Back to Flyonthewall…
“ The Sheriff and Commissioners can cling to the mega-jail complex out of town or they can come back to the voters with a scaled down project next to the courthouse and it might pass. This bond would not have passed even if the state legislature lowered the super majority to 60% like Mr. Luna wants to happen. I think the voters are telling the commissioners their pie in the sky jail complex will be dead on arrival until they float the right project at an affordable cost.
Flyonthewall – 9:16 AM, Wednesday November 4, 2009

Pie in the sky mega jail complex? Is that the regional jail you are referring to?

Build next to the Courthouse? Ok so we are off regional jails again?

Why do you assume the sheriff and his people you respect have mismanaged the jail and it’s resources?

If you don’t work in the jail how can you honestly make a statement like that? I’m just saying come on down and see for yourself, you might be surprised. Then again it might be exactly what you think it is. Either way, you can speak from experience then. Once again the invitation is open.

I can tell you from first hand experience all the problems the jail suffered were from overcrowding and overuse of the facilities. The Sheriff tried to fend off these problems, but the courts, commissioners etc. turned a deaf ear to him. It wasn’t until the ACLU forced them to take notice of the conditions did things begin to happen.

Add to the problem a multi-year economic crisis, slashed budgets and refusal to spend the money to fix these facilities and you have your explanation as to how it all happened. We can’t do much about these problems when we have no control over those assets.

Building maintenance has control over the building repair budget. When they got their budget slashed, suddenly they couldn’t even replace light bulbs for us anymore. Building maintenance complained the jail was becoming too expensive to maintain and if they fixed what we asked for, they would run out of money and wouldn’t be able to repair other buildings. Now I can appreciate their problem but that doesn’t solve our problem now does it. Imagine being responsible for something but not having direct control over it.

Come on Flyonthewall, Nobody tried to make the taxpayers pay for a regional jail funded by Canyon County taxpayer dollars as you have been suggesting. Whoever is telling you that is outright lying to you.

We are doing the best with what we got and folks keep telling us it’s not enough. They tell us to take away the weight rooms for inmates. These facilities don’t exist in Canyon County. They want us to take away their individual Cable TV in every cell and stop paying for Showtime and HBO. Again that does not happen at Canyon County either. Much of what people think is reality, they got from watching TV and is nowhere even close to reality.

I’m sorry if I have been too harsh on you but maybe your just venting against a broken system. I can understand that but please remember we are people who actually take pride in the fact we are doing a much better job with so much less than you think we actually have than you are giving us credit for.

Whether you believe it or not, we are trying to save you money.

I think people would buy into the concept of a regional jail as long as it is moved forward as a shared expense. Ever go out to dinner and get stiffed with the bill. That is how the 2,000 bed jail project appeared to a lot of taxpayers.

I do not dislike Sheirff Smith. He and his people do a good job for the county. They just need to manage the assets they have properly and not let them get to the point of a lawsuit from the ACLU.

The Sheriff’s main responsibilty is to be a servant of the court. I respect that responsibility and the people who carry it out on a daily basis.

I am getting confused again.

You previously stated “Add to that the Sheriff of Canyon County is on record at the Idaho Sheriff’s Association website proffering the notion of a Regional Jail and “NOW IS THE TIME”. The plans for this jail project will be 2,000 beds when totally complete. OINK OINK!”

Up to this last election you were against everything about the jail bond. Your statement above is pretty clear. Oink, Oink?

Were you suggesting he was trying to build this regional jail at canyon county taxpayer expense but is now opposed to it? Your going in circles.

I am sorry “Flyonthewall” but you seem to be flip flopping on the issues here. There is one common theme in all of your arguments to date though. All of your arguments indicate you believe Chris Smith is to blame for it all and he is the reason for all your troubles.

It seems you tailor your posts to always represent him and the Sheriff’s Office administration in the worst light possible.

What I have noticed from all your posts is you extremely dislike Chris Smith for some reason. I also know you are or have been a county employee as well.

So why do you so intensely dislike Chris Smith and the Sheriff’s Office so much? You obviously are not a deputy otherwise you would have real facts and not this innuendo and rumor you keep spreading.

I mean really, when I get to see a lot of what you are talking about first hand on a day to day basis, and your version does not resemble what I have seen first hand, I kind of get the feeling you have an axe to grind.

If you would like I can arrange for you to see all our facilities both inside and out. After all I really don’t see how you can form these opinions without firsthand knowledge of the facts. The offer stands unless of course you’ve already made up your mind.

Honestly “Flyonthewall”, all these arguments you just presented are what Chris Smith has been saying all along. I’m beginning to think you are just a disgruntled former employee.

Seems to me there would be some economies of scale with a multi-county lockup. Clearly a reduction in the duplication of admin. payrolls, facility located to cut down on travel, state of the art facility to house the largest numbers of inmates with the least amount of help and the list goes on and on.

Taxpayers know they have to fund undesirable services like jails but the people in charge have the responsibility to do it for the least amount they can to keep taxpayers content. This latest jail bond started off with illegal purchases of land, engineering and furniture that got stolen. It was for lack of a better word BUNGLED.

I don’t know why anyone would make a deal for less but I would rather they made no deal at all and just didn’t house illegals for the feds leaving room for our real criminals. Immigration is the feds problem. The feds need to build their own facilities.

I spoke with Chris Smith about regional jails and I think you have the wrong impression about him. He’s all for them but he doesn’t have all the answers to proceed. It’s all still a very rough idea and this type of project could take several years to get going and they are nowhere near putting something like this in front of the voters for a bond election. All he can really do is finish the research, publish and leave it for the next sheriff because his term will be up. If you think he was crucified in this last bond election, just imagine if he proceeded before he had all his ducks in a row on something like this!

Again, and I am not about to pop a vein over this, why is the brain trust running the jail in Canyon County making the Feds a deal at $62/day for beds that cost taxpayers $84/day?

It seems pretty basic to me. If they can rent beds in Elmore County for $42/day, why are they whining about needing a new jail when they can rent beds for half price a few miles down the road? Isn’t capitalism founded on the low price guy gets the business?

Sheirff Smith does not appear to have his back to the wall on this as stated on the KIVI News last night. He even shut down Mr. Boise Guardian on his plea to get with Sheriff Rainey of Ada and work out a Regional Jail deal. He thinks they are a great idea for everyone but himself.

:>) call 454-7300 and ask for Comm. Alder and she will tell you the cost per day to keep someone locked down in the Canyon County Jail. Wonder what the true cost of the Ada County jail is per day?
It is figured by taking the Jail Admin and Labor budget plus the Jail Maintenance and upkeep Budget and divide by the number of beds

I don’t understand your latent hostility but I’ll try to explain some things for you to alleviate some of your concerns.

I don’t understand where you say it’s costing the county $84.00 per day per inmate. That seems like a very high number. Last figure I heard being tossed around was $45.00 a day. I’m just curious what source you are citing is all.

While an illegal is being housed on criminal charges, you can’t charge the feds. They are your problem. Once they are done with those charges then you can start billing the Feds for housing their immigration problem.

I agree with you that they should clear any charges pending against illegals to expedite their deportation process so space isnt being wasted on housing illegal aliens whether the beds are paid for or not.

The regional jail idea is a study that the Idaho Sheriff’s Association is working on as we speak. It is nowhere close to being done yet.

Sheriff Smith has stated publicly that he thinks the Regional Jail concept could be a progressive move that could benefit many counties.

He never said it wasn’t right for Canyon County. He didn’t pitch the idea to the taxpayers yet because the study is still ongoing.

I like the idea of the southern most end of Mexico as a drop off point. Maybe then they won’t beat the bus back to Idaho!

Add to all of this the Canyon County Sheriff thinks regional jails are great for everyone but him and Canyon County. The Commissioners are also echoing this as well. Every little government entity wants to cash in and spend money we don’t have.

Get the illegals bundled up and on a bus (or plane) and drop them off at the southern most end of Mexico or where they came from if it isn’t south of the border.

I know of no country I can travel to without proper ID and a Passport in my possession at all times. Political will in this country needs some backbone.