Local bus caravan heading to Albany on Tuesday, March 11th for protest rally against closing Monterey Shock, other correctional facilities ~ Read more, sign up to go, registration deadline is this Friday, February 26th

Elmira, N.Y., February 26—State Senator Tom O’Mara today reminded local residents interested in attending a rally on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 in Albany to protest Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan to shut down several correctional facilities this year, including the Monterey Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Schuyler County, can join a local bus caravan being sponsored by the New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA). 

"We're not giving up the fight to save Monterey Shock.  Here’s another opportunity for the community to show their support for saving the local jobs, the vital local community services and all of Monterey’s other positive impacts locally.  I hope the Cuomo administration hears us in Albany on March 11^th.  We need to keep making the case to Governor Cuomo that there are more effective ways to achieve the short- and long-term goals we share without closing a high-quality, community-oriented and cost-effective facility like Monterey,” O'Mara said.

 The March 11 rally in Albany is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. in the West Capitol Park.

 According to NYSCOPBA, there’s no cost for local residents who want to reserve a seat on a bus leaving from the designated pickup area in the Southern Tier – but the registration deadline is this Friday, February 28, 2014.

 NYSCOPBA members and retirees can register online at www.nyscopba.org or by calling 1-888-484-7279.   

 Anyone from the general public interested in additional details and to sign up to attend the rally should contact Mike Dildine at 518-275-6656. 

 Since last July when the Cuomo administration first announced it closure plans, O’Mara and other local leaders have been critical of the decision to shut down Monterey Shock.  They’ve highlighted the loss of local jobs and other local economic consequences that will result from the facility’s closing, as well as Monterey’s record of fiscal and correctional services success – a record which was praised by the Cuomo administration itself in September 2012 as part of the facility’s 25^th Anniversary celebration. 

 Monterey was New York’s first “shock” facility.