Ahtahum View Corrections Center members picket to save jobs and public safety, protest closure plan

Dozens of Ahtanum View Corrections Center and Local 1326 members staged a peaceful picket at the corner of North 40th and Summitview in Yakima Monday to save local jobs and protest a consultant's recommendation to close the unique facility caring for elderly and ill inmates.

At an impromptu rally, Ahtanum View member David Niles said the move to close the facility is pennywise and pound-foolish.

"Introducing these offenders into institutions with other offenders will create an environment far less humane than the model that currently exists," Niles said.

"Ahtanum View Corrections Center is an ADA facility. It will cost millions of dollars to our taxpayers in this depressed economy to replicate at another facility."