HALFWAY HOUSE REQUEST WITHDRAWN

The Gibson Recovery Center Inc. has temporarily withdrawn its request to operate a halfway house program because two City Council members serve on an advisory committee for the center.

A public hearing and first-round vote on the request was scheduled for Monday night's council meeting.

Jeff Hine, an attorney representing the treatment center, submitted a letter Friday withdrawing the center's request for a rezoning and a special use permit that would have been necessary to allow the halfway house program for the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole to operate.

Dick Decker, director of the Gibson Center, said the request will be re-submitted.

Councilman Melvin Gateley, Ward 5, and Mayor Al Spradling III both serve on an advisory committee for the Gibson Center, located at 1112 Linden St.

Hine said Saturday that the Gibson Center withdrew its request because it was unclear whether Gateley and Spradling's membership on the committee would constitute a financial conflict.

"We have to get that resolved," he said.

Spradling said he and Gateley were advised by city attorney Eric Cunningham that they would have to abstain from voting on the two proposals -- one for the rezoning and one for the special use permit -- because of the conflict of interest.

He said he suggested the request be withdrawn because he was unsure if there would be sufficient votes to pass it, since his and Gateley's abstentions would be counted as "no" votes, and there might be other negative votes.

Passage would require four votes.

"It's probably better to withdraw it than have it denied," he said.

Spradling wasn't aware the Gibson Center planned to resubmit its request, but when informed of it, he said, "That really doesn't surprise me."

The advisory committee on which Spradling and Gateley served is a non-voting board and does not govern the operations of the Gibson Center, Decker said. Members of the Committee do not receive financial compensation, he said.

Decker said all of the elected officials on the advisory committee -- including Gateley and Spradling, as well as Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, Jackson Mayor Paul Sander and Sheriff John Jordan -- are being removed from the committee to avoid any potential future conflicts.

Advisory committee members serve on a voluntary basis and are asked for suggestions and input on programs for the center, Decker said.

Gateley said he couldn't recall ever acting on anything as a member of the advisory committee.

"We never had any meetings. We never asked any questions until we started working on this thing," he said.

Gateley did ask last month for clarification on what his and Spradling's positions on the advisory committee might mean for the council vote on the halfway house proposal.

"It's really an interesting situation," he said.

Decker said the request for the rezoning and special use permit will be resubmitted "sometime fairly soon."

The halfway house proposal has drawn fire because the Gibson Center is located next to the Head Start Center for pre-schoolers, apartments for elderly and disabled adults and the Parkview State School for the Severely Handicapped.

Opponents of the plan are worried that the inmates living in the halfway house will pose a threat to neighboring residents and to students and staff at the preschool and state school.

Several parents were expected to air their concerns at Monday night's public hearing.

Angie Beauchamp, whose son attends Parkview, said she's not sure how to feel about the decision to withdraw the halfway house request.

"It just came up all of a sudden and it makes me wonder what they're up to," she said. "I guess we just have to wait and see."

Beauchamp hired attorney Albert Lowes to represent the parents' group. She said she remains opposed to the halfway house proposal.

Decker said security is already in place for the inmates and the current residents -- including a security station to monitor residents' movements, security cameras and alarms at exits from the two wings where residents are housed.

Decker also pointed out that 55 to 60 percent of the Gibson Center's current clients -- totalling approximately 600 men -- are receiving treatment as part of their probation or under court orders for DWI or other criminal offenses.

"I don't want to paint the picture that this place only serves criminals," Decker said, adding that many of the center's clients are solid citizens with jobs and families.

But if people are worried that criminals housed at the center will cause problems in the neighborhood, that potential already exists, he said.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I thought anything like that were going to happen," Decker said.

Michael Moore, who will oversee the halfway house program, said the parolees know that if they break any of the rules, they will be going back to prison to complete their sentences.

"If they made it this far, they're not going to risk doing anything to go back," he said.

If the halfway house program is approved, it will be the only one in Southeast Missouri.

The program will serve Southeast Missouri natives and is intended to provide a smoother transition from prison to the community.