Looks llike Lynch, Lynch and Elliot were having a real good time!
Lynch has s few idea on what should happen next on his “Lynch at Large” blog. He makes a lot more sense on this than he did on the mayor’s race a few days ago when he got his facts all messed up on which candidate did what.
Of couse, when I get confused, I always take the FIFTH.
Little Rock 2006 has gotten exclusive video coverage last night as the final results were announced in the Jail Tax Vote :
FOR — 12,088 42.8 percent
AGAINST — 16,112 57.2 percent
The supporters of the Tax Vote had a slick website, clear messaging, professional signs, and Buddy Villines. They had people on the major street corners doing signage as the votes were nearing an end of tabulating.
JIM LYNCH preached and railed against the tax like a modern day Huey P. Long at Democratic Committee Meetings and whereever two or three were gathered.
JOYCE ELLIOTT while always busy, was phonebanking, and using her impressive connections with labor & the African-American community to flood the polls with voters against the tax.
PAT LYNCH broke with his liberal cohorts at the Arkansas Times and on both his blog (http://lynchlarge.blogspot.com) and on his radio talk show (http://www.wai-radio.com) spoke out about the failings of this vote.
All the Mayor candidates for Little Rock and their sidekicks got in on the act. Praise and support should also go to Little Rock Mayoral candidate Bill Walker who was the only candidate for Mayor to decisively come AGAINST the jail tax. Walker switch the ever elusive local activist and erstwhile political gadfly Drew Pritt to oppose the tax. The two of them campaigned against the tax together. Vice Mayor Barbara Graves teamed up with Joan Adcock in urging voters to vote FOR the tax vote even last night as the votes were trickling in. Mark Stodola has Jim Lynch in his corner but supported the tax. The Pander Bear (Jesse Mason) was somewhere on the issue. When Little Rock 2006 finds out we’ll let our readers know.
THE PULASKI COUNTY JAIL IS NOT CLOSED
Numbers frequently cited by the “pro Jail Tax” group about the days the jail is closed are very misleading and I wish everyone to understand what these numbers REALLY mean.
** First, the Pulaski County Jail IS NOT CLOSED. It has never been closed. Persons accused of the most serious felonies (Class A, B, C, etc.) are ALWAYS locked up in the jail. The jail is ALWAYS OPEN to persons arrested for these serious crimes — murder, rape, arson, exposing someone to HIV, etc. The county public safety Task Force was told that, among the 880 jail beds now in operation, approximately 400 of these beds are occupied by persons accused of violent crimes (Class A, Class B felonies)
** Second, the remaining beds in the county jail are occupied by persons accused of less serious felonies and also misdemeanants.
Please note that Class A, B, C and some Class D felonies already have been put on a list (the “A” list) by the Pulaski County jail and these persons (shown above) are admitted to the jail. The jail is always OPEN to these persons.
** Third, the Pulaski County Jail has developed a “B List” and an “I List” and when the bed capacity starts to tighten up, they review who among persons already are in jail and from these second and third lists (essentially lesser Class D felonies and misdemeanors) they determine who is a good candidate to be released. The “lists” are shown below and I think you would agree that these alleged offenses are not immediate violent threats –
B LIST and I LIST (representative categories only — not exhaustive)
– Criminal Attempt
– Criminal Conspiracy
– Criminal Solicitation
– Criminal Use of a Prohibited Weapon
– Furnishing Prohibited Articles
– Forgery
– Non-Support
– 1st Time Drug Possession
– DWI
++++++++++++++++++
Again, the point to be made is that the Pulaski County jail IS NOT CLOSED and it is not accurate to say that the “jail is closed.” For the layperson, this language leaves the impression that criminals — violent criminals — do not go to jail in Pulaski County. This is nonsense. But, this political language is being used and no doubt we will see a lot more of it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
During the April, May and June meetings (earlier this year) of the County Public Safety Task Force, a single page classification of the inmates as of May 17, 2006 in the Pulaski County Jail was distributed. It is tedious to read, but below I show this list in its entirety — the crime classification and the number of inmates directly following each classification.
(The grand total of this list is 1,292 — it was never explained how this total fits the jail capacity of 880. I do know that included in this number are inmates held for the US Marshal and also the Arkansas Dept. of Corrections (state penitentiary). There is constant, high turnover in the jail — perhaps this was the number “flowing through” the jail rather than the number at a single period of time — I really do not know.)
Further, I have annotated some of the categories shown below in RED — these are the most serious crimes and their total is 563. Also, I annotated a few in BLUE — these are “undefined” categories which deserve more explanation. For example, a circuit judge can sentence someone to jail for “failure to appear”….but the real question is –– “failure to appear for what?” DWI? felony or misdemeanor? Again, my point is there seems to be a lot of potential “fluff” in these totals.
Breakdown of Inmates in Pulaski County JaIl by Charges on May 17, 2006
Aggravated Assault 33
Aggravated Robbery 76
Aggravated Assault on Family 17
Assault, 1st degree 1
Assault, Terroristic 21
Battery, lst degree 27
Battery, 2nd degree 28
Breaking or entering 20
Burglary 72
Capital Murder 26
Criminal Attempt 25
Commercial Burglary 1
Criminal Solicitation 1
Use of Prohib Weapon 1
Domestic Battery 1st deg 5
Domestic Battery, 2nd Deg 10
Domestic Battery, 3rd Deg 54
DWI 4th 5
Endangering Welfare of Minor 1
Escape 2nd Degree 2
Failure to Appear 187
Failure to pay fine 73
Felony Commitment 70
Financial Identity Fraud 2
Forgery 15
Forgery 2nd deg 12
Credit Card Fraud 2
Hot Checks 8
Kidnapping 13
Maintaining Drug Premises 14
Manslaughter 5
Murder 1st Deg 23
Murder 2nd Deg 1
Possession w/Intent to Mfg 2
Posession of Controlled Substances 7
Possession of Drug Paraphenalia 62
Possession of Marijuana 6
Possession of a firearm 68
Probation Revocation 11
Rape 17
Robbery 22
Sexual Assault 2nd deg 3
Sexual solicitation of a child 1
Possession of Firearms and Drugs 24
Terroristic Threatening 39
Terroristic Threatening 1st Deg 2
Theft by receiving 70
Theft of property 101
Theft of Property by deception 2
Unlawful discharge of firearm from a vehicle 3
Wife battering 1st deg 1
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
The REAL question is — recognizing that the County Judge and Quorum Court already have taken 250 barracks bed out of operation (which means we could be confining a lot more persons if the county administration could get its budget and fiscal act together…), just HOW SERIOUS is the problem at the Pulaski County Jail? Even with the list limited to felons, it appears we have plenty of jail beds to lock up persons accused of serious crimes, with room to spare. Do we need to nearly double the size of the county jail with a permanent $18.3 million tax hike? Or are there alternatives?
The Arkansas Times has added a new blog
He does cover some new material
I have a second issue with the jail tax. As is repeated in every article about the tax – less than a year ago the Quorum Court voted to reduce the jail space by about 260 beds. I assumed the reason was lack of operating funds. What I have been told instead is that portions of the jail are essentially uninhabitable. There are significant structural problems, mainly with the roof, and the portions of the roof need to be fixed. This naturally begs the question: who designed the roof, who constructed the roof, and is anyone being held accountable for any flaws. My information might be wrong but I’m curious as to this issue.
Darned good question, bucko, and we are also concerned about the cost of a special election.
The Hoglawyer has published the official Pulaski County Q&A on the jail tax and it makes our case perfectly. You can read the “official” Villines pitch and NEVER see reference to the $18 million dollars to be raised each year. The County claims there will be no windfall, and that is just a LIE.
The more you know about the jail tax, the less you will like it. Remember, vote NO.
Talk about an incoherent, jumbled, mish-mash of illogic and foolishness! Today’s Democrat-Gazette’s editorial against the jail tax makes a mess of the discussion, and may do a great deal of harm.
They mixed in apples and oranges, peaches with pears, pickles and kumquats. The jail tax has nothing to do with the County Road and Bridge Fund. If budgets mean anything, the road budget is for transportation. The jail is an entirely different thing.
We tend to aggee with the basic point we think the super-intelligent elite editorialists were TRYING TO MAKE. We THINK they were saying that IF public safety were that important down at the county courthouse, the big boys would have gotten creative to finance keeping the 300 other beds in the jail open. (Are we getting warm?)
Pulaski County government may spend money on some pretty strange stuff, but that should not change this discussion. The business interests behind the Quarter-cent sales tax that will raise $18 million dollars the first year (and increasing amounts every year after that) is about $14 million more than is needed.
So tell us, what is the secret project? What is the money REALLY for?
Maybe that is what the Dem-Gaz editors were grasping at. Heck, we don’t have a clue.
Yes, we agree that the tax should be defeated. The statewide daily for that part right.
The editorial in The Leader, a newspaper that serves Loneoke, White and north Pulaski County, has an editorial on the jail tax. They correctly work the problem, and come up with the wrong result
The editors seem to have a good grip on the facts.
A special jail tax would be down our list of remedies for this intolerable condition — ideally. Like Gov. Huckabee, we think the legislature should modify the sentencing laws that were passed the past 25 years so that there are alternatives — much, much cheaper alternatives — to long prison terms for people convicted of using illegal drugs and some other victimless or nonviolent crimes.
It sounds like The Leader has been paying attention to the debate.
A tax of only one-eighth of a penny rather than one-fourth would be enough over time to address the simple crowding issue, though it would take longer to complete the physical jail improvements and get the expanded correctional operations going.
Jim Lynch, who was a member of the county public safety tax force that recommended the jail tax (and the only member not to vote for it), has computed revenues from the tax over the next 15 years, and it is fairly clear that after a few years the rising collections will begin to exceed the jail needs — that is, unless crime puts an ever-escalating burden on the system or hard times crimp the revenue growth.
But then, they completely misstate the situation.
But the only options now for voters are the fourth-of-a-cent tax or do nothing.
WRONG! VERY WRONG!
The real option is for Pulaski County government to give voters a REASONABLE solution. Voters will not reward admitted mismanagement with an $18 million annual gift.
Just as happened with Alltel Arena, it will take more than one trip to the polls to solve this problem. In the meantime, the worst ones are in jail. Blame the others on Buddy Villines and vote NO on Tuesday.
It’s in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the theme is (what else) fear.
There is more blabbering and crying than John Gotti’s wake. They even paraded out Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Victim Witness director. It was pure emotional manipulation, so let daddy set the record straight.
The tax proponents are waging a selfish campaign of terror in order to raise an annual sum of $18 million for jail operations. What they are suggesting is the equivalent of buying a thousand pairs of solid gold handcuffs. They want to build a Taj Mahal – a sprawling penitentiary where they can hire their buddies for cushy “rehabilitation” jobs and “administration.” This jail tax is a REWARD for bad management.
Let us be realistic and rational.
There is a problem. Due to the fiscal incompetence of county administration, 300 beds in the high security part of the jail have been closed for a year now. It does not cost $18 million. There is a legitimate need for more jail space to house burglars, hot check writers, and DUI offenders.
The current proposal raises so much more money than is needed and is endorsed by the local Chamber of Commerce types. We demand to know the SECRET PLAN for how the money will ACTUALLY be spent. The spare cash EVERY YEAR may be as much as $12 million. Taxpayers have every right to demand answers.
Remember Alltel Arena. It took several trips to the polls for the power brokers to realize that we are not as stupid as we look. Local voters are not interested in the get-rich-quick schemes of local power brokers. Eventually, a sensible plan was passed, the arena was built without a subsidy to the downtown bond houses and other wealthy elites.
On Tuesday, we will have to say “no.”
The North Pulaski County Leader has a story repeating how terrible things are since judge Villines and the Pulaski County Quorum Court have mismanaged the finances for the past six years. One bad outcome of that mismanagement is the closing of almost 300 high security beds as the county jail. It is a bad situation and the proposed cure is an outrage.
County government expects, instead of being punished, to be REWARDED by the gift of $18 million extra dollars every year. In four years, you could build another Alltel Arena with that kind of loot.
The “bad guys” contend that some mythical Maumelle rapist was not locked up because of the jail being “closed.” First, the jail is very much OPEN and doing business every single day. Furthermore, most of the violent offenders are quickly put behind bars.
It may be a good thing to expand the jail. My associate, Mr. Dogood, and I will need to schedule a sit-down over spaghetti to determine if we are willing to grant the accommodation of a one-eighth cent sales tax. We are, after all, reasonable men.
And what about the other side?
Let us go back to the Leader’s story and see what Jacksonville Police Chief Robert Baker has to say.
If the measure passes, Jacksonville would receive a $125,000 windfall because an inter-local agreement between the city and county officials would end, resulting in huge savings for the county’s cities.
“That is our share…$125,000 a year,” Baker told The Leader. Plus, there is a handling fee when those arrested in Jacksonville are sent to the county jail.
Baker explained that the $125,000 would wind up in Jacksonville’s general funds. When asked if he wanted the windfall to benefit the police department, Baker said he’d rather see the city, as a whole, benefit from the savings.
In other words, the savings iwll be an outright GIFT to the City of Jacksonville to use in any way OTHER THAN PUBLIC SAFETY. They talk a good game about police protection and a supposed increase in crime, but when given new money it goes for whatever is popular at the moment.
These are all good reasons to be solidly against the jail tax.
On the eve of a county-wide election to impose a quarter-cent wales tax to raise $18 million every year for the Pulaski County Jail, Sheriff Randy Johnson has been found in contempt for not taking some prisoners. So, why didn’t they just go ahead and lock him up?
We agree, at least in spirit, with Judge Stewart, whose ruling was quoted in the Democrat-Gazette.
“This is not a new problem,” he wrote in his ruling, delivered minutes after hearing testimony from jail officials that they have at least occasionally had to refuse some prisoners since 1998. “The failure of the county to solve this problem of long standing is a failure of the county to deal with reality.”
Stewart fined Johnson $3,500, to be paid by 1 p.m. Wednesday – the day after the jail-tax election – and threatened him with jail time if there are further refusals to detain prisoners. The case was appealed to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Willard Proctor Jr. By 4 p.m. Friday, Proctor had stayed the fine and the rest of Stewart’s ruling pending the outcome of the county’s appeal.
Shirley Simpson of Taxpayers Against Wasteful Spending is square on target. It’s a publicity stunt and the one that should be held in contempt are Judge Villines and the Justices of the Peace who have allowed this problem to grow over the years while County spending has exceeded revenue.
Sheriff Johnson is known to have had serious health problems and that makes this thing even worse.
We say it is time to WHACK the jail tax.
Our friends of the Lynch at Large blog family have posted an hour segment of his radio show with Jim Lynch and Paul Kelly. Like all sensible people, they are against the jail tax. It’s a free download on lyncho.com.
It’s more fun than a Sunday afternoon drive on the New Jersey Turnpike.
