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Dick Salem
[Full Interview] [Topic Top]
Residents got a
hold of a confidential memo that said in two weeks, construction of a new dining room was to
begin as the first step of the reorganization. This was in total violation of our agreement. I had
assured the inmates that this wouldn’t happen. I phoned and called the deputy director who
said, "No, this shouldn’t be happening. I didn’t know that they were going to head that way,
but I guess they plan to.” I then phoned the commissioner and said, "It looks like we are going to
have to stop mediation. What I’d like to do is meet with you and the support team to the
inmates.” I rented a room at the Holiday Inn for the next morning and we met there at eight
o’clock. The BBDCO support group from Minneapolis was there. The lawyer for the
Hispanics was there, about seven of us. We met with the commissioner and we told him what
had happened. He was furious.
Now I’ll tell you what was going on. The deputy commissioner was an alcoholic. I
suspected something when I saw him dancing with a young blonde one night at the tower of the
St. Paul Hilton, where I used to stay when I was in St. Paul. I foolishly said hello to him, and he
didn’t even acknowledge me. I figured something was going on. He’d been on health leave a
few times. The Commissioners said, "I’m going to fire him and I’m going to remove the
superintendent too."
As we left he said, "I want mediation to continue, so I’m going to remove them. I’m going to
appoint Orville Pung acting deputy and his only job is going to be to supervise this. I’m going
to remove the superintendent and who else do you recommend go?" I said, "Don’t remove the
superintendent." Let Orville Pung decide that one. There I was giving him advice, which
seemed to be appropriate at the time. He was so angry he was going to fire half of them. Orville
Pung came in and we continued mediation without a problem. The mediator was finally
controlling the process. Pung, incidentally, went on to become Commissioner of Corrections.
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