Anchorage Daily News

Tensions escalated in the state's prisons Tuesday with corrections officers publicly censuring their boss, and he, in turn, saying they were retaliating because of his efforts to clean up the department.

The workers, through their union, gave the Commissioner Joe Schmidt a "vote of no confidence," which passed 514-19. It was the first of its kind, as far as they knew.

Members of the union, the Alaska Correctional Officers Association, allege that Schmidt has cut staff to dangerous levels in the prisons and covered up medical issues in the jails, including the spread of a contagious bacterial infection among prisoners and even guards.

Shortly after the vote was tallied, the commissioner held his own news conference, where he said the union was upset about his lack of tolerance for infractions and his firings and disciplinary actions. He said the allegations by the union are false and the union was looking to unsettle him in future contract negotiations.

In Schmidt's first year as commissioner, in 2007, there were 49 internal investigations on prison guards. Half resulted in disciplinary action, four resulted in terminations, and another four people left their jobs voluntarily. He would not give details about the problems, citing personnel rules.

"We are doing the right thing. We are going to be trustworthy. And, if I have to go through this until my last day, then that's what I'm going to do," he said of his efforts to make the department more accountable to the public. "Ethics and honesty is what we are about."

From the outset of his tenure, Schmidt has vowed to be open about problems.

When Gov. Sarah Palin named Schmidt to run the prisons department in November 2006, union members supported Palin's choice. At the time, he was superintendent of Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm.

Palin issued a statement in the late afternoon saying, "Commissioner Schmidt has my full support as he and his team continue to bring remarkable reforms to the Department of Corrections."

overcrowded

Schmidt said he felt confident that the 200 or so correctional officers who did not respond to the ballot questioning his leadership supported him. They likely include the whistle-blowers who led to dozens of investigations, he said.

Schmidt has not only disciplined correctional officers, he has also changed the department's mission to one focused on reducing the high number of repeat offenders. He is putting more money into rehabilitation programs, particularly for substance abuse. Ninety-two percent of Alaska's prisoners have issues with substance abuse, he said.

The department and union agree the prisons are overcrowded but disagree on how many actual correctional officers there are. The union says Schmidt has not filled open positions.

Randy McLellan, an officer at Mat-Su pretrial jail, who was at the union's downtown headquarters as members counted ballots, called the situation "a powder keg with a fuse in it." The 11-year veteran said he had no confidence left in the commissioner.

Schmidt counters that he has increased the number of guards. Another 40 correctional officer positions have been designated in the budget for the year that starts July 1, bringing the official number up to 780 statewide, according to Schmidt.

outbreak?

The two sides also strongly disagree on the issue of the bacterial infection that some officers say is rapidly spreading in the prisons.

Sgt. Gary Damron at Hiland Mountain prison said the commissioner and the department refuse to recognize that hundreds of inmates suffer from an infection called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and two have died from it. MRSA is resistant to first-line antibiotics. The most common symptom is a pussy skin lesion. It can lead to more serious infections, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Damron said the number of incidents has been growing over the past year and the department needs to take measures to address it, such as providing more anti-bacterial soap to inmates, changing bedsheets more often, and checking on prisoners with skin lesions.

"To say there's not a problem is just burying your head in the sand," he said. "For them to say there's no MRSA is unethical, immoral and dangerous."

The medical director of corrections, Dr. Henry Luban, said that there was no problem. "We have it under control and are treating it effectively," he said, standing beside Schmidt at the press conference.

Schmidt said he thinks the union made the vote because "they are looking for a political or public solution to a contract type issue."

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