YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Corrections Corporation of America has requested a meeting as soon as this week with the Federal Bureau of Prisons for an official explanation on why it lost the contract that accounts for the vast majority of its inmates at its Northeast Ohio Correctional Center here, Mayor John McNally said Monday.
The contract to house illegal aliens was awarded to Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Philipsburg, Pa., and Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton, Okla., Chris Burke, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, confirmed. GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., operates both prisons.
The bureau’s contract with Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA to house prisoners in Youngstown expires May 31, 2015.
"While we are disappointed that the Bureau of Prisons has chosen not to renew its contract at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, we respect the decision and will work with them closely to ensure a seamless transition,” said Steven Owen, CCA senior director, public affairs, in a statement emailed to the press.
CCA houses some 1,400 inmates for the Bureau of Prisons in the 2,016-bed prison in Youngstown, according to a CCA news release. It also holds some 580 detainees from the U.S. Marshals Service there. The Bureau of Prisons has not determined when it will begin transferring inmates from the Youngstown CCA prison, which has more than 400 employees.
CCA is “assessing how this outcome will impact our employees and will be communicating directly with staff members between now and the end of May, when the current Bureau of Prisons contract is set to expire,” Owen said. “We will actively market the facility to provide solutions for new government partners while continuing to provide safe, secure housing to the existing federal U.S. Marshals Service population that is expected to remain at [the prison].”
Last year, Nashville-based CCA launched a campaign to enlist community support intended to influence the bureau to keep the contract here. According to a website launched in support of that effort, CCA opened the prison, just off Hubbard Road, in 1997 and has served the Federal Bureau of Prisons there since 2004.
McNally was notified via text message from a CCA spokesman yesterday that CCA had lost the federal contract. The prison produces some $500,000 in income taxes to the city, and the mayor said the city would work with CCA to find other federal contacts that would keep as many city and Mahoning Valley residents employed as possible.
“It’s not the post-Christmas surprise I was looking for,” the mayor remarked.
After speaking with a CCA spokesman later yesterday, McNally reported that the company has requested an official, in-person briefing to learn in greater detail why it lost the contract. CCA asked that the meeting be held this week, he said. “It is normal for bidders to request and receive debriefings. Until that has occurred, it is premature to speculate on what further steps/actions might be taken,” the CCA’s Owen said.
McNally said he doubted that a disturbance in the prison last August, an event he described as a “sit-in,” had any bearing on the Bureau of Prisons’ decision not to renew the contract. At the time, McNally criticized CCA officials for not informing the city of the disturbance as required.
The mayor said yesterday it was a “peculiar circumstance” that occurred because of the new city administration – McNally took office almost a year ago -- and a new warden at the prison. “It’s something that just slipped through the cracks and gave us an opportunity to remind the staff what their responsibilities are in terms of security issues,” he said.
Local officeholders joined McNally in deploring the decision.
“After pulling members of the Ohio congressional delegation together to support this facility, sending a letter and having several conversations with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, both personally and at the staff level, I am extremely disappointed with the outcome,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, in a statement. “We worked closely with CCA throughout this entire process and while I know we did all we could to help, it is of little consolation to the 400-plus men and women who work at the facility, and the city which benefits from the prison’s economic impact.”
A letter from Ryan to the bureau, dated Aug. 2, 2013, and signed by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman and U.S. Reps. Ryan, Bill Johnson, R-6 Ohio, and six others, pointed out that the prison has a payroll of $21.7 million and pays nearly $4.3 million annually in property taxes, utilities and local goods and services. The prison has contributed more than $180 million to the Valley economy since 2005.
“These contributions to the city and region must not be overlooked when you are reconsidering the bid,” stated the letter.
The news was no more welcome to members of the local delegation to the Ohio General Assembly.
“I am extremely disappointed in the federal government,” outgoing state Rep. Bob Hagan, D-58 Youngstown, remarked.
“I don’t know what [federal prison officials] didn’t see,” the veteran Valley lawmaker continued. “Did they not see the poverty rate for children is the second highest in the nation? Did they not see we’re struggling to bring back jobs to this area? … The Federal Bureau of Prisons ignored all of those facts for the benefit of another company. It just does not make sense and I’m not happy with them.”
State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-33 Boardman, said he, too, sent letters of support to the bureau and attended various meetings related to the effort to secure the contract.
“It’s definitely not positive news,” he remarked.
“It’s unfortunate for the community and unfortunate for the employees here,” added Guy Coviello, vice president of government affairs and media at the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber. “We’re anxiously awaiting what they have to say about the future of the facility.”
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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