I’ve voted for proposed jails in the past, but I voted no on this new jail proposal. I believe the jail needs an upgrade, but I voted no because this proposal is out of scale and doesn’t reflect our community’s values. It’s a sheriff wish-list, not a must-have list. The proposal does not meet the moment.
In my experience, the best way to unify and build a coalition is to actively seek community input. That didn’t happen here. It was developed by political insiders and jail consultants without real public engagement.
The lack of community outreach is how we end up with a proposal that lacks what our community wants and includes things we don’t need. This proposal still won’t allow face-to-face meetings with families. It has human cells smaller than K9 kennels. Yet it has all the bells and whistles for a $45 million sheriff's office. For comparison, Iowa City recently bought a building for $3.2 million for their new police headquarters, with a similarly sized staff.
We do need to do something about our jail, but it needs to be the right thing that reflects our values and makes tough choices about what is needed and what would be nice.