Hacienda State Prison? for the Homeless fresno, ca [View All]

[annm4peace]

The goal of a Police State in Fresno, CA continues

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/31/18476199.php

A proposal for a 400 bed privately operated state prison has been made for central Fresno at the site of the old Hacienda Hotel (Clinton and highway 99). On January 30, during mayor Alan Autry’s “Truth on the Table” community meeting, he heard what the neighboring residents thought of the idea. The result was an example of grassroots democracy in action.

Hacienda State Prison?
By Mike Rhodes

Carissa Phelps ( http://www.carissaproject.com/ ) got it right when she warned the community that if they did not act fast, a private corporation was going to develop the old Hacienda Hotel into a state prison, complete with razor wire, correctional officers, and high security. Phelps said that some city officials approved of the plan because it would provide some emergency housing for homeless women and it passed the Planning Commission on a 7-0 vote. Going into Wednesday night’s “Truth on the Table” tour, set up by Fresno mayor Alan Autry, the proposal seemed like a slam dunk.

Yolanda Salinas-Bowen was the first resident at the mayor’s meeting, held at the Golden Palace Event Center (across the street from the Hacienda), to complain about the proposal to build a privatized state prison in the neighborhood. She said “from what I heard it is going to be a half way house, a homeless space, there are going to be guards, and 24 hour a day video surveillance. How can you put kids in that facility with barbed wire around the place? Is that a good environment for them to be raised in?”

Autry responded that there was not going to be any razor wire and compared it to the Betty Ford rehabilitation center. He said that the community needed a facility that would take care of the homeless and women who had drug and alcohol problems. Autry seemed to be taking the moral high ground when he argued against NIMBY’ism (Not In My Back Yard) and argued that these people need help and that the facility has to go somewhere.