Letters to the Web Editor

There has been a lot in the local media as to why the jail bond failed. These are some of the reasons I think caused the jail bond to fail.

1. Price way too much.

2. Commissioners' and judge's pay raise. Totally out of line for work done.

3. Many people simply feel their property taxes are too costly now. They simply cannot afford more taxes. This may be the number one reason for the failure of the bond.

4. The arrogance of most of those for the bond in advertisements and news articles. The demeanor of those people was we had no choice but to vote the way they wanted us to. If we did not, we were very stupid. The greatest thing about our country is we can vote a secret ballot no matter what someone thinks about it. We did that.

5. When the jail bond issue failed in 2006, then-County Judge Becky Dempsey put together a task force of "community leaders" to put together a new plan. For the most part, these people were well-known people who had been parts of groups wanting a new jail but only differing on the plan. A task force for a jail bond issue to be effective should include members of the community are not part of the "elite" crowd in Smith County: people such as blue-collar workers, housewives on a budget, senior citizens on a fixed income, and even people who just do not want their taxes to go up.

6. Figures do not add up. I heard on several "For" ads that it costs us $4 million per year to farm out prisoners to other counties. I am not sure if this figure was the total cost or the difference of what it would cost to house them here. That was not made clear. Four million dollars multiplied by 20 years is still only $80 million. That is much less that the $225 million or so that the issue would have cost.

7. There are several new programs by two judges that have the hope of decreasing the jail population. The drug court and the program have inmates work at a real job, but check in every day. These programs need to have an opportunity to see if they would work.

There were many reasons people voted their conscience. Thanks for the opportunity to explain my reasons.

Darrell Watson
Tyler