T his newspaper created a Facebook poll last week to get feedback on a proposal that may come before Magee’s city leaders to take the former corrections work center and convert it to a facility to house parolees once the Department of Corrections releases them.
One of the requirements before release of parolees is that they must have a place to live when they are released. That could be a lot easier said than done. Once these folks go to prison they sometimes lose their family connections for any number of reasons.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections recently closed the work center in Magee. The inmates there had been a source for cheap prison labor for Magee and a host of other governmental operations.
Magee Mayor Dale Berry is hustling a deal with a Pastor Gene Henderson in which he invited two aldermen, Patrick Brown and Lane Steel, to sit down and discuss the project. What they want to do is to lease the former corrections center facility to a group that Henderson has formed. The group would then use the facility to house parolees. Initial figures report that residency would be 10 and eventually perhaps 20. This would create a few jobs for workers, maybe a total of five.
It would also take a vacant facility and turn it into something other than another vacant building.
The rent figure to the city that is being tossed around is $2,500 per month. According to Berry, the city may also plan to utilize some of the space for city operations.
The newspaper created a Facebook poll on the issue, and we find the results interesting. Almost 200 responses to the poll came in, and it ran neck and neck the whole time it was up. The last time we checked it was 50 percent for the program and 50 percent against.
So this is not just a simple yes or no question. It means that over half of the people who responded do not think a parolee residence is a good idea for a business. It is great deal for the folks who are putting it together from a cost perspective--getting housing for 10 to 20 people for $2,500 per month.
If you are a Christian it is probably a good thing. The idea of giving someone a new lease on life is a great premise.
The idea of avoiding a vacant building in the area and creating a few jobs are pluses.
The downside: first and foremost, is this the type of business the city should be soliciting for our community? Would our community be better served by a vacant building or by one housing former inmates?
Fifty percent of the respondents said yes and 50 percent said no. It is our opinion that 50 percent need a better explanation or more information so they can either support this project or at least stop opposing it.
The 200 votes is a good representation; however, this was not restricted to residents of Magee so there is going to be some margin of error both to the for and the against.
We just feel that all options and all potential problems should be considered before a final decision is made.
