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Newtown Meets The New Warden

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Garner Correctional Institution Warden Giovanny Gomez met with members of the

Newtown Public Safety Committee Monday and assured them he plans to maintain

positive relations between the town and the state's high-security prison on

Nunnawauk Road.

Prison officials will do whatever is necessary to continue a positive

relationship with the town, Warden Gomez said.

Warden Gomez and several of his lieutenants met with town representatives on

the safety committee at Town Hall South. The location of the quarterly public

safety committee meetings alternates between Town Hall South and Garner.

Warden Gomez, 43, began work as Garner's warden February 1. He replaced former

Garner warden Remi Acosta whom the DOC has assigned as warden of the New Haven

Correctional Center. Gomez is the third warden for Garner which opened in

November 1992.

Gomez formerly worked for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and as a correction

officer in the military. He has 24 years experience in corrections.

Before coming to Garner, Gomez served as warden at Northern Correctional

Center in Somers, the state's highest-security prison which is commonly known

as "supermax."

"I basically am what you refer to as a rank-and-file guy," Warden Gomez told

safety committee members of his way of working his way up through the ranks

during his almost 15 years with the state Department of Correction (DOC).

Safety committee member Wendy Beres asked Warden Gomez about Garner's

preparedness for the "Year 2000 Problem," also known as Y2K, a computer

software bug which is expected to create widespread computer-related problems

when the year 2000 arrives, one second after midnight on January 1, 2000.

If computers at the prison were to fail at that time, would Garner be able to

function, Ms Beres asked. The modern prison is heavily computerized.

Duties handled by staffers at the prison can be performed manually, the warden

said. DOC is working to ensure that Y2K problems don't occur, he added.

The prison has a variety of contingency plans for various emergencies, he

said.

"Our state of readiness is always at a certain level," the warden said.

Computers are a great aid to running a prison, but there's no substitute for

having well-trained staff members performing their jobs, he said. "The

staffing is really the key to running a good facility," he said.

Head Count

As of Monday, Garner contained 683 inmates, 334 of which were incarcerated in

gang-control sections, 204 of which were in the general population, and 145 of

which were in mental health units, Warden Gomez said.

Currently, there are not as many inmates being held in gang-control sections

as normal, he said. Of the 683 inmates in Garner, 24 are designated as "Level

2" security risks, he said. Level 2 is the lowest of several security levels

at the prison.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal suggested that Garner provide a few Level 2

inmates to paint the western side of Town Hall South. Several Level 2 inmates

painted the other sides of the building recently.

Warden Gomez assured the first selectman that such inmates will be available

for the paint job.

Warden Gomez said he will carry on cooperative programs with the town which

were in place while Acosta served as Garner's warden.

Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr, said town police would provide escorts for

state prisoner transport work in Newtown, if requested by Garner.

"Garner has been a good neighbor since I got here," Chief Lysaght said. "I'm

looking forward to working with you," he said.

"I feel fortunate to have inherited this facility. The host community is

important. It's very important," Warden Gomez said of the prison's presence

within Newtown.

"It's a very secure facility, very well run. I don't anticipate problems,"

said Garner Major Wayne Sparks.

As of Monday, state prisons housed 16,458 inmates, down from an all-time high

of 16,500 inmates last month.