The Glimmer Man was once a very powerful Arizona state official who ran the tough Arizona prison system. He was also once a government prison intelligence agent sent overseas on contract by his country to help set up an Iraqi prison called Abu Ghraib. Called the glimmer man because he could move so quickly you would only see a glimmer of him as he established himself as a prison expert and builder of these concrete jungles, his sufferers could only see a glimpse of his deeds before they succumbed to him in resignation, submission or just fade away. Coming to Iraq with his faithful side kick and several other prison “experts” he was resolved to set up the correctional practices for this prison. Once he completed this task, he was hailed and honored as a hero and came back home with his short no-neck side-kick to Arizona. Quietly, he settled down in the shadows of state politics and was unheard or unseen for several years until lately. In the meantime, his side-kick was appointed by the governor to run the state prisons and promoted in lieu of the much more qualified glimmer man who drew much heat to himself from the local media when the governor was looking for prison leadership.
Rarely seen in public with his pseudo little glimmer man, the Arizona prison director, the real glimmer man makes his presence dwarf the company of his long time and faithful side-kick, now the official top dog in Arizona prisons. In fact, when you stand close to them, you can feel the difference between the two as the glimmer man demands respect and the pseudo glimmer man begs for respect. If you look closely, it becomes obvious who is in charge and who the de facto boss of the Arizona prison system really is, The Glimmer Man.
Using his prison intelligence to guide, direct or mentor his always faithful side-kick on the complexities of running a prison, there appears to be no power struggle at the top as the real glimmer man silently took control. His policies are the same as those circa 2001 to 2003 and the resemblance of those methods are reflected in the way policies are followed or in most cases, not followed. Never leaving the scene where they appear together, they depart separately on purpose and in different vehicles. Hiding in the shadows makes this glimmer man a most interesting persona as he has stated in public his main role in Arizona prisons is to act as a “consultant” to private prison contractors specifically the Management Training Corporation or MTC who are currently bidding on Arizona prison beds in Coolidge and other rural towns. Never mind the fact that MTC was the contractor of the fateful ASPC Kingman escape last year where three murders escaped and went on a violent crime spree that killed two innocent people in New Mexico. In fact, it has been his presence in these small towns that has created the mysticism in his position as consultant as it has been inferred that he is actually acting on the behalf of the Governor’s staff and their ties to the private prison vendors. If the rumors are true, the glimmer man is assigned to recon and scouts the possibilities for building new prisons to replace public prisons. Hence, the mission is on track.
Promising more jobs in areas already suffering high unemployment, one must only guess where the workers would come from unless they lay off the state workers and get them to sign on with the privates to keep their jobs. Most curious but rarely caught by those bystanders, cheering in orchestrated support, was the fact that this Glimmer Man has more answers for the crowd than the real boss of the prison system. Speculation is running high as the glimmer man moves about so stealthily that he can’t be seen unless you know who or what you are looking for. His path of wrath is obvious if you look and glean critical events for the past few years. High natural deaths, homicides and suicides are indirect resemblances of his methodology and influence of the past and prison ideology.
Today,media reports of repeated incidents of broken policies & procedures and willful negligence by employees ranking from wardens to corrections officers’ shows the impact and intimidation skills of this glimmer man inside our public prisons. The practice of deliberate indifference exists and the overall quality of prison wellness is sabotaged by those who admire him and his side-kick. He is indeed good at what he does; changing the environment or culture to allow Arizona public prisons to fail is in progress and to resolve this problem he will recommend to the governor by replacing them with private prisons through sellouts of the public’s penitentiaries, closing them, lease or transfer prisoner beds to the contractors and commit more funding for these prisons rather than public prisons; all this and more from the shadows on the walls of the fourth floor on Jefferson Street, Phoenix but not really taking one actual step inside the administration building except in spirit.
Source:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/04/20110904arizona-prison-business-politics.html