"There are a number of issues," said a source at the Bureau of Prisons. "We want to make sure public safety can be maintained. The private sector does not necessarily have a track record in this area."

Corrections Corporation of America, widely considered the top contender for the contract, operates a troubled institution in Youngstown, Ohio, plagued with internal violence and from which six D.C. inmates recently escaped.

Even though they do not have a contract in hand, CCA officials are moving ahead with plans to build a prison in Ward 8, on land the company hopes to acquire through a land swap with the National Park Service.

At hearings Nov. 16 and 19 before the D.C. Zoning Commission, CCA officials outlined plans for "amenities" to be offered to the community "to offset what we are asking them to accept," said CCA attorney John Ray.

The latest in a long series of "community benefits" offered by CCA is the Washington University of Technology, which would train D.C. residents for jobs as truck drivers, mechanics and waiters. The facility would be located adjacent to the prison and be operated by Technical Education Services, a private company headquartered in Bethesda, Md. The company currently operates diesel mechanic schools in Tampa, Fla., and western Maryland. Sheldon Monsein, president of Technical Education Services, said in an interview that tuition at the university would be $3,500 to $6,000.

But at the zoning hearing, commissioner Angel Clarens questioned the depth of CCA’s plans.

"It’s difficult for us to see how we are going to entrust the training (to you) when you have no curriculum, no faculty, no plan for this dream of yours," he said.

Ray, a former at-large D.C. councilman, said CCA has committed to offering "whatever the community wanted," such as home improvement loans or minority business loans. He also suggested that CCA could offer to reimburse homeowners if their properties dropped in value after the prison was built and that the diesel mechanic program at the proposed university would repair D.C. Department of Public Works vehicles at cost.

Under questioning by commissioners, CCA officials said that most of the plans for the community programs were preliminary and that no final agreements or plans had been made. They also acknowledged that plans for a training center for inmates were scheduled as a "secondary phase" and was not included in its proposal to the Bureau of Prisons.

In response to commissioners’ questions, CCA officials said that while the prison would house "predominantly" D.C. inmates, there was no way they could guarantee that federal prisoners from other states would not be transferred there as well.

CCA plans call for the prison to house 300 female inmates, 350 youth offenders, 200 minimum-security male inmates and 1,200 low-security male inmates.

Commissioners expressed concern about the lack of specificity in the violence-related classification of offenders that would be housed at the prison proposed for a site along D.C.’s southernmost border with Mary-land. One exchange during the recent hearings, between Commissioner Anthony Hood and CCA attorney Ray, highlighted the wide range of convictions for nonviolent to violent crimes that could potentially land prisoners at the D.C. facility:

"Drug offenses?" Hood asked.

"Yes," Ray said.

"Firearms?"

"Yes."

"Robbery?"

"Yes."

"White-collar crime?"

"Yes."

"Violent offenses?"

"Yes."

The zoning hearing is scheduled to continue into a third session on Dec. 10. CCA is seeking to have a 42-acre parcel, which includes an area now used by the District as a vehicle impoundment lot and the adjacent D.C. Village site, zoned to allow a prison. The land currently is unzoned.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator