prison, and it makes more sense to me now then it did before. I did find out one of the big reasons the prison closed was the DOC pulled their inmates out per order of the Commissioner of Corrections. After Bush left the economy in the tank, many DOC prisons stopped boarding their inmates out due to the expense, seems fairly reasonable conclusion to me if there is an availability of beds with the state why board out? It only shows that the Private prisons were actually not saving the states money as they claim. Now if Elton googled on lawsuits against CCA, he would also learn of many issues that have have caused CCA problems and some prisons to close. Oh and Joe, you are correct, the union never closed down the prison, because there was no union period, it was dissolved in the late nineties much as you mentioned… I am satisfied with the proof you offered, and thanks…
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You’re right, Jimmy.
The company I spent 24 years at was never union. It was sold twice, and every time we did better, even with the overtime that was mandatory.
However, the last time, it was take over in one of those ‘corporate raider’ things, they left too much stock on the market, and a larger company from TX took over. The new ‘overseer’ had a big meeting, and we were told our jobs were allright for five years.
Well, you guessed it, after five years, they sent our jobs to China and gave something like 600 people ‘permanent layoff’ status. The technicians were sent over there to teach the Chinese their jobs, and the final insult was to make the last employees crate up all the test equipment.
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