Tulsa World: Senator who spoke out about prison study removed from task force

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Senator who spoke out about prison study removed from task force

Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre

By JULIE BISBEE NewsOk.com
Published: 4/15/2009 7:38 PM
Last Modified: 4/15/2009 8:00 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Days after a Democratic senator spoke out about a study eyeing the closure of three state prisons, Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Glenn Coffee removed him from a state task force.

Sen. Tom Ivester, D-Sayre, said he was informed on April 9 that he would no longer be a member of the Oklahoma State Council for Educational Opportunity for Military Children.

Ivester, who spent five years of active duty in the U.S. Army and is now a member of the Oklahoma National Guard, was appointed to the council by former Senate co-leader Mike Morgan.

Ivester’s removal from the council is one of a few moves by Coffee following the public release of a report studying the possibility of closing some state prisons.

Coffee filed an amendment to do away with the Board of Corrections and make the director of the Corrections Department appointed by the governor. He filed the amendment after a report on the cost of closing prisons was released to the media.

Coffee has said the change is part of the recommendations made by an exhaustive audit of the Corrections Department in 2007 and had been in the works for several weeks.

Ivester said he had been on the council two years. Under the statute that created the task force, members appointed by the leader of the Senate serve three-year terms. Coffee replaced Ivester with Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond.

Coffee said the change was routine and part of his review of all appointments made by the previous administration. Coffee said he was unaware

of the term specified in statute.

“I hadn’t paid much attention to it,” Coffee said. “I was just looking at appointments of people who serve at the discretion of the pro tempore.”

Ivester said he found out he was replaced when a letter was hand-delivered to him on the Senate floor last week. The letter, dated April 9, was addressed to Jolley, informing Jolley that he had been named to the council. Ivester, Gov. Brad Henry, House Speaker Chris Benge and other state officials and staff were copied on the letter.

Earlier in the month, Ivester had discussed publicly possible plans to close the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite, which is in his district.

The medium-security prison was part of a study the state Corrections Department conducted at the request of Senate leaders.

There are no immediate plans to close any prison and Coffee said the study was requested for informational purposes only.

“He can kick me off a thousand committees, but as long as I’m standing up for jobs in Oklahoma, I’m doing the right thing,” Ivester said. “I won’t question his motives, but this is not fostering bipartisanship.”

Before the Corrections Department report was furnished to the media, Senate Republicans issued a news release critical of Ivester, saying there was no factual basis for his public statements about the possibility of prisons closing.

Coffee said those statements had nothing to do with his decision to remove Ivester from the task force.

“This was a totally unrelated procedure; this isn’t retribution,” Coffee said. “I don’t have a bad list or anything like that.”

Coffee, however, did say Ivester’s statements were, “extremely alarmist and unfair to those communities.”

By JULIE BISBEE NewsOk.com

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	Report Comment Peter Piper, TULSA (4/15/2009 7:50:04 PM) More petty wrangling -- is there no end to it??
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (4/15/2009 8:07:11 PM) Well, now we know Mr. Coffee's strong points are lies and revenge or retaliation.
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (4/15/2009 8:08:08 PM) Coffee needs to focus on his TAXES!!
	Report Comment bearway, Jenks (4/15/2009 8:24:00 PM) We need more people to speak out about the goings-on in our Government. Mr Coffee is getting too big for his britches. I hope his constituents remember this come election time.
	Report Comment insider9909, Cushing (4/15/2009 8:42:43 PM) Who the hell elected Glenn Coffee king of Oklahoma? He needs to go.
	Report Comment Hal9King, McAlester (4/15/2009 8:54:15 PM) I always wonder about the 'what ifs' -- in this case if Sen. Ivester had not said anything would there really be no closings in the works?
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (4/15/2009 10:34:21 PM) Coffee is trying to engineer a fat contract for his buddies in the private prison business.
	Report Comment RDM1, Tulsa (4/16/2009 2:26:36 AM) Route66bear You're Moron if you think giving someone METH is a option to anything or even allowing them to obtain it is RIDICULOUS! It's not Pot and even your Coke Heads stay away from it. Meth is Death and in my opinion it would be the same as giving the person poison, which it is. Maybe you would like to be the one handing it out? You could look into their eyes each time they come back and slowly watch their Souls Vanish. Educate Yourself this is a drug that's in a League of it's own.

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