287 JOBS THREATENED

OGDENSBURG — Nearly 30 years ago the community had to fight to get the Ogdensburg Correctional Facility to come here, and it needs to fight again if it wants to keep it.

The medium-security state prison is on the chopping block as part of the proposed 2010-11 state budget that Gov. David A. Paterson unveiled Tuesday. The facility, which has been in operation since 1982, would close by April 2011.

"This is terrible news — definitely for the north country and definitely for Ogdensburg," Mayor William D. Nelson said. "This is a work force in the north country already reeling from the closure of General Motors and reductions at Alcoa and other facilities. ... When you add state jobs into that mix, it's devastating."

The prison employs 287 workers and has a payroll of about $22,290,000 annually.

"I'm not happy in the least about this decision," said Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, who represents Ogdensburg. "Before we start devastating communities by closing prisons, we need to be focusing on administration in Albany."

To avoid the closure, Mrs. Russell said, the governor should reduce administrative costs, share professional services for treating prisoner health and rethink its procurement policy in the Watertown hub of the Department of Correctional Services. She said the governor also should consider more cuts outside the prison system.

Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, said he was disappointed he was not consulted about the proposal.

"I will most certainly make it a point around the budget deliberations that I'm certain there are other things we can do," he said, adding that he plans to call the DOCS to see what went into the decision.

Ogdensburg is one of four prisons targeted for closure by the governor. The others are minimum-security prisons in Clinton and Wayne counties and a shock facility in Essex County.

The budget document says the closures will reduce the work force by 637 staff, including 17 managerial positions. The estimated savings is $7 million for the next fiscal year, and $52 million the following year.

Donn Rowe, president of New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association Inc., which represents 23,000 state employees, said he will speak against the cuts at the state's budget hearings.

"We expect there will be spirited debate," he said. "The agency's approach to simply close prisons and stack inmates on top of each other in other facilities is a shortsighted approach."

A union representative at the facility expects 30 to 40 employees would retire, while the rest would be forced to transfer out of the area.

St. Lawrence County Administrator Karen M. St. Hilaire said she planned to speak with state leaders Tuesday to inform them of how the closure will affect the area.

"These are high-paying jobs," she said. "We cannot absorb any more cuts of this kind."

City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said closing the prison would hurt business throughout the north country, and could affect the amount of state aid the city receives, because inmates are partially included in calculations for state aid.

Ogdensburg City School District officials also said they were worried that closure would hurt state aid because enrollment numbers could suffer.

Michael B. Powers is an Ogdensburg city councilor and state corrections officer who worked, until recently, at Riverview Correctional Facility. A father of four, he said Tuesday that if Ogdensburg Correctional closes, his hopes of coming back to the area will be dashed.

"In any rank you take, your first appointments are down south of Albany, and whenever you take a promotion, you start the wheel all over again," he said. "If they close Ogdensburg, I might as well start looking for another place to live."

Charles W. Kelly, the chairman of the prison's community advisory board, said he felt the cuts were unfair given the area's recent job losses. However, he said, he still holds out hope.

"We got that here because we went out and got it. We had no choice. We needed jobs, and that's what it's all about," he said. "I would hope the people will set aside partisan beliefs and fight this."

Times and Johnson Newspapers staff writers David Winters, Jude Seymour and Matt McAllister contributed to this report.