10.25.07
T. Don Hutto Warden Evelyn Hernandez On You Tube
In a video clip that is sometimes employee pep rally and sometimes sanctimonious grand standing Evenlyn Hernandez, Warden at the T. Don Hutto lock up, spoke to the commissioners court on October 9th about the “safe, secure, loving environment” she’s trying to provide for the mothers and their children, remember the fathers go somewhere else, at the former prison.
All those in the crowd that are dressed alike and clapping during the meeting must be the from the night shift at TDH, court meetings are a 9:30 am. Makes EOW wonder if their being in attendance was a decision they all came to separately or if their bosses alerted them to the meeting? Either way it’ll probably help them out on their next performance review. The warden didn’t really seem to say much of any consequence, talking in general terms about lies but not specifically refuting any, just trying to put a happy face on the corporation she works for by filling a hearing room with it’s employees.
Speaking of CCA, their Executive Vice President and General Counsel G.A. Puryear IV, exercised his options last week on 31,100 shares for of CCA stock.
In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, G. A. Puryear IV reported exercising the options on Oct. 18 for $5.70 apiece and then selling the same number of shares on the same day for $26.79 to $27.16 apiece
Clearing at least $21/share that means on that transaction alone he made over $650,000. From this link two other there are details on two other options transactions: Nov. 2006, he sold 22,500 shares for $929,475, and Aug. 2006, he sold 15,000 shares for $772, 050. He’s not alone at CCA, other executives and board members have been doing it as well, and it’s safe to assume this is pretty common in most corporations these days. It’s heartening though to see this corporate welfare system, aka the the prison industrial complex, continuing to thrive in America.
Puryear is a timely example of the coming together of government and corporations in our country. Before coming to CCA he had quite the government pedigree.
G.A. Puryear was named General Counsel of CCA in January 2001. Most recently, Puryear served as Legislative Director and Counsel for U.S. Senator Bill Frist, where he worked on legislation and other policy matters. During the fall of 2000, Puryear also served as a debate advisor to Vice President Richard B. Cheney. Puryear also worked as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs’ special investigation of campaign finance abuses during the 1996 elections, which was chaired by Senator Fred Thompson.
Connections to Vice President Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Frist were probably coveted by and beneficial to CCA. From this Forbes profile of Puryear, on December 2006 he had over 167,000 shares of unexercised options. After this last sale he now has just over 45,000. One reason he may be selling much of his stock is that he’s planning to move back into public sector. In September of 2006 he was rumored to be a candidate for an open US Attorney spot, bet he’s glad he stayed at CCA. But either way it’s another window into the revolving door of government and politics.
Back the the Warden Hernandez and the show that was put on at the court hearing. CCA and our Williamson County government, it appears, will go to any length they can to try and humanize and put a public face on CCA and the work force at TDH, while also going to any length they can to dehumanize and hide from the public those that are locked up at TDH. The current debate about the contract between the county and CCA has absolutely nothing to do with what’s right or what’s moral, it’s all about what’s best for Williamson County and CCA’s bottom lines.
remerson said,
October 25, 2007 at 11:37 am
My recollection is that the CCA CEO collected over $2 million profit in his stock option benefits-that , in addition to his $1 million salary; the guys who run this company are an interesting lot, with backgrounds not in running prisons but in milking the cash-cow provided to them by their “connections.” Their Chief Financial Officer was formerly associated with Arthur Anderson, known for their financial consulting to Enron Corp-before the fall. Whatever pretense there once was about prisons having a component of attempted reform is certainly non-existent today. Prisons exist, primarily, to make money for the private sector. (Notice how their political candidates are so strong on “law and order” and imprisoning people for low-level marijuana posseession, victimless crimes and petty offenses?) So society gets stiffed thrice in this bargain; first in the obscene profits paid to these hooligans, second in the depletion of productive citizens sent to prison for ridiculous charges, and then, again, when angry prisoners are returned to society worse off than when we institutionalized them. But, I digress. As we have been told repeatedly, T Don Hutto is not a prison. Time to re-read “1984.” War is Peace. Up is Down. Prison is Paradise.