You ever watch the news and get upset with bridges to nowhere, bridges that fall apart, government waste, etc? You wish there’s something you could do about it?
Well, now is your opportunity.
Do you think that Cabarrus County has spent too much on the jail?
If the answer is “no”, try this question - do you think that Cabarrus County should spend much, much more money on a jail so that it can be built later? If the answer is “yes” - it’s good to know that the 20 people still involved in the Jail Trail effort visit the blog.
For the 161,213 residents that are tired of the waste and believe that public safety trumps the needs of 11 people with some ax to grind: this article is for y’all. You can take 30 seconds of your time to stand against wanton government waste. Sources tell me that there’s a possibility of a 3-2 vote EITHER WAY. *YOU* CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!
SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS WASTE!!!
Here are a few things to consider.
1) Delays on this project have ALREADY diverted monies from other important projects. Money is being wasted on court costs, inmate transfers and added processing, and construction-related costs. Before the sun sets today, thousands of dollars would have been spent that would have gone to teachers, police, or to shore up our overcrowded schools and unsafe roads. Instead, that money is flying out the window.
2) The County is the only one giving anything in the negotiations. Consider this possibility: the County accepts this compromise. In addition to the months of delays for redesign - the County has to restart certain parts of the permitting and zoning process from SCRATCH with the City of Concord. During this process, within some loophole or technicality only one of the 11 people bringing the lawsuit decides not to settle and act in bad faith: all of those efforts are wasted and we’re right back to where we are today.
This is not some strange scenario - this is almost guaranteed to happen. These people don’t want one brick of that Jail built near their homes; because of the following…
3) According to the Jail Trail crowd - their neighborhood ambiance is more important than your safety - keep in mind that the median home value of those complaining about the is much higher than the median in the County. They want this jail to be stuck out into a lower value area. They claim that they oppose the Jail being put anywhere near a residential area; but ask them where the jail should be put and they’ll prance around the question. In all of the years of whining, you think they would have come up with a plan - but they don’t care as long as it’s out of their valued-higher-than-your-home’s backyard.
4) Given their larger home values and greater wealth - the Jail Trail crowd has the resources to mount a legal battle that you or I couldn’t afford. If this jail were being built in Midland, Mt. Pleasant, or near my neighborhood - we would not have the money to hire the lawyers to create the flashy websites that they have. Government should make decisions based on what’s best for all of us - not just the wealthiest among us.
5) People have been victimized by criminals that should have been locked up; but are roaming freely because of jail overcrowding. The jail is overcrowded because of the delays and the delays are because of the Jail Trail people. Don’t take my word for it - go check out what someone who was in law enforcement had to say about it.
If you care the least bit about this - E-mail your Commissioners and/or Come To Tonight’s Meeting.
1) E-mail your commissioners. The addresses are here. If you’re feeling particularly lazy, shoot an e-mail to the Clerk for the Board and she’ll get the message to all of them.
If you’re feeling even lazier than that follow these three steps:
1) Copy [CTRL-C] the County Clerk’s e-mail: gkhoneycutt@cabarruscounty.us
2) Click on “E-mail This Page” at the bottom of the post [For those getting this via e-mail, CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE]
3) Paste [CTRL-V] the County Clerk’s e-mail and the e-mails of up to four of your friends (separated by commas) to e-mail this article.
The bottom line is that there’s no excuse for not taking this step if you care about this issue.
2) Go to tonight’s meeting and speak out. Because of some family obligations - I won’t be able to make it. Before you use the same excuse - keep in mind that I’ve been speaking out and blogging about this for about 2 years and you haven’t.
E-mail, of course, and then go to the meeting. [CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS]
The meeting starts at 6:30PM. Informal comments generally start around 6:45PM. Comments are limited to 3 minutes per person. Here are a few points to bring up:
- Public Safety is the number one priority of government
- The County has given way time after time to this group
- This fiasco is taking money from the schools
Be polite. Be brief, but be firm. This goes beyond just what is going on in some neighborhood. It’s about the safety of every family in Cabarrus County. It’s about the County being able to move on from this project and start focusing on the needs of more than 100,000 - not just 11.
Seriously, if you don’t go tonight - you’ll wish you did. I’ve never regretted speaking out - it makes watching the news a little easier to bear when I know that I at least tried to do my part.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 Aaron // Aug 20, 2007 at 12:05 pm
AMEN AMEN, One thousand Time AMEN. I’m gonna have to see if I can juggle my schedule to get time to go this evening! E-Mails to the Board will follow shortly!
2 LiberalNC // Aug 20, 2007 at 3:42 pm
First of all, I tend to agree that the jail should be built as planned, although I can certainly understand that someone who can see a big box building from their back porch, where there used to be trees, isn’t going to be happy about that.
Secondly, I appreciate the passion you have about this issue.
However, I think that some of the arguments you are using are a bit over the top.
“thousands of dollars would have been spent that would have gone to teachers, police, or to shore up our overcrowded schools and unsafe roads.”
I never heard of money being taken away from the school system or police dept. budget just to pay the extra cost the whole jail issue has generated.
I’m sure you can get people riled up by telling them that teachers or cops are being paid less because of the jail, but I feel that a statement like that is blatantly untrue. A local teacher or cop isn’t going to earn less than he earns now because of this.
“The County is the only one giving anything in the negotiations.”
You know that’s not true either and you contradict yourself about this in the same post by saying:
“These people don’t want one brick of that Jail built near their homes.”
If these people don’t want ANY jail in their neighborhood, then how is agreeing to a compromise that gets a (smaller one than planned) jail built not giving in??
Sorry you can’t make it tonight, I’ll be there.
3 Justin Thibault // Aug 20, 2007 at 10:46 pm
First: by delaying building the jail, the County is running additional administrative, construction, and litigation costs. Money spent on that can’t be spent on other things.
While I don’t believe the economy at large is a zero-sum game: the County budget is.
Second: Deputies that have to drive inmates all over the state could be doing other things…like enforcing laws.
Ah, you see, there’s the issue. Changing the size of the jail changes the design which opens the project to a whole new round of permitting and zoning hearings. That gives the project’s opponents another shot at shooting down the project. Right now, it’s in the judicial process and that process favors the City and County.
Also, there’s a chance that someone could move in and bring up another lawsuit as a neighbor of the jail.
Did all of your dreams come true?
4 LiberalNC // Aug 20, 2007 at 10:56 pm
“by delaying building the jail, the County is running additional administrative, construction, and litigation costs. Money spent on that can’t be spent on other things.”
I totally agree with that,I just took issue with the fact that you pulled the teachers and cops into this. The money could just as well have been spent on covering the governmental center in 24kt gold or it could not have been spent at all. I’m just saying there is no reason to say that teachers or cops would earn less, which you seemed to imply, because of this.
As far as my dreams coming true, Privette showed up, so that’s a start. I posted my observations about tonight on my blog.
5 Justin Thibault // Aug 21, 2007 at 12:39 am
Well, I can’t control what you draw from my inferences; but we are diverting resources that could be spent on other things rather than pouring money into a construction project and not making progress.
I saw it. I wish I could find a way to enjoy it like you do.
6 LiberalNC // Aug 21, 2007 at 1:30 am
“I saw it. I wish I could find a way to enjoy it like you do.”
Medication can do wonders.
7 Tom Fagart // Aug 28, 2007 at 8:43 pm
The Jail Trail Crew must love the sign “NO VACANCY” at our jail.
They are so single issue civic minded and love to waste our taxes, they should all put signs in their front yards saying “OPEN HOUSE” for our criminals. Being good citizens as they are they could go as far as to even offer bed & breakfast. This could relieve the over crowding in our jail and save us some taxes.
Come on Jail Trail Crew just say “OPEN HOUSE”!
Tom Fagart