Teamwork eased jail jam

It is clear from Bill Foreman’s letter, “Layoffs won’t be forgotten,” posted May 22, that perhaps a short lesson on supply and demand is necessary. The good news is that we will not need John Maynard Keynes to provide us wisdom for this simple business practice.

Ready, it takes X amount of deputies to guard X amount of prisoners; anything above or below X requires some action on the part of management.

While I am deeply saddened for the layoffs and the families associated with them, our community should be standing up and taking notice of the efficiency measures that brought attention to the statement “too few prisoners.” The sheriff and our management team made a promise to the public at the beginning of the jail project to get our house in order. Those words “too few prisoners” are the direct result of years of hard work by the judicial system, law enforcement, prosecutors and jail staff. We are proud of those words, for they represent our commitment to operate the jail with the citizen dollar in mind and a right-sized jail project.

Michael Sparber

Spokane