Palmer courts state for more facilities, accompanying jobs

City officials in Palmer and the state’s Department of Corrections have announced some big plans that would, if completed, give the de facto county seat even more of a hold on government jobs.

The DOC already has training facilities in Palmer, but when corrections officers or others come in for lengthy stays, housing is a problem. The answer is to build a dormitory of sorts for those in training.

First, that means construction jobs in Palmer.

Then it means a few jobs for people who would clean and do minor maintenance on the building as one shift moves and another moves in.

But the city-state partnership is just getting started with the dreams.

A grander plan includes making a campus of sorts that would include a larger, and much needed, Mat-Su Pre-Trial facility. If you pay attention to the police blotter we run in the Frontiersman, you know crime in the Valley is not going down. While those arrested await arraignments, pre-trial hearings and other machinations of due process that can take weeks, they are kept at what is a sophisticated jail.

But that’s not all.

When prisoners serve their time, they need a place to begin starting over. That brings us to a work release center.

It’s been reported that in 2008, 287 felons were released every month from state prisons. One would figure that number has increased. And with the huge prison being built down at Point MacKenzie, lots more of those near-300 prisoners will be released into our backyard. It stands to reason there needs to be a place between prison and real life for them to make the adjustment.

Simply giving them sandwich money and showing them the door would make the Valley a much more dangerous place.

These plans, if they go through, can be one of those win-win situations. Palmer will get an influx of construction jobs and then more long-term jobs that can help stabilize the city’s economy. The state gets facilities it needs all in one place for training, more jail beds and some rehabilitation.

And lastly, the Palmer Police Department would get a new place to work and so would the busiest state trooper post in the state. Not that many of you would know, but both those law enforcement agencies — and central dispatch — deserve much better workplaces.