Kadner: A display of democracy on detention camp plan

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Crete Mayor Michael Einhorn makes a point during Monday’s village board meeting. | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 26, 2012 8:08AM

Sometimes democracy works, but that doesn’t mean everyone walks away happy.

That was the case in Crete Monday night when Mayor Michael Einhorn spent about an hour talking to angry residents about a proposal to build a detention center for illegal immigrants in the village.

Most of the citizens were upset by the lack of information the village had provided about the 70-acre facility that might eventually house as many as 750 detainees.

Some residents had arranged informational meetings in the community, which generated newspaper stories, increasing pressure on the mayor to explain the plan.

On Monday night, more than 100 people showed up at the regularly scheduled village board meeting to confront the mayor with questions and get some answers.

To Einhorn’s credit, he allowed them to speak without first waiting for the village board to wade through its normal agenda.

He did warn his audience that “decorum” would be maintained, that questions about immigration policy would not be allowed because that is the federal government’s domain and that he would not allow audience members to repeat questions or make points made by previous speakers.

All of that seemed fair to me. Although many in the audience obviously had strong feelings about the detention center, they comported themselves admirably.

The only problem I had is that Einhorn did not reschedule the meeting to a larger venue.

The capacity of the village board room is 68, but only 32 chairs were set up for spectators, even though the mayor had good reason to believe that more than 100 would show up. As a result, about 20 people were literally left standing in the cold outside the village hall.

Inside the hall, a standing-room-only crowd heard village administrator Tom Durkin read a list of frequently asked questions and answers about the detention center that the village had posted on its website last week.

Einhorn then allowed residents to ask questions or make statements without interruption and replied to most of them.

No contracts have been signed with either U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or a private contractor, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which would build and operate the center, the mayor said. The village could still back out of the deal.

CCA approached village officials about building the facility, and with their permission prepared a proposal in Crete’s name that was submitted to the federal government — in essence a proposal to build the detention center. ICE has tentatively approved that plan.

CCA has entered into a contingency agreement to purchase about 70 undeveloped acres near an industrial park at the end of Hartman Drive, about a mile south of Burville Road,

The mayor told the crowd that he had an obligation to consider the detention center because it would raise tax revenue and create jobs in the community.

He estimated that it would raise $1 million per year in property tax revenue for the local school district and another $90,000 annually for the village through state distributive funds by increasing Crete’s population (all detainees would be counted as village residents).

Crete would also receive a per-diem payment from ICE for each person held at the center (generating an unspecified amount) that the village would split with CCA, Einhorn said.

He also estimated the center would create about 200 permanent jobs for security guards, cafeteria personnel and laundry room workers.

The mayor mentioned some of this in response to a question about whether he supported the project, but he really didn’t answer the question. So I asked him after the meeting, and he paused a long time before answering.

“I haven’t decided,” he said.

Earlier, Einhorn admitted having reservations about the project because of the village’s potential financial liability and concerns about the center’s impact on property values.

In previous conversations, he told me that he always planned to hold a public meeting about the project but wanted to hold off until ICE gave final approval because he lacked sufficient information to fully answer residents’ questions.

I believe it’s incumbent on government officials to provide the public with the best information available on a plan as controversial as this one.

I don’t think many minds were changed on Monday night.

But the public is better informed.

And that’s how the democratic process is supposed to work.