As I have followed the debate in The Democrat over the bishops, the vote and the prison, I agree fully with the letter of Spruce Derden — a person does not forfeit his constitutional right to free speech when he is ordained to the clergy. The bishops have a right to speak, but they also have a right to be wrong — which they are in this case.

As Kirk Bartley has so wisely pointed out, if the petition is signed by enough people, it will effectively put an end to the prison project for Natchez and Adams County. Dr. Garrity worries about the initial expense to the taxpayers. But the good doctor should have taken enough time from his veterinary studies to enroll in economics 1013. He would have learned some things that might have reassured him about the risk to the taxpayers of Adams County.

First of all, if the prison really does employ 300 workers, and if they pay them only $7 per hour for 40 hours a week, the workers will each make about $15,000 a year. This means that those 300 jobs will add about $4.5 million to our none-too-robust local economy.

But that is not all. Anybody who has taken the most basic course in economics should know that this money will change hands about four times, which will effectively add about $18 million to the county economy each year. And if these employees are like me, they will not be able to save much of that money, or afford to drive very far to spend it — so most of that money will be spent in Natchez. And if the city gets 2-percent sales tax on those expenditures, the Natchez city coffers will be enriched by about $360,000 every year the prison operates.

What is more, unless the county gives a tax break to the prison, the prison facility will be subject to county ad valorem taxes. And even if the supervisors have to give the prison a tax break, it will eventually expire, which will help to offset the loss of revenue from the closing of International Paper.

But this is yet another case in the long history of Natchez where a tiny minority could have hindered the economic progress of the entire area. It would have taken only 1,500 confused or self-interested citizens to keep Natchez in its current economic doldrums. It seems sensible people have rejected the arguments of the bishops, those who own land near the site of the proposed prison, and those who do not recognize the fact that 300 jobs added to our economy will surely outweigh any initial costs associated with having that facility locate here.

Billy Johnson

Natchez resident