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Hampden County Sheriff Ashe Holds 39th And Final Clambake

With Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe set to retire after 42 years in office, he held his 39th and final annual clambake Wednesday. The clambake is considered a must attend event for politicians, aspiring candidates and law enforcement officials.

Among those making the rounds at the Springfield Elks Lodge, hobnobbing with fellow pols and members of the public, was Governor Charlie Baker. Standing under a crowded pavilion, Baker thanked the sheriff for holding the event on a day with more seasonal temperatures.

“I got to tell you, I really appreciate the fact that you ordered a low humidity day. It is brutal out there in eastern Massachusetts; you guys are right where you belong,” Baker said. “And hope you all have a wonderful end of the summer and a terrific rest of the year. And I really just wanted to come out and say thank you to the sheriff for his terrific service for the people of Massachusetts, thank you very much.”

The governor said his administration’s efforts to help people find work after prison are built on Ashe’s work running the Hampden County jail.

Ashe is a former social worker. He said his whole approach to corrections was not to simply warehouse inmates, but help them return to their community with more productive skills than when they first came.

“And I’m just really honored that I’ve done that and that I’ve put my whole body and soul behind it. And so I just feel blessed. The public showed a trust and confidence in me and I’d like to feel I never let them down,” said Ashe.

A couple of years ago, Ashe was honored at the White House for helping prisoners find employment when they’re released — a key factor in reducing recidivism. Agawam Mayor Richard Cohen said that’s rooted in what he calls Ashe’s humanistic policies.

“He runs a great operation there and it will be tough to fill his shoes,” Cohen said. “But I certainly hope that the person who does is able to keep it going and maintain the community surrounding involved in making our community safer.”

Five candidates are running to succeed Ashe, with three of them facing off in the September 8th Democratic primary. Because he’s not seeking re-election, Ashe said proceeds from what had been a political fundraiser will instead go to three charities.

Hampden Sheriff Pauses Plan For Treatment Center Relocation To Springfield’s North End

It’s been a tricky few weeks for perhaps the most seasoned of politicians in western Massachusetts. Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe has been on the defensive over a proposed site in Springfield’s North End for a substance abuse treatment center for inmates that his office runs. Many North End residents worry it’ll be a major setback for their neighborhood. Ashe came to our studios yesterday to make his case for the site, a vacant lot on Wason Avenue.

A few hours after the interview, however, the sheriff’s office said it had a deal with the state to put the North End development on hold, and open up the site selection process for another 60 business days. The North End, it seems, may not be the new home of the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center. It all depends on what other bids come in, and how other residents react.

To hear an interview with Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe, click on the audio player above.

Mass. Campaign Finance Office: Sheriff Ashe’s Political Fund Broke Law With Investments

Campaign finance regulators in Massachusetts have delivered a slap on the wrist to Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe.

Ashe’s committee last year put about $58,000 in a mutual fund. That’s “strictly prohibited,” according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Ashe’s campaign treasurer Jim Tremble says the investment was his decision and says he didn’t know about the rule.

“Both the sheriff and I were upset that in his term something like that would happen and we were afraid of very negative responses,” Tremble says. “And, of course, the campaign finance office was anything but that. They were very cordial. They were easy to work with. They saw what had happened and they helped us correct it.”

The campaign finance office says it considers the matter closed. One reason: it acknowledges it hasn’t specifically publicized the ban on mutual funds. Also, hinting that the market already delivered punishment, the office notes that Ashe lost some $3,700 on the investment.

The sheriff, who is not running again in 2016, uses his campaign fund to donate to charities and other politicians.

MGM Holds Firm To Eviction Date For Inmate Treatment Center

MGM Springfield is holding firm to an eviction deadline at the end of this month for an inmate treatment center in the city’s south end. The building is in the footprint of the company’s planned casino.

MGM now owns the building where the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center operates. The Hampden County Sheriff oversees the center, and while MGM Springfield President Mike Mathis says he’s worked closely with the sheriff to find a way to relocate the facility, he says the center must be out by March 31st, “give or take a few days, which we’ve offered to the sheriff.” Mathis says. “If we had a plan in place that we understood, we’d be willing to juggle some things, but we’re getting pretty close to that critical period.”

The sheriff’s office has requested about 4 million dollars from the state gaming commission to help relocate. But Commission chair Steve Crosby says the sheriff needs to submit an updated request, with a plan for where the treatment facility would move. That’s after the developer for a new space abruptly pulled out of the project last month.

A spokesperson for the sheriff’s department says the office is “working diligently and earnestly on a plan and a solution.”

 

Inmate Treatment Center Could Re-Locate Outside Springfield

An inmate treatment center in Springfield’s South End is facing another hurdle as it tries to relocate. The developer who had planned to renovate a new space for the center has pulled out of the project, according to Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe.

IN DEPTH: Lacking Funds, Springfield Inmate Treatment Center Faces Eviction And An Uncertain Future

The Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center is on land MGM bought for its casino, and faces eviction. Ashe has asked for $4 million from the state gaming commission to relocate the center to a former nursing home on Mill Street in Springfield.

“We are going to try to see if we can get another developer for the Mill St. site, but also we’re going to expand and look at the greater Springfield area in terms of trying to relocate the facility,” Ashe said today, speaking before the gaming commission.

Other possible locations include West Springfield, Chicopee, and Holyoke. The facility currently treats about 125 inmates with drug or alcohol addiction.

Lacking Funds, Springfield Inmate Treatment Center Faces Eviction And An Uncertain Future

As MGM prepares to build its casino in Springfield’s South End, it’s bought up a cluster of properties, evicting businesses and organizations. Among them is the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center. It’s a substance abuse treatment center for up to 182 inmates. For nearly thirty years, it’s rented a building on Howard Street, in the center of MGM’s planned casino. It does not have the money to move to a new location. That’s grabbed the attention of many state officials, but no one is promising a solution. With that, I went for a visit.

MORE: WMCAC Could Relocate Outside Springfield

Ron Robinson is speaking to an auditorium of about fifty men, all wearing suits and ties. They’re a broad mix of ages and races. Many look a bit bored, staring at their shoes or off into the distance. But Robinson, who was once a resident here, tells them adamantly about the benefits of this facility.

“Thank God for this program, because this program changed my life,” Robinson says.

Robinson is a substance abuse counselor himself now. He’s one of the thousands of success stories that the staff of the facility, known as WMCAC or simply “Howard Street,” point to. It serves the four western Massachusetts counties, and the residents, as the inmates here are called, are all incarcerated for offenses related to drug or alcohol addiction. It’s far from a typical prison. The center is minimum security, and co-ed.

“Male in the unit, ladies,” says Della Blake, director of Howard Street, announcing my arrival.

“This is the women’s unit. Like I said it’s an 18 bed unit, this is one of their day rooms, sometimes it’s a group room,” she says as she walks me through the living area.

There are no cells. It’s more like a college dorm – bunk beds, lockers, posters on the wall. The place looks a bit tired, but it’s clean and neat, especially the beds. Residents are required to make their bed with precise hospital corners. It’s about structure, Blake says.

“When they’re detoxing or they’ve been living active addiction, they ain’t getting up in the morning making their bed, or taking showers, or having any grooming concerns,” Blake says. “So those are a lot of the disciplines that they have to get back in to in order to present themselves as changed, responsible, recovering people.”

Residents are encouraged to go to AA meetings outside the facility, accompanied by volunteers.

Though the center originally focused on alcohol, the mission has changed with the times, according to Howard Street’s program manager Joanne Burke.

“We noticed ten years ago that the heroin was beginning to pop up its ugly head, and it had to do with prescription pills,” she says.

Burke says several recovering heroin addicts started a support group at that time and named themselves “hope fiends.” When it started, the group had about four people. Now, out of the seventy inmates in the initial phase of treatment, Burke says anywhere from thirty to forty of them are in the group.

Burke says the growing heroin and opiate problem makes Howard Street more relevant than ever, despite its eviction that’s supposed to happen at the end of this month. Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe, whose office oversees the center, says there’s no way it will leave by that date. He wants to move it to a former nursing home on Mill Street in Springfield, but doesn’t have the money to do it.

“We’re working on trying to secure $4 million,” says Ashe.

That would pay for renovations and moving costs, and come from a fund for casino “mitigation” from the state gaming commission. There’s a total of $17 million the commission can distribute, and it’s paid for by the three licensed casino companies in Massachusetts, including MGM.

MGM did not respond to multiple requests for a taped interview. But in a statement, a spokesperson says MGM has been in discussions with the Sheriff’s office, and has tried to be “as accommodating and engaged as possible.” The company is offering relocation funding, which would put WMCAC in line for about $130,000.

State government is paying attention. A Baker administration official says they are in ongoing talks with the Sheriff, and understand the need for a new facility, but he says state money is tight.

Meanwhile, Ashe says he has no backup plan. If funding doesn’t come through and the treatment center actually is evicted, where would residents go?

“I’m not thinking of that right now,” Ashe says. “I’m thinking that we’re going to make this work.”

At Howard Street, director Della Blake says the uncertainty is weighing on the residents.

“They are concerned about where we’re going, but that’s our responsibility as staff,” Blake says. “Our faith in our sheriff sets the tone for us as staff, and we set the tone for the residents. We have faith in our sheriff.”

The gaming commission meets Thursday, and mitigation funding is on the agenda.

Update: A spokesperson for the Hampden Sheriff’s office says the eviction date is now March 31st. Regardless, WMCAC does not plan to leave the building by the eviction date.