Ghiz on Comprehensive Safety Tax

Question: It the sales tax to fund a new jail is overturned by voters on Election Day, what do you propose council does to deal with the shortage of jail space?

I support the comprehensive safety plan whole-heartedly, and I sincerely hope that voters say yes to Issue 27 and it is passed. There is no greater issue facing our city than violent crime. When crime is low, the effects trickle down to every part of our community: job creation, development, home ownership. As it stands now, the justice center is busting at the seams, and we need somewhere to place criminals and somewhere to figure out which ones can be rehabilitated. We cannot do that now, because most aren't serving jail time.

If it doesn't pass, we are running out of options. I think that my "tent" jail initiave will be brought up again, and I would work to get the City to chip in funding for them. I introduced this concept in the summer 2006, and they were a great way to temporarily alleviate the jail overcrowding issue.

We will need, no matter what, to look for alternative forms of funding (state and federal goverments, if possible), as the revenue of the county is not at a place where it is able to build a new facility without a tax.