Case for jail lacks evidence

Smart Bombs editor Gary Crooks bombed as jail booster in “Society needs a jailbreak.” (May 16). He suggests that new construction opponents are ill-advised with late-breaking concern.

Concern is that Spokane County has already spent about $1.6 million to plan for new construction and financing, now estimated at $400 million. A concern is why voters should also be paying a PR flack to sell a jail to overburdened taxpayers. The concern is why the Sheriff’s Department cannot deliver reliable data showing actual need for new beds.

Crooks writes that the “clock is running out” on Geiger Center’s lease. He’s dead wrong and ill-advised. Ask your attorney who holds final say on that lease, and the answer will be Spokane County. Ask if concerns for public safety trump private interests expressed by the airport board. While commissioners now condemn the old facility, I recall that a few years ago it was nicknamed Club Fed, a real nice place to be, tennis court and all.

“It will take strong leadership to kick the incarceration habit. But we need to unlock that mentality to free up smarter choices,” insisted Review editors in October 2008. Any break in that mentality yet?

Chuck Armsbury

Colville