The organization will take advantage of the 15 minutes allotted for discussion of items not on the agenda and ask the Council to consider passing a resolution voicing its opposition to the location of the facility. The Milton-Freewater City Council passed a similar resolution at its meeting last week.

Dorothy Wertenberger, one of the board members of the group said she plans on contacting City Manager Larry Lehman prior to Tuesday’s Council session to inform him of the organization’s intentions.

“I think it (a resolution) shows that bordering communities that do not have three strikes laws in their state are concerned about this,” Wertenberger said.

Enough is Enough has tried to convey to Oregon residents the potential for convicted felons to travel across state lines to commit crimes, since under Washington law a person with three felony convictions is incarcerated for life without the possibility of parole.

“A crime committed in Oregon would be a parole violation, but would not be another strike,” she said. “They’re not stupid people, these sexual predators. They’ve had 10 years to study the laws.”

An additional reason for the group’s visit is to try and gather support for a Jan. 24 meeting with members from the Washington Department of Social and Human Services, scheduled at Walla Walla High School. The DSHS was responsible for the choosing of the proposed location.

A location near Lacey, Wash., was originally chosen to house the facility, but those plans were scrapped after the property the home would have been located on was purchased by local residents for nearly three times its estimated value.

Ruben Bybee, also with Enough is Enough, said a large public turnout on Jan. 24 would be the best way of showing DSHS officials the community’s displeasure and concerns over the choosing of the location. The city of Walla Walla already has filed a lawsuit contending the DSHS did not follow local and state land-use when choosing the Walla Walla location.

The group also expressed concern about the likely first inhabitant of the house, Mitch Gaff, who was convicted of raping, sodomizing and beating a 14-year-old girl and her 16-year-old sister for nearly two-and-a-half hours. His attack was eventually thwarted when one of the girls managed to escape for help while he was trying to strangle the other with an electrical cord.

“After 42 treatment classes they’re saying Gaff is all better and ready to come back to society?” asked Bybee. “I don’t think so.”

According to the DSHS it will cost the state of Washington between $200,000 and $300,000 per person it houses in the facility.