Facilities navigating staffing shortages is nothing new nowadays, as every industry performs a delicate balancing act of addressing rising costs while simultaneously keeping employees satisfied with their workplace environment.
But when that facility houses those convicted of heinous crimes, keeping them locked away from the general population is of paramount importance, according to Allouez Village President Jim Rafter. He is advocating for the closure of Green Bay Correctional Institution, a place Rafter says is struggling to serve its purpose given a continued vacancy of key positions.
“Right now, they have 95 openings, and back in August they had 93” Rafter told WTMJ N.O.W Tuesday. “So we have fewer working there today than we did once we increased the salary of the guards significantly.”
The challenges are not unique to GBCI; the Milwaukee County Jail has come under scrutiny this year for prisoner deaths related to overcrowding, and earlier this year dealt with a group of inmates that barricaded themselves inside the jail’s library. And there was of course all the discourse surrounding Lincoln Hills.
But in Green Bay, Stanley and Waupun, correctional institutions implemented prisoner lockdowns to deal with the issues earlier this year, which were only just recently lifted by Governor Tony Evers.
Rafter also discussed the economic value of the parcel of land currently occupied by GBCI. According to a study done in 2018 by the St. Norbert Center for Business and Economic Analysis, the prison site could theoretically generate around 150 million dollars a year into the local economy, and produce about 200 million dollars in taxable property.
Waupun’s Mayor, Rohn Bishop, also joined WTMJ N.O.W. Tuesday, and says he wants to keep the town’s correctional institution open given its significance to the local job economy. Bishop says if GBCI does shut down, a transfer of both prisoners and employees could benefit both sides. “The way I look at it is if they want to close Green Bay, Waupun’s got a staffing shortage…some of their staff can come here, and some of the inmates that live there can come to Waupun” said Bishop. “We currently have a closed cell hall because of that staffing shortage. Before they build a new prison in Green Bay, they should probably try to fill up the ones we have.”
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