Tag Archives: public-private partnership

What kind of local government body gives a private company “absolute discretion”?

Continuing my response to

Barbara Stratton’s post:
if public-private partnerships are the aspect of private prisons that you oppose,
by all means oppose them for that.
Did you catch this part in

VLCIA’s recent response?

CCA has absolute discretion in issuing or withholding the NTP.

What kind of local government body gives a private company “absolute discretion”
on whether to proceed with a project?


What happened to those appointed officials’ own discretion as to the
appropriateness of a project for the community?
What if their due diligence turns up something unacceptable?
For example, that CCA told Decatur County that

both Lowndes and Decatur are getting a private prison (one state and one federal),
so the guff CCA told VLCIA about Lowndes being the primary site was disingenuous at best.
How about if

CCA has already breached the contract
by not supplying a required document?
How about if VLCIA receives

convincing arguments from the community
that a private prison is a bad business deal?

Indeed,

disaster capitalism or the shock doctrine
is nothing like the capitalism Adam Smith recommended.
The main point of the

petition against CCA’s private prison in Lowndes County is that
it’s a bad business deal: it wouldn’t save money; it wouldn’t increase employment;
and it would be likely to close, leaving us all owing money.

Did the Valdosta City and Lowndes County elected governments appoint these people
to abdicate their authority to a private company?
Maybe they did, since

those elected officials are in cahoots on this deal.
CCA lauded them all for their support after VLCIA signed the contract with that
“absolute discretion” language in it.
Does that seem right to you?



Florida has just demonstrated that

people of all parties can
join together successfully to oppose prison privatization.
Let’s do that right here in Lowndes County and stop the private prison!

-jsq

The good old boy system, legalized, subsidized, & on steroids —Barbara Stratton

Received yesterday on

CCA offers to buy prisons from 48 states. -jsq

As always, LAKE is doing a fantastic job of uncovering the shadows.


However, please note there is a difference in capatalism & crony
capitalism. Liberals have their fair share of the crony variety also
AKA Soros & Monsanto, GM,etc. Free enterprise & capitalism is why
our borders are being crossed legally & illegally, but crony
capitalism will destroy us. If the government chooses to privatize
there should be clear total delineation between them & the private
business, not fascist public/private partnerships like CCA is
courting. We need to resist P3s totally, but they are being welcomed
with multi grant incentives & blessings of the Dept of Community
Development & its Chamber of Commerce conduits. We are on the same
team always for transparency in government & we can be on the same
team against CCA if we focus on fighting the 3P concept.

Just a reminder, I used to work for CCA & I still love to see bad
men in shackles (emphasis on bad). I don’t share most of what I call
simplistic liberal views on prison reform, but I am certainly with
you against crony capitalism especially the public/private
partnership variety. As I’ve said before they are just the good old
boy system, legalized, subsidized, & on steroids.

-Barbara Stratton

Barbara,

Thanks for the compliments, and we’re going to get you carrying a camera yet….
See

next post for the rest of my response.

-jsq