Last week, the County and Jail Opponents went into mediation and came out with no agreement. The County offered to take out 2 floors of the current project - reducing the size of the jail from 6 stories to 4. This would have not made the project the “Twin Towers of Terror” that the Downtown Jail Trail crowd had been bloviating about for the past couple of years. The proposal would have been the second time the County scaled back the project - they had taken out the footprint for a second tower that would have given a future County Commission a site to expand the capacity before applying for the Conditional Use Permit with the City of Concord.
The opponents of the project have marshalled vast resources to mount a public opposition campaign - including a rather professional-looking website - and a legal fight. The opponents lost their case in court, but have appealed - a lengthy process that will cost the citizens of the county millions in additional project costs, inmate transfers, and legal fees. Their proposal: the County either completely reconfigure the jail at the current location (obviating the Conditional Use Permit with the City and giving the jail opponents another chance at starting the whole opposition and litigation process again) or move the jail “somewhere else”. A side note: while they’ve managed to build a website, get hundreds of names for a petition, attend countless hours of Cabarrus County Commissioner and Concord City Council meetings for the past two years, solicit the assistance of lawyers, architects, and other professionals - they haven’t quite gotten around to defining where “somewhere else” is. Oh, and in addition to the County completely overhauling the project, according to Cabarrus Magazine, the group asked for a check for $50,000 to cover their own legal expenses.
The mediation failed. Anyone who reads this blog knows my opinion on the fiasco; but I’d like to hear from you. For the first, of what I hope is many times, I’m putting up a poll to give you a quick way to speak out. Here it is:
Update: For those receiving this through e-mail or RSS feed - you’ll have to go to the main page to vote in the poll [click here]
1 response so far ↓
1 Scrutiny Hooligans » Fun and Games: The Tarheel Tavern #110 // Apr 2, 2007 at 11:57 am
[...] The View From the Cheap Seats has a very fun picture of politicians in suits and hardhats breaking ground on a jail that’s been a game of tug-of-war, “This would have not made the project the “Twin Towers of Terror” that the Downtown Jail Trail crowd had been bloviating about for the past couple of years.” [...]