E
nough of the hyper-
bole. Let's talk turkey
about Thomson.
From our perspective, if the
1,800-bed prison is trans-
formed into detention center
for about 100 Guantanamo Bay
terror suspects and a lockup for
federal inmates, the positives
far outweigh the negatives.
An unused prison would
spring to life.
Hundreds of good-paying
jobs and millions of dollars in
spending would rejuvenate a
weakened local economy.
The state would get an infu-
sion of cash.
At the same time, detainees
would not be allowed to have
visitors, which would discour-
age the arrival of terrorist sym-
pathizers to the region.
Security would be ramped up
to ensure that detainees stay
put and order is maintained.
Even if military tribunals take
place in Thomson, look at the
bright side: Judges, lawyers
and court personnel have
got to eat, sleep and buy fuel
somewhere. Their presence
could further benefit the local
economy.
It would have been nice to
have witnessed a reasoned
discussion on the proposal's
merits from the get-go, and not
see the distress generated as
word of the plan dribbled out
last weekend.
On one side, possibly exag-
gerated claims of jobs (up to
3,250) were put forth, after
which skeptical Carroll County
residents could only roll their
eyes. They've heard similar
promises before.
On the other, a suburban
Chicago critic said the propos-
al would "move terrorists into
our neighborhoods." Sorry,
we missed that portion of the
plan.
A fuller, more detailed initial
announcement would have
benefited everyone.
As the news sank in, some
reasoned comments came
forth.
For example, state Sen. Tim
Bivins, R-Dixon, asked whether
the state could lease, rather
than sell, the prison to the fed-
eral government, so as to keep
open the possibility of using it
later to alleviate Illinois' prison
overcrowding. He also pro-
posed directing any proceeds
from Thomson for use in the
state prison system.
Also, the Illinois Republican
congressional delegation wrote
a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn that
posed 33 questions regarding
cost, security and legal issues.
The seven House members
asked whether Thomson
prison has the required Class 3
medical facility for detainees,
and if not, how the health care
of detainees would be handled.
They asked how many pro-
testers would be expected from
this country and around the
world, and how would they be
handled.
With up to 1,500 troops, and
presumably their spouses and
children, coming to Thom-
son to guard the detainees,
the lawmakers also wanted to
know whether the West Carroll
School District could handle
the influx, where the money to
do so would come from, and
whether the school district
could tax the guards' housing.
These aren't bad questions.
In fact, some were inspired by
those posed by then-Kansas
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now
President Barack Obama's sec-
retary of Health and Human
Services, when a proposal was
floated in January to move
Gitmo detainees to Fort Leav-
enworth.
While questions remain,
there appears to be no logi-
cal downside to rebranding
Thomson prison for a new use.
Still, local folks shouldn't get
their hopes up too high. Save
your cheers until the deal is
finalized, the jobs are filled,
the prisoners are in their cells,
and Village President Jerry
Hebeler snips that grand-
opening ribbon.
A6 � SV Weekend www.saukvalley.com Saturday, November 21, 2009
Opinion
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"The dissenter is every human being
at those moments of his life when he
resigns momentarily from the herd
and thinks for himself."
Archibald MacLeish, poet, 1956
Quotes brought to you courtesy of
Positives outweigh negatives for Thomson
State Rep. Jim Sacia
Pecatonica
At the request of Gov.
Pat Quinn, I, along with
state Sen. Tim Bivins,
R-Dixon,arrivedatThom-
son prison on Monday to
find a daunting number
of reporters, heads of
local municipalities, law
enforcement officials,
and others with a need
to know more about the
proposed plan to sell the
prison to the federal gov-
ernment.
We were immediately
ushered to the front of the
briefing to join U.S. Rep.
Bruce Braley, D-Iowa,
and my good friend, state
Rep. Pat Verschoore,
D-Milan.
The briefing itself last-
ed about 2 hours. It was
impressive and thorough,
and it answered much
of the "coffee shop spin"
that was already gripping
northwestern Illinois. It
was conducted by the
governor's Chief Oper-
ating Officer Jack Lavin;
Illinois Department of
Corrections Director
Michael Randle; Jona-
thon Monken, director of
the Illinois State Police;
Harley Lappin, director
of the Federal Bureau of
Prisons; and Phil Carter,
U.S. deputy assistant
secretary of Defense for
detainee affairs.
Without this briefing,
there would still be far
more questions than
answers. Several very
important consider-
ations have influenced
my strong stand in favor
of the state of Illinois sell-
ing the Thomson prison
to the Federal Bureau of
Prisons.
First,the1,600-bedmax-
imum-security facility in
Thomson has sat nearly
vacant since its comple-
tion in 2001, breaking
the hearts and dreams of
those in the surrounding
community who invested
their life savings and all
they could borrow into
businesses to support the
anticipat-
ed open-
ing of the
p r i s o n .
Many are
nowbank-
rupt.
Second,
as a state
legislator,
I have no
c o n t r o l
over President Barack
Obama's decision to
close the detention facil-
ity at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. If the detainees
now housed there are
coming to American soil,
I'm all in favor of hous-
ing approximately 100 at
Thomson and filling the
remainder of the facility
with maximum-security
federal prisoners.
Both Mr. Carter and
Mr. Lappin assured us
that the Gitmo detainees
would never be commin-
gled with other federal
prisoners. They would
have their own segregat-
ed wing under the control
of the U.S. military.
Afactnotknowntomany
of us before the proposed
sale of the Thomson
prison is that there are
already 340 former Gitmo
detainees currently being
housed in federal prisons
in the United States, 40 of
them at the federal facility
in Marion. It wasn't made
clear this week how many
may be housed at other
federal Illinois facilities
in Greenville, Pekin and
Chicago. It appears the
transfers of those prison-
ers weren't newsworthy
because they weren't tied
to the closing of Gitmo.
No,thetransferofdetain-
ees here won't result in
the creation of terror cells
in northwestern Illinois.
Detainees are not allowed
visits from anyone other
than clergy, lawyers and
the Red Cross. Other pris-
oners at Thomson would
retain normal visiting
privileges.
Please remember, folks,
we are not breaking new
ground here. Our federal
facilitiesalreadyarehous-
ing 340 of the worst of the
worst with no problems.
Thomson would simply
fall in line, but of course,
it is tied to the closing
of Gitmo, so the politics
have gotten out in front
of practical reality.
Thisisanopportunityfor
up to 3,200 new direct and
indirect jobs � many of
them federal law enforce-
ment positions. There will
be local hires and trans-
fers from the state system
to the federal system. The
facility will have an $85
million annual operat-
ing budget. That's money
pumped back into our
local economy.
Thomson prison is new,
it's practically vacant,
and our state can't afford
to fully open it. Yes, you
can make an argument
that we need it open. I,
along with the citizens
of Thomson, have been
making that argument for
8 years. It's time to plow
new ground.
Note to readers � Jim
Sacia, a Republican, rep-
resents the 89th District in
the Illinois House of Rep-
resentatives.
GUEST COLUMN
Sale of Thomson prison could
create jobs and bolster economy
ThE CarTOONiST'S VOiCE Greg Wallace, Shaw Newspapers
What we think
While questions remain,
a plan to house terror
suspects and federal
inmates at the Thomson
prison looks like a winner.
Editorial Board
Jennifer Baratta
Jim Dunn
Sheryl Gulbranson
Larry Lough
Trevis mayfield
NoRaLee GRay
Polo
This is a reply to Kate
Knowles' letter about
bear hunting on Oct.
31 titled "Sad that `gor-
geous' bear was hunted,
killed."
I respect Ms. Knowles'
opinion on hunting, but
feel I need to speak on
behalf of the other side
of this issue. Do you real-
ize the consequences of
"no hunting allowed"? If
our sportsmen weren't
allowed to hunt bear,
deer and other wild ani-
mals, their populations
would grow and grow
and grow � a no-brainer,
right?
Then,alltheseincreased
numbers of wild ani-
mals would have to eat �
anotherno-brainer,right?
What if they couldn't
find enough food? Some
would become diseased
and die, while others
would seek food wher-
ever they could, and per-
haps that would be in our
towns, our farms, our
hiking/biking trails, even
our backyards � places
where people, and espe-
cially children, are.
As we humans contin-
ue to build buildings and
encroach on areas once
inhabited by wildlife, we
must continue the effort
to control the population
of these animals � for
their own good as well
as our own. With all the
bad, unhealthy activities
people are involved in
these days, I much prefer
my sons and grandsons
to be out there hunt-
ing (responsibly, I might
add) than to be sitting
in a bar somewhere, or
doing drugs, gambling
and the like.
I might add that all of
the wild animal meat
taken by my family that
is not consumed by us is
donated to a local food
pantry.
City workers are
doing a good job
KeviN ShuLL
Sterling
I would just like to
say thanks to the city
employees in regard to
the road work they have
been finishing in our
East Ninth Street neigh-
borhood in Sterling.
The crews have been
courteous, helpful and
hard-working during this
process. It's nice to see
that the city is making
good use of our tax dol-
lars.
Thanks again, guys!
ThE rEadEr'S VOiCE
The consequences of not hunting
aP
The maximum-security Thomson correctional Facility is viewed from an airplane last weekend.
The obama administration is considering buying the prison, largely unused since the state built it
in 2001, to house about 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates.
State Rep.
Jim Sacia

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