LITTLE ROCK — Former North Little Rock Mayor William F. "Casey" Laman called Tuesday for the city to do everything in its power to improve conditions at the Central Arkansas Observation and Assessment Center -- even if that means condemning the building.
"I would be ashamed to tell anybody that we're a city of the first class that allowed such atrocities to take place within 29 blocks of City Hall," Laman said, referring to reports of chronic abuse of delinquent juveniles at the facility published Sunday and Monday in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Laman sought a meeting Tuesday with Mayor Patrick Henry Hays and other top officials to discuss how the city should respond to the reports, but no meeting took place.
Hays shared Laman's outrage but said the city has little control over O&A, operated at 204 W. Pershing Blvd. by the Division of Youth Services, part of the state Department of Human Services.
"We're certainly not going to shuck our responsibilities, but so far as I know we have no control over the operation of that facility," Hays said.
North Little Rock leased its city jail to Pulaski County for $1 a year under a 1990 interlocal agreement. The county operated the facility as part of the regional jail. In 1994, the city allowed the county to sublease the jail to the state Department of Human Services for $230,000 annually.
But Hays' logic didn't hold water with Laman, mayor in 1959-72 and 1979-80.
"To say we didn't know about it is very reminiscent of people in Germany who 'didn't know' about Dachau and Auschwitz," Laman said. "We can't use that as an excuse now. We know about it.
"Responsibility may not rest with us, but it sure as hell starts here. The mayor and the City Council ought to take some overt action to alleviate the atrocities that are going on down there."
At least two city officials -- city Health Department Administrator Dean Edwards and Lt. Steve Smith of the fire marshal's office -- inspected O&A recently, but their reports were submitted to state agencies, bypassing city leaders. The city Code Enforcement Department does not inspect the center.
Edwards, who doubles as state Health Department sanitarian for North Little Rock, inspected the O&A kitchen April 22 and found only minor violations: ground beef thawed at an improper temperature and a sink not stocked with soap.
When a state Department of Correction team inspected O&A a week later, on April 29, it found the kitchen "extremely dirty." The team found cleaning chemicals stored and exposed in the food preparation areas and electrical appliances above wash areas.
But when Edwards returned to inspect the kitchen May 13, he again found no critical violations. "The kitchen is in good shape," he wrote in a report to his supervisor at the Health Department, Bill Teer.
Asked Tuesday to explain the discrepancy between his own reports and the Department of Correction's findings, Edwards said: "I have no idea. I found the kitchen extremely clean."
Smith's May 6 report, delivered to O&A, listed violations of the fire code ranging from car tires stored in a closet to broken exit lights throughout the building.
Combustible materials were found in an electrical room, and an exit door in the school area was blocked.
Smith also found no fire evacuation plan posted, a violation Department of Correction inspectors also noted April 29.