It’s now been almost four years since Archuleta County Sheriff Rich Valdez began transporting inmates to the La Plata County Jail. How many trips to and from Durango has that been? I’ve not heard anyone suggest a number.
All this time, we’ve had a jail — a 34-bed jail, now with an expensive new roof — that had suffered some water damage in April 2015. Sheriff Valdez could have been housing inmates there for most of the past four years… instead of driving back and forth to Durango… had the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners been willing to pay for restoration.
The BOCC has consistently and adamantly refused to consider such a renovation — even as a temporary solution.
Three years ago at a public meeting about a proposed ‘Justice Center,’ I asked architect Bob Johnson for an off-the-cuff estimate. What would it cost to renovate and remodel the existing 34-bed jail into a ‘state-of-the-art’ facility? Mr. Johnson guessed that it would cost perhaps $2 million.
About the cost of four high-end, $500,000 homes. I mean, we’re talking about a jail. No granite countertops, no Jacuzzi bathtubs, no cathedral ceilings. Just a jail. Temporary housing for alleged criminals.
Not that I would hold anyone — not even an expert in jail construction — to a spontaneous estimate made at a public meeting. But let’s say that Mr. Johnson’s estimate were off by 100 percent, and it would actually cost twice that amount: $4 million.
When I posed that question to Mr. Johnson in the winter of 2016, the BOCC had in excess of $4 million stashed away in various savings accounts. By now, we could have had a ‘state-of-the-art’ jail, instead of a proposal to spend $13 million on a project that will take another two years to construct, and that will cost the taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $17 million (or $20 million?) in debt payments over the next 20-25 years.
Instead, we see a Board of County Commissioners rushing willy-nilly into a very expensive project, to build a $13 million jail… a project that was priced, in a County grant application in November 2016, at $5.7 million.
I tried, yesterday in Part Three, to ask a simple question. Why did the BOCC think they could build a sufficient jail for $5.7 million in November 2016… but now believe that a sufficient jail would cost more than twice that amount?
Why are architects Bob Johnson and Brad Ash pushing so hard to put the Archuleta County taxpayers deeply into debt, using a CM/GC scheme — without allowing for any community input whatsoever?
Another person pushing hard to create this (untenable?) debt, using COPs and a CM/GC scheme, is BOCC chair Ronnie Maez… as we heard at the January 22 work session. Mr. Maez was reacting to comments from interim Administrator Greg Schulte, concerning how much ‘time’ the BOCC could save if they can agree to rush ahead with a ‘CM/GC’ process and skip the normal ‘competitive bidding’ process:
“I think that would be important, to continue — in my opinion — moving forward as quickly as we possibly can… I’m ready to move forward. We have some designs that you guys [architects Reilly Johnson Architects and Reynolds Ash + Associates] have already presented to us, and as I said before — only speaking for myself — that’s my intent. To move forward with just that particular project. Just the jail only.”
Which might cause some people to wonder about Mr. Maez, and his beliefs about democratic government. When Mr. Maez announced his intention to run for County Commissioner in 2016, he submitted a press release to the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN, that read, in part:
“I have chosen to run for this position because I feel that I can help in bringing about positive improvements to our community by making sound choices and establishing a strong voice for the people of Archuleta County… My goals as your next County Commissioner will be to establish a stronger level of clarity for our community. I will be open-minded and understanding to the ideas and views of the people of Archuleta County… It is also my goal to continue educating myself in countywide government while maintaining strong fiscal responsibility.” [My emphasis.]
He also said that “restoring unity within the community” is a challenge facing the BOCC.
I suppose there are many ways to try and “restore unity.” But there are even more ways to create division and polarization.
The voters have spoken twice at the polls, rejecting the BOCC’s plan for a 54-bed jail. The community wants a better plan, and more fiscal responsibility. But Mr. Maez has now turned his back on “the people of Archuleta County,” and talks only about 20-year debt schemes based on ‘Certificates of Participation’ and the construction of a jail that voters have twice rejected. So much for establishing a strong voice for the people of Archuleta County. And so much for ‘restoring unity.’
And yet… there are obvious alternatives.
There’s an obvious alternative that isn’t rushed, does not create a poorly-funded debt burden, and allows the County government to build something modest and then expand the jail as needed, in the future. The BOCC could ask the community to come up with a viable plan… one that has widespread community support from groups like Citizens for an Affordable Jail, the group that ran ads opposing last November’s ballot measure. And the BOCC could place that viable plan before the taxpayers, for their approval, next November.
But that would require patience, intelligence, and thoughtful citizen engagement. Things that appear to be in short supply at the County Admin building in January, 2019.
Another alternative — one that would not require massive government debt nor extensive citizen engagement — has been put forward by local activist Mark Weiler…