tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post6424543355396086445..comments2020-04-11T03:30:02.282-05:00Gary R. Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-27713836137722946412014-08-25T05:44:44.475-05:002014-08-25T05:44:44.475-05:00Instead of spending obscene amounts of money letting a foreign corporation build and lease back to us a new Justice center on the westside, perhaps the Mayor’s administration should look over Washington Square. It can be purchased for $14.1 million dollars. Doesn’t need much renovation; already in better shape than the city county building courts. Plenty of parking. Bus service. Food. I think the city county council ought to formally reprimand the mayor for spending so much unilaterally on secret contracts before we’ve decided where we want to spend the money. Other businesses near Washington Sq are thriving. If the city has money to throw at development, we ought to spend it out at Washington Sq instead of developing a new justice center on the west side. We definitely need a referendum, and someone ought to seek an injunction against further progress until the issue of the referendum has been settled.local landlordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-68996841724763126792014-08-23T17:38:47.151-05:002014-08-23T17:38:47.151-05:00The proposed new jail calls for 1,000 new beds and a 500 bed increase for community corrections. What is this proposed expansion based on? Did the city consider trends in reduced incarceration elsewhere, the possible impact of Indiana’s Supreme Court Committee to Study Evidence Based Pretrial Release, and calls by a diverse group of political leaders such as Senators Rand Paul and Cory Booker for reduced incarceration for nonviolent, low level crimes? Did the city consider diverting people with serious mental illness out of jail and into treatment, as San Antonio has successfully done, and its impact on bed needs?<br /><br />What about the projected operational budget for the new jail? Has anyone seen it? Even under the BOT model the Sheriff will be responsible for running the detention facilities. The Sheriff currently oversees about 1000 inmates at Jail 1 and a private contractor, whose contract ends in 2017 and won’t be renewed, oversees another 1000 at Jail II. Sheriff John Layton reportedly thinks he will be able guard twice as many inmates, as he does now in the new jail without growing his current head count of 650 deputies. Can the Sheriff actually manage the combined bed count from the existing jails and the additional 1,500 bed capacity without an increase in staff?aps29@yahoo.comnoreply@blogger.com