Wonderful news today. The private prison company has withdrawn its proposal for the Casa Grande site. People came together and worked to spread the news and generate community support. The local businesses that would have suffered if the proposal went forward, were instrumental in organizing and providing support for our efforts. It is very satisfying to see the power of the people have an effect.
I started a Facebook Group, NO PRISONS in Casa Grande, AZ that allowed people to post relevant information regarding the opposition to the proposal. I posted all the links I could find regarding the private company and its business relationships in other parts of the world, Letters to the Editor from local papers, and meeting notices to gather everyone to organize. I had never created a "group" on Facebook, so I learned a lot during the process. We ended up with almost 200 members in just a short period of time.
It looks like the company had other sites that they were also pursuing and will put their bid in with another city. My condolences.
