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Culminating close to a year of consideration of the issue, the Tompkins County Legislature tonight voted to proceed with renovation of the County Public Safety Building, authorizing up to $910,000 in bonding to underwrite capital improvements that will construct a covered outdoor recreational structure and convert the current interior rec. space to dormitory space for seven additional jail beds.

The increased jail capacity is expected to significantly reduce the nearly quarter-million dollars the County spends each year to board-out inmates to jails in nearby counties.  Both the bond resolution and designation of the design for the outdoor recreational structure were approved by 11-3 votes, with Legislators Carol Chock, Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, and Kathy Luz Herrera voting no.

The outdoor recreational structure design was that suggested by Sheriff Ken Lansing and recommended by the Public Safety Committee—an east-facing structure located on the west side of the current recreation yard.  The design incorporates a fourth wall on the east, made up of glass block on either end, with a large center opening that could be covered by a roll-down metal door in the event of inclement weather.  Total cost of the renovations, incorporating that favored design, is estimated at about $896,400; about $70,000 more than a steel-frame west-facing alternative that had also been considered.  The bond resolution also includes expense for needed repair of a jail security system.

During 45 minutes of public comment, Legislators heard from nine members of the public who again expressed their deep concern about the project, maintaining that it is misdirected and not needed.  The added capacity, they maintained, will only serve to incarcerate more people, aggravating racism and classism in the corrections system—the money, they said, should be focused on additional alternatives-to-incarceration, not additional jail beds.

OAR Director Deb Dietrich, Suzi Cook, Chair of the County Criminal Justice/Alternatives to Incarceration Board, and Bill Rusen, Director of Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services, all spoke in support of the jail project, maintaining that keeping inmates here in our own jail, rather than boarding them out to other counties will enable them to receive the many services the County has in place.  Susan Begg, who had been incarcerated in the jail, also voiced support for the renovation and the outdoor recreation design.  She said that, in some cases, such as hers, jail is needed for people before they move into other treatment.  She said efforts to reduce jail population long-term need to come at the State level.

Among legislator comments during more than an hour of thoughtful discussion, Legislator Leslyn McBean-Clairborne said that, while she agrees with the need to stop inmate board-outs, she still believes that any decision should wait until after the Jail Alternatives Task Force hands up its recommendations for additional incarceration alternatives that could affect the jail population.  Legislator Nathan Shinagawa said that support for incarceration alternatives and the jail renovations is not an either-or proposition, and many of his colleagues echoed that sentiment. 

He said, “I plan on supporting alternatives-to-incarceration programs as strongly as I have in the past…and also support this program because it will serve the people we are trying to help.”

Legislator Will Burbank was one who thanked and credited the community for raising issues that positively affected the project and legislative review, and that with the complexity of the issues involved, he supports the project as being needed now, and is confident that there is more in the way of alternatives that the County can do.  Crediting both staff for their ongoing efforts on the project and the activists who raised concerns, Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera said that, in opposing the project, she is being part of the solution, in view of her deep concerns about racism and poverty related to the corrections system, which she termed a “broken” system that those who are working hard on alternatives are trying to fix.

Legislator Martha Robertson thanked members of the community for adding tremendous value to the process through their thoughtfulness, study, and compassion.

Legislator Carol Chock, who unsuccessfully sought to incorporate provisions related to the County’s ongoing strong support of incarceration alternatives and a commitment by the Legislature to consider additional alternatives once savings from reduced board-out costs may be realized, said that without that link, she ultimately could not vote in favor.

Under the anticipated schedule, the renovation project is scheduled to be put out for bid before the end of next month, the construction contract awarded in September, and the project completed by April of next year.

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