Posted 5:44 am Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Pro-jail Bond Committee Meets the Press
By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer
Leaders from past jail bond advocacy and opposition groups gathered inside the Courthouse Annex for an 11 a.m. public announcement of their intent to seek a vote of yes in November.
Staff Writer
Leaders from past jail bond advocacy and opposition groups gathered inside the Courthouse Annex for an 11 a.m. public announcement of their intent to seek a vote of yes in November.
The "Finally! A Jail Plan We Can Afford!" action committee, in favor of the proposed $59.6 million jail bond, addressed the media and expected questions from concerned citizens but no inquiries were made.
Former opposition and advocacy leaders Bobby Curtis and Herb Buie, respectively, addressed the media and the small gathering of bond supporters and consultants including State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler.
Eltife acted as mediator after the $126 million bond failed during the last November election and worked with Buie, Curtis, Commissioner JoAnn Fleming and County Judge Joel Baker to find a consensus jail plan.
Curtis and Buie believe this plan has a consensus and will pass.
Curtis said he has always felt a new jail was needed but that the last bond was not in the best interest of the community. From the beginning the group looked to stay within a $60 million budget for a jail that would meet all the state requirements and end the remedial order.
"We spent hours upon hours reviewing what was bad about the past plan and came up with a plan that worked for the citizens," Curtis said.
The new plan called for utilizing county-owned land, existing buildings and existing infrastructure, such as the courthouse tunnel. Location was also a contentious item, Curtis said.
Shipping costs, from courthouse to an outlying facility and safety concerns were the deciding factors in committing to downtown, he said.
The "bare bones" jail proposal was formed out of the two sides' belief the new jail is needed and will continue to be a need if it fails this November.
Harold Beaird, the Committee's treasurer, said the county has already paid other counties more than $9 million and counting, without anything to show for it. Failure of the bond and continuing to pay $40 a day for more than 100 inmates would prolong that trend, he said.
He said this plan has the support of both advocates and past opposition and he believes voters will also support the plan. The group expected some questions from concerned citizens but none were present for the announcement.
The leaders said the community will have ample opportunity for questions during countywide town hall meetings which will be scheduled soon.
Beaird said the past bond was doomed to fail because community leaders were divided. Now that there is agreement the jail expansion package is the best and most efficient to date, Beaird said, the community will approve.
"They will support something they understand," he said. "We want to answer all their questions and let them know this is the best possible plan."
Beaird said the committee had raised around $25,000 to help rouse support for the jail bond. He said the group has hired consultants that will map out a strategy that includes multiple-media campaigns.
The group is committed to promoting the facts about the jail proposal to the public, he said. Beaird decided to join the campaign when he saw the two sides unite and how strongly they felt about solving the overcrowding problem, he said.
He said both Buie and Curtis did not sit idly by in defeat and victory because the problem remained.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but you always make an attempt to solve the problem," he said. "We are going to meet the problem."
The "Finally! A Jail Plan We Can Afford" committee headquarters are located at 1324 S. Beckham Ave. Suite 104. They can be reached by phone at 903-596-7233.
