Put jail reality before ideology

By Dave Parsons

----

Is the proposed Johnson County Justice Center a monument to excess or exactly what we need? Let's start with what we can all agree on.

One-third of the project cost is for a new jail. The current jail is double-bunked with 92 beds and does not meet state minimum standards. Inmate averages are north of 150 per day, with peaks near 200. Excess prisoners are farmed out to neighboring counties' jails at a cost of more than $1 million per year.

Even the Vote No contingent agrees that the courthouse and jail are sadly outdated and undersized and must be remodeled or supplemented.

I wish more people had attended the Vote No folks' forum April 23. It reinforced my belief that we all have the county's best interests at heart; we just differ in our solutions.

One of the presenters (referring to the other four presenters) acknowledged that “it's obvious we are not all on the same page” regarding how to best address our facilities' shortcomings. He held up his hand with thumb and forefinger almost touching and said he was “this close” to voting for the proposal.

This points up the irreconcilable problem plaguing the Vote No bloc: There is no consensus on what to do if the bond issue fails. One faction will vote no to anything that will raise property taxes, period. Another will vote no to any proposal as long as minority contact/racial incarceration disparities exist and/or people continue to be arrested for victimless crimes.

Another wants a scaled-down facility located away from the old courthouse. Another wants a scaled-down facility attached to the old Courthouse.

What are the chances that any proposal will please a 60 percent supermajority of them?

At some point, practical considerations must trump ideological concerns and I submit that we are well past that point. That's not to say that ideological concerns are unimportant.

Being on the Yes for Justice Committee has given me the opportunity to rub shoulders with the county attorney's office, the Sheriff's Office and many of the county employees who staff the courthouse and jail. They are as concerned (if not more so) as any of us about reducing the number of people incarcerated for any reason, although most of those reasons cannot be influenced at the county level.

I almost can hear the scoffing of the conspiracy theorists who believe Johnson County is a police state bent on arresting and jailing as many people as possible (particularly University of Iowa students), and I find this distressing. They feel our local elected officials and law enforcement agencies cannot be trusted to do the right thing. With all due respect, this feeling is - with very few exceptions - wrong.

One last point. If the bond issue fails Tuesday, that won't be the end of it. It can't be. Our facilities fall far short of being able to accommodate even our existing needs, let alone our projected needs for the next 20 or 30 years.

The proposal would be back for another vote soon, probably with only minor changes (again) because the great majority of people who are the most knowledgeable about this issue are convinced that we are on the right track. It's at least 60 percent of the rest of us who need to be similarly persuaded, and that was very nearly achieved in November on a slightly more expensive proposal.

You probably recently learned that the county has been sitting on at least $1.5 million of deferred maintenance items in the jail and courthouse, expecting that something would have been approved by now. With no new facility on the horizon, those will need to be addressed.

Both sides have done all they can. If you live anywhere in Johnson County, it's now your turn. It would be a shame if another low turnout skews the outcome. No matter which side you are on, please get out and vote!

Dave Parsons of Coralville is chief financial officer, Tallgrass Business Resources. Comments: dcparsons@tallgrassbiz.com