Canyon
Chief Justice, 2C Commishes Have Disparate Views
January 17, 2019 
Caldwell activist and long time jail bond opponent Paul Alldredge noticed two stories in a recent edition of the Idaho Press he thought noteworthy regarding an upcoming bond electing seeking nearly $200,000,000 for a new Canyon County jail.
“It was amazing! On one page Chief Justice Roger Burdick is urging legislators to seek more parole officers and other alternatives rather than building more prisons. Turn the page and the (Canyon) Commissioners are announcing their new web site aimed at “educating voters” about the need for a new jail,” said Alldredge.
He sent the following request to the commishes.
“Dear Commissioners:
It was with great interest that I read the account of Chief Justice Roger Burdick’s “State of The Court” address to the Idaho Legislature. He made it clear the answer to our criminal justice problems was not to build more prisons.
He advocated increased probation/parole staff, alternative sentencing, etc. In the interest of fair and balanced “education” I would like to formally request you include his remarks and a link to his speech on your new Jail Statistics website.”
Canyon County has contracted with PR CONSULTANT Ysabel Bilbao at the rate of $3500 per month plus expenses to “educate” voters.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Jan 17, 2019, 4:47 pm
We, the voters of 2C, know what NO means. Tom Dale never learned that as mayor of Nampa and we tossed him out. He got elected as commissioner by making the usual false claims. Again he and his two cronies have been told NO repeatedly on a new jail, the current one is mismanaged and has more than plenty of space.
NO means NO! Enough already! Stop trying to keep a developer and your golfing buddies in business it’s insane!
Jan 17, 2019, 4:52 pm
Is that a typo? $200,000,000 for a jail? That’s going to take a lot of voter education to pass that one.
Jan 17, 2019, 5:02 pm
It seems as though the commies are the ones that need the education since they apparently don’t understand the meaning of the word “no”.
Also, how do washed up script readers position themselves to receiving these exorbitant rates? Since the claimed purpose is to “educate” us, do they have any formal training in education? A masters degree or doctorate?
EDITOR NOTE–Since you apparently used your real name, I will allow the comment. Still, no need to be rude and call names. What would your mom say if you made the remark in person to the lady?
Jan 17, 2019, 10:40 pm
Just for the sake of clarity prisons and jails are not the same thing and they have different purposes and funding sources. Jails are County funded/operated and hold individuals newly arrested, pre-bail, pre-trial and serving misdeaminor sentences (generally 1 year or less). Prisons are State funded/operated and hold individuals during felony prison sentences for longer periods of time. Also probation and parole are not the same thing: probation is a County agency and is connected to misdemeanor charges, where parole is a State agency and it follows a prison term. That’s why the two stories are not as contrary as they appear. The Canyon County “tent” jail has always been a joke, they need a real building to enforce the laws of Idaho. And the State has decided to increase parole efforts in hopes of avoiding the tax payer costs of building another prison. Lets get the facts straight before insinuating leaders are liars.
EDITOR NOTE–Mr. Alldredge can defend himself, but it appeared to us he was speaking about the philosophy of the two parties rather than their voracity. Also the irony of seeing two news stories with differing views in the same paper on the same day. Your comments about prison and jail are correct, however.
Jan 18, 2019, 12:58 am
The unmentioned plan is to overbuild capacity then profit by also housing prisoners from other counties/states. Sucker taxpayers fund the very expensive oversized facility but cash flow generated from rent-a-cells quietly goes straight to the county agencies. A very common scam all across the nation. They learn these tips and tricks at the big party town conventions we send them to three times a year.
Jan 18, 2019, 9:55 am
Andrea’s comment above is PERFECT!
And it does illustrate the need to educate voters- maybe even for those advocates claiming to be informed about the topic.
County vs State, yo!
Hey, I know, how about if all the opponents just go out and ‘educate’ the criminals on how to STOP BREAKING THE LAWS? ha!
Jan 20, 2019, 8:28 pm
A solution is tents in the desert.
A solution is mandated school until kids graduate. Also make K-12 year long so that they graduate by 16… bachelor by 19… masters by 21.
A solution is to shut off 90% of immigration (like Europe) to eliminate the job competition (lowering wages) plaguing our economic lower class.
A solution is to stop glamorizing drugs and violence.
A solution is tax paid mental and physical preventive medicine because is has a proven ROI of 100x.
Lots of solutions out there that have minimal cost.
Jan 21, 2019, 2:58 pm
I think it important for taxpayers to keep in mind that it costs roughly $100/day to keep someone in jail or prison. (Ada County Sheriff acknowledges it costs their taxpayers $97.50/day to keep someone in jail.) Not using alternative sentences for minor misdemeanor offenses is an affront to taxpayers. Overbuilding jails with the majority of beds that are cells v. dorm beds is wrong. I recognize a need for more jail beds but the plan offered up by the current commissioners is an affront to anyone’s intelligence with bed costs of nearly $200k per jail bed. Going into a jail for hire scheme at taxpayer expense is also wrongheaded.
Jan 21, 2019, 8:29 pm
That is the 800 lb gorilla, that the motivation for building jails that are outsized to the popuation they serve is usually for the purpose of extra revenue by housing federal or state detainees. Judge Burdick has been around tha block a time or two. Time to listen to the experts. States cannot incarcerate their problems away.