Pure Michigan ads to attract tourists were a smart move. Penal Michigan to house suspected terrorists would not be.
Michigan, which has the nation's highest unemployment rate, faces the prospect of more job losses from the Oct. 1 closing of eight correctional facilities as part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's effort to balance the state's seriously unbalanced budget.
Among closings is the maximum security prison at tiny Standish in Arenac County near Saginaw Bay, about 25 miles north of Bay City. With 300-plus workers and a capacity of about 600 inmates, it is the area's largest employer.
Standish Max, as it is called, is one of two sites under active consideration to house detainees currently held at the U.S. Navy Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba that President Barack Obama -- perhaps unrealistically since no alternative site has been selected -- wants to close next January. The other site is the 134-year-old military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Standish is in the sprawling district of U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, who, along with Sen. Carl Levin, conditionally supports making it Gitmo North if there is strong community support.
There is substantial support for economic reasons. But here's the rub: Many current jobs may not be saved.
U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, of Holland, who, as ranking Republican and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is well plugged into such matters, told me that rather than retain current guards at Standish, there is "a high probability" that military personnel would be rotated in and out of there on six or 12-month shifts as they are at Gitmo.
In fact, many residents have questioned how many jobs local workers would retain if federal officials bring in the 230 or so suspected al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists.
"We're not going to be utilized by the Gitmo prison anyway," said prison guard Thomas Kerrins, chief steward of the Michigan Correctional Organization that represents local workers and was outside the prison as federal, state and local officials arrived for a Thursday tour as part of the assessment of the suitability for the facility. "They're going to kick us down the road. They're going to use their own people."
Clearly, though, there would be some positive economic impact if military personnel were brought in. They'll patronize restaurants and other establishments.
But Hoekstra, who seeks the 2010 GOP nomination to replace term-limited Granholm, said the detainees are "a different breed ... relatively sophisticated" and require special handling.
"These people are trained psychologically and operationally to commit murder, and mass murder is better for them," U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, a former FBI agent and a Capitol Hill leader on homeland security issues said in a press conference call with Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Ka., and reporters from the two states.
Congressional opponents to moving the detainees to U.S. prisons say that one problem is the threats that their sympathizers might pose to the families of any local workers at the prisoners.
Prison guard Kerrins said, "You almost are putting a bulls-eye on the whole area."
Hoekstra last week sent letters to federal authorities asking them to allow him to lead a delegation of local and state officials and the media to Gitmo "to better understand the special circumstances and the challenges that these detainees present by moving them to Michigan."
But Hoekstra and other Republicans in the Michigan congressional delegation declined to sign a Stupak-authored letter signed in early August by three other Democratic members to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (which had officials in Standish last week) urging it to "look at vacant facilities in Michigan as potential locations for federal prisoners under the jurisdiction of the FBOP that are currently held in domestic facilities within the continental United States.
"Contracting with the state will not only address the serious problem of overcrowding in federal prisons, but will also save the federal government money by using existing infrastructure and help stave off further job losses in Michigan."
Hoekstra, who declined to sign, wanted the letter to include language assuring that Gitmo detainees would not come to Michigan.
Meanwhile, Granholm is pitching use of Michigan prison space by states with overcrowded facilities. California and Pennsylvania are said to be interested, and several other states are possibilities.
A good alternative to the Gitmo guys.
On duty for Schuette
In 2002, ex-congressman Bill Schuette was elected to a six-year term on the Michigan Court of Appeals in a district that included all of the Upper Peninsula and more than 40 counties below the bridge.
Schuette did not seek a second term on the court because he's running for next year's Republican nomination to replace term-limited Attorney General Mike Cox, who's running for governor.
Schuette on Saturday rolled out an impressive list of endorsements from 95 district and county officials, including 10 Republican county chairs in the U.P. and 15 in the northern Lower Peninsula.
Early endorsements from local party leaders are significant because many of them are likely to be influential delegates to the state convention that will nominate the GOP candidate.
Schuette was elected to the House in 1984 at age 31 and served three terms. In 1990, he challenged Sen. Carl Levin, who won with 57 percent of the vote. Before his 2002 election to the appeals court, he served as state agriculture director and state senator.
Select Michigan
Granholm did a wise thing in having State Agriculture Director Don Koivisto deliver the administration's weekly radio address on her behalf, pitching the Select Michigan label that can be found on products sold at grocery stores, farmers markets and on individual farms.
Koivisto, former state senator from Ironwood, said:
"People today are eating healthier by including more fruits and vegetables in their diets. Locally-grown food is healthier than food shipped long distances, because many fruits and vegetables can lose up to half of their nutrients in just five days. And the best-tasting fruits and vegetables are the ones that ripen close to your home."
A welcome break from political pitches.
George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.
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