I just came from a visiting Richmond, my home town, I now live in California. I could not belive that most of my old friends are in jail and if the weren't in they were just getting out. The crime rate in Richmond is worst then I have ever seen it and maybe that is not the greatest spot for a new jail but they sure do need one. So don't knock it people, Richmond is not the same as it use to be and those criminals do need a wake up call. Even though it is providing a place for them to sleep, eat and have new clothing but they are behind bars and we are free.
I actually had my opinion on this printed in the Palladium-Item in a Sunday newspaper this year. I stopped receiving child support checks and came to find out that most of the employees were laid off due to a lack of funds in the city, and I just could not believe that the city was planning to build a brand new jail when they could not even pay their child support workers! With all the run down buildings in town, I believe making Richmond more beautiful would be a better investment than a new jail. The one we have is fine. I also hear of people being put in Wayne County Jail for very minor offenses. Instead of putting them in jail, why not make take the money which would be used to feed, clothe and keep them, and use it towards fixing up old run down buildings, or improving the looks of the community somehow? Instead of 30 days in jail, how about 500 hours of community service, but instead of washing police cars, how about going into a poverty stricken part of town and repainting houses, fixing broken fences, tearing down structures that look like they are ready to fall to the ground, and planting flowers and trees? Have them bust out old broken sidewalks to be redone, etc. I'd rather see improvement in obviously needed areas of Richmond than shiny police cars, or to know that the people of Richmond's tax money is being used to allow people to sit around all day doing nothing. The labor would be free, and I'm sure you could buy quite a few materials with the money which would have been used to feed, clothe and house minor offenders. That would cut down on the high number of people in jail, and delete the idea of a new, bigger jail. And just to add, I love the idea of the park, but if it is voted that a new jail will be put up, I think outside of town would be best, for the safety of the people around the jail.
Why raise so much community division over the jail when no one debated it before and during the original discussions about the possibility of building on this site?
How much opportunity, really, was the community ever given to weigh in on this issue in the beginning. Come on now - when certain folks in power, anywhere in small-town America, want something done, they get it and they get it fast. The reason so many people voiced their concerns after the original meetings is because the original meetings were held for and by folks "in the know." The decision makers and politicians. Just saying "Y'all were invited" doesn't make it right or democratic. You cannot expect the community at large to attend meetings that might as well be secret because they are are at times often not adequately disclosed to the public at large. People in the circle of power in Richmond need to remember that just because you know about something and are often paid or personally benefit for attending and sitting through these meetings think that everyone else should automatically know whats going on and just how serious some people were about getting this thing pushed through. This is a classic Politics 101 move in small-town America and people are (finally, hopefully) getting wise to it.