Here is food for thought on saving the tax payers of Salinas and Monterey County millions of dollars into perpetuity which may not be considered as appropriate to some, there are bleeding hearts everywhere and in some areas they might even make up a majority and anything like I’m about to suggest would never be supported. Participatory interaction of our citizens accompanied by their suggestions for an alternative to this facility, along with tax savings points of view is paramount.
In this country there is “one” Sheriff that has the reputation of being the “toughest” Sheriff. To those of you who may not be familiar with Joe Arpaio, he is the Maricopa Arizona County Sheriff. He became Sheriff in 1992 and has been continuously reelected by the voters ever sense.
He doesn’t play games with politicians or with tax payers money and he is tough as nails on those under incarceration in his system. He has been harshly criticized by many but he stands his ground, he is a man of conviction that will not give way to political pressure.
In our system, after our jail facility was built there were those, believe it or not, who would break the law in order to be housed there. Lets face it, three meals a day, work or not, cable television, basketball, weights, free haircuts and of course free medical for every real or contrived ailment (especially when it came to being removed from a work detail), then of course the eventual wake up when the poor things would be released back into the cruel, cold world where they would be expected to stand tall and be a productive citizen. For many the free cot, hot meals and benefits was and still is just to much of a deal to resist.
Sheriff Arpaio believes in the punishment aspect of inmate incarceration, When the inmates complain he tells them, “If You Don't Like It, Don't Come Back.” Inmates meals are limited to twice daily, some food items were banned from the county jail, mainly coffee as it has no nutritional value, but later also salt and pepper, this, of course, resulted in considerable tax payer savings. Smoking was also banned, as well as pornographic magazines, weightlifting equipment is gone and entertainment is limited to G-rated movies.
He has a huge farm, where inmates can work. They grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food. He also has a hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer; gee this sounds similar to what Monterey County had up until the 70’s.
He has chain gangs, men, women and possibly juvenile by now, used as a means of rehabilitation performing menial tasks around the county. In today’s world he had to have a chain gang for women so he wouldn’t get sued for discrimination.
We are told in the Californian report that the prisoner re-entry facility must have the OK by Aug. 14, or the county will lose $80 million in state funds to expand the over-crowded county jail. Sheriff Arpaio was faced with a dilemma because of overcrowding, that on one hand could cost the tax payers $70 million or result in early release; sounds like all the talk we have been hearing doesn’t it? There is always an alternative if one looks deep enough and allows for a little creative thinking.
Sheriff Arpaio obtained surplus tents from the military and set up tents in a parking lot adjacent to one of the jail facilities. This operation became known as “Tent City.“ Overcrowding? No problem, put up more tents. Early release? Don’t even think about it.
We are told the County will receive the $80 million. Then there is the matter of $50 million. Taxpayers will have to dig deep forever. The inmates, left to their own ingenuity, would take from the people whatever they could get away with, and yet the County wants to provide all these benefits for them, of course it will also require a considerable staff, all receiving their own very handsome benefits package. What a concept, endless money for staff, facility, equipment and the little angels under their care, all at tax payer expense.
It is reported that there are no state-operated re-entry facilities, but by establishing them the state hopes to lower the recidivism rate for inmates by 70 percent. Lower the recidivism rate for inmates by 70 percent? Through mollycoddling? Endless benefits? How about punishment? I thought such places were to be used as a means of punishment for crimes committed not as an R & R facility?
While the county Board of Supervisors has approved the jail expansion, they do not yet know where they will come up with the $50 million. This has to be the craziest statement I have ever read. There is no surprise that the Board would approve this project, but to say they don’t know where they will come up with the 50 mil is a joke. Where do you think? Right out of everyone’s pocket now and with an open budget line expense for posterity.
"By the time the jail is built it may already be overcrowded." This 50 mil is just the tip of the iceberg that people are conversing about, in my opinion, to pony up and commit more of our dwindling funds, is like throwing money into a black hole. There are alternatives but they don’t represent a nice new, clean facility with state of the art sophistication. I’ve discovered in my career that the things that aren’t being said, create an enigma, they are like supportive but unheard notes in a composition, these are the important things, the things that matter, you must listen very intently to distinguish them.
Sheriff Kanalakis said, referring to the county's legal liability. "If a court puts a cap on the number of inmates we can house we will have to release some." With everything under the sun going up and trying to maintain a family do we really need to hear more moaning and groaning, budget this, budget that, no room available for incarceration, have to implement early release, need more jails, tax payers must dig deeper or see the possibility of early release of these little angels onto our streets, in our neighborhoods and around our schools? I believe the idea for this undertaking is ludicrous. Maybe for those with big paychecks, looking at big paydays at retirement, who may move out of the area once retired, this may not seem like much, but to many of the rest of us the idea is unconscionable.
I see no reason why we can not implement the same procedures here as are in force in Maricopa County. Our County could integrate new thinking, we don’t always have to settle for added debt onto the citizenry. We could have our own tent city, we could have our own chain gangs, we could remove everything in our jail system but the very necessary essentials. We could save our money. Why should inmates be allotted all these /or any benefits and in many cases live better then the tax payers whose money is collected which provide for their luxuries? We don’t have to go into millions and millions of dollars of endless debt for a re-entry facility, we can do as Sheriff Joe Arpaio did when faced with his $70 million dilemma. He found a new way and earned the respect and admiration of the citizens who were spared the financial pain they would have had to endure if encumbered with an additional $70 million plus of debt. Speaking of recidivism, I doubt that any person who was a prior inmate of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County, wants to go back anytime soon to visit his facility.
The following are a few sights to check out concerning Sheriff Arpaio:
CNN - Arizona criminals find jail too in-'tents' - July 27, 1999
http://www.cnn.com/US/9907/27/tough.sheriff/
sheriffjoe.com - RE-ELECT SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO - Tent City: “Vacancy Sign Is Always On”
http://www.sheriffjoe.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=49
WEBCommentary(tm) - America’s Toughest Sheriff
http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=barrettt&date=070321
Having said all this I must say that I’m sure our Sheriff is doing his very best. He may well be snagged down with a mountain of bureaucratic b. s., from an endless parade of bleeding hearts and liberal politicians, that may be hindering his approach to alternative measures that would enable him to navigate around this immense financial obstacle.
It’s time to start thinking outside of the box, try something uniquely different, follow a proven example, do away with the endless excuses and implement a proven procedure.
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