SCRANTON — The Lackawanna County Prison Board tabled a vote Wednesday to hire a new warden pending further discussion on who will replace retiring Warden Tim Betti.
Betti, who did not attend Wednesday’s prison board meeting, announced in November his intent to retire after a long county career that includes almost nine years in the prison’s top post. The meeting agenda included a motion to hire his replacement, but the board ultimately tabled that vote after reconvening from an executive session where members discussed personnel issues.
The outgoing Betti replaced five-year Warden Robert McMillan in that role in June 2016. At that point he was serving as director of the county’s since-shuttered juvenile detention center and held several other jobs at the prison over about 25 years, including resident manager of the work release program, the prison’s population control officer, director of records, director of clinical services and assistant warden for treatment.
Deputy Warden Colleen Orzell presented the warden’s report at Wednesday’s meeting. Commissioner Bill Gaughan, who serves on the prison board alongside fellow Commissioner Chris Chermak, county President Judge James Gibbons, Sheriff Mark McAndrew, Controller Gary DiBileo and District Attorney Brian Gallagher, said after the session that the board will hold a special meeting next week to vote on Betti’s successor.
District Attorney Brian Gallagher listens during a meeting of the Lackawanna County Prison Board on Wednesday at the county government center on Wyoming Avenue in Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF POHOTO)
Gibbons and resident Joan Hodowanitz praised the absent Betti after the executive session, with the latter noting the he’s had to “serve several taskmasters” as warden, including the public, taxpayers, inmates, their families, prison employees and their unions.
“And it’s not easy, it’s not even possible, to satisfy all those competing demands,” Hodowanitz said. “But I think he was very good in trying to balance everyone’s interests. He was very professional in what he did. … I don’t know why anybody would want to be warden to tell you the truth. It’s not an easy job and he certainly doesn’t get paid enough, and I don’t know what you’re going to pay the new one. But be that as it may, I think you owe him a vote of confidence as he moves into retirement. I think he did a superb job all things considered and I just wanted to go on record saying that.”
Gibbons seconded her opinion “heartily.”
“Tim has been a tremendous asset to the prison, to the county, to the board, to all involved over my years being on the board,” Gibbons said. “His equanimity I think is one of his greatest characteristics.”
The annual salary for the warden position is $89,378.
Solitary confinement
Also Wednesday, Gaughan addressed the issue of solitary confinement at the prison, noting he reviewed the “data and the realities” presented in a recent report prepared for officials by independent evaluator Daniel T. Demuth. The report should be considered as an independent analysis and critique of the prison’s policies and procedures related to solitary confinement and the facility’s restrictive housing unit, according to the document.
Gaughan acknowledged solitary confinement is among the most serious and controversial tools available in the county’s correctional system and said there’s no question that the use of solitary confinement “can have deeply negative psychological impacts, especially when used for extended periods.”
“With that being said, we must also acknowledge the realities of managing a secure facility,” he said. “There are times when inmates present a clear threat to the safety of others or to the order of the institution, and in those cases restricted housing becomes, unfortunately, a necessary tool.”
While the prison shouldn’t rely on restrictive housing “lightly or routinely,” Gaughan continued, “it has to be an option of last resort.”
“It’s the prison’s responsibility to use it judiciously with oversight and clear policy, while continually exploring alternative strategies and supports that maintain both safety and dignity within the correctional system,” he said. “Reform doesn’t mean eliminating every tool. It means using them wisely and with accountability.”
Gaughan specifically noted and generally endorsed a suggestion in the report that officials consider offering a class where someone would go over the prison’s inmate handbook with the prison population, helping ensure inmates have a clear understanding of prison rules. Doing so might “drive down” some of the behaviors that result in restrictive housing, he said.
While inmates have access to the handbook, the report notes some lack the capacity to read and comprehend it.
“Also it recommends an increase in mental health professionals, which I think everyone would be supportive of, and I think that will reduce the number of inmates who have to be sent to restrictive housing for whatever reason,” Gaughan concluded.