Sewer lines delay opening
A recent article in your paper leaves your readers with the wrong impression about the Department of Corrections’ commitment to public safety. Please allow me to set the record straight. Public safety is the department’s top priority. Under the Ridge and Schweiker administrations, we have made significant investments to meet that mission – from physical improvements to our facilities such as more secure perimeter fencing and security systems to investments in programs that provide inmates with the skills they need to become productive, law-abiding citizens when they return to their communities.
Like other states, tight budget times have forced us to make some difficult decisions. But, unlike some other states, we have neither closed facilities nor furloughed employees.
Construction issues, more than budget issues, played a significant role in our decision involving State Correctional Institutions (SCls) in Fayette and Forest counties.
At SCI Fayette, we originally planned to begin moving prisoners into the institution in April 2003. However, the sewer line for the facility will not be completed until at least July 2003. We had the option of opening the facility in April but would have had to hire a contractor to truck sewage from the facility daily, at significant additional cost. We do not believe it would be a wise use of taxpayer money to pursue that option, instead deciding to delay the opening until the sewer lines are completed and the prison can operate in its most efficient fashion.
Similarly, the Department of General Services is now awarding the contract to construct a sewer line at SCI Forest, and the sewer facilities clearly will not be ready until late 2003 or early 2004. Again, we decided against hiring a contractor to truck sewage daily end decided to open the facility when it is ready to operate in a normal way.
Both decisions will save money for the taxpayers, but not at the expense of public safety. At the same time, as a result of the commitment the Ridge and Schweiker administrations have made over the past eight years, our prison system will continue to run in a safe, secure fashion.
Jeffrey A. Beard
Secretary of Corrections
Gouging rate payers
If unbridled corporate greed is your goal, simply pair gas companies with the Public Utility Commission and together they will generate a series of unprecedented and unconscionable gas price increases.
Imagine, if you can, living in an uncomfortably cold home for a month and then being rewarded for your conservation efforts with a $335 gas bill. It is true that January was a cold month; however, when we compare the cost of gas for January 2002 with 2003, we discover that the 2003 price has increased by 75.09 percent. Furthermore, looking back to my “Letter to the Editor” of Feb. 19, 2001, we discover a gas price increase of 97.9 percent between August of 2000 and January 2001. The facts are clear and the conclusion is inescapable. This symbiotic relationship between gas companies and the PUC clearly demonstrates the repeated failure of the PUC to curb the voracious appetite of gas companies for frequent and grossly excessive price increases. In view of this history, relying on the PUC to protect the interests of gas consumers is as absurd as hiring the fox to guard the hen house.
Having observed these failures for several years, I can see only one effective solution: namely, a class action lawsuit. Those interested in joining with me in exploring this course of action, please send a brief note to 99 W. Craig St., Uniontown, PA 15401, and I will call you to arrange a meeting.
John Y. Chidester III
Uniontown