Some of my kids and grandkids will be here in Pagosa for Thanksgiving, and a turkey dinner is planned. Miki, Kahlil, Violet and Tavi will be coming up from Santa Fe. And of course Chris and Ursala, with daughters Simone and Amelie, share a house with me here in Pagosa, so that goes without saying. My partner Cynda will join us, and will be supplying the sweet potatoes, baked the day before so the flavor can sweeten overnight.
That’s a lot to be thankful for, right there.
But I’d also like to express my thanks for something more political.
I attended three government meetings yesterday. At 8:30am, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners held a work session with their interim County Administrator, Greg Schulte. Then, at noon, the BOCC met in a joint session with the Pagosa Springs Town Council, to discuss their “joint strategic priorities.” And at 5pm, the Town Council held its regular meeting.
The BOCC is still licking its wounds from failing to win a $44 million sales tax increase, and now wants to figure out some way to build a new jail without bankrupting the County government. That loss at the polls seems to have cast a dark shadow over their budgeting process, as they design the 2019 budget.
That dark shadow was apparent during the joint Town-County meeting, which featured on its agenda a conversation about three important community issues: the housing crisis, the need for affordable childcare options, and the desire for faster Internet service… in at least some locations.
Last year, the BOCC and the Town Council agreed to jointly contribute dollars towards these three strategic priorities. That agreement had been brokered mainly by Commissioner Michael Whiting, and — after considerable bureaucratic delay — ended up funding some activity towards possible solutions in these three areas.
But the failure of Ballot Measure 1A has caused two of our three commissioners to turn inward, and focus on their own separate priority: a 54-bed jail.
At yesterday’s joint meeting, Mayor Don Volger wanted to know if the BOCC was onboard, to continue jointly funding efforts in the three strategic areas.
Commissioner Steve Wadley:
“It looks like were going to have to spend between $800,000 and $1 million a year to service the debt on just the jail only. Not a jail and Sheriff’s office. And given the wish list in our [2019] budget, we’re pretty over-committed.”
Commissioner Wadley thought he could support County spending $50,000 for broadband, but nothing for housing or early childhood education.
Commissioner Michael Whiting:
“Budgeting is a function of priorities, and your priorities are an expression of your values. I value, for instance, the funding of broadband, early childhood education and affordable housing and the cultivation of our joint strategic priorities. Above, say, the purchase of a new road grader or any number of new vehicles. There are a hundred things in the [County 2019] budget I would cut, before I would cut this.”
Commissioner Ronnie Maez:
“I value affordable housing and early childhood education. I value them. But what we’re responsible for is to build a jail. That’s what we’re responsible for. And it’s a mandate…
“I want to see all our extra money going towards what we’re responsible for getting built. And it’s a jail.”
As we heard, later in the conversation, Commissioner Maez believes we need a jail nearly twice the size of the existing (but abandoned) jail in the County Courthouse. And to build that (oversized?) jail, Commissioner Maez is willing to commit the taxpayers to paying up to $1 million per year for the next 20 years, paying off an huge debt that the voters never authorized.
Last summer, local activist Mark Weiler presented Commissioners Maez, Wadley and Whiting with an interesting document that he’d obtained from Undersheriff Tonya Hamilton, based on data maintained by the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office:
The third column shows the total number of ‘inmate days’ for each year. (For example, an individual inmate housed for three days would equal ‘three inmate days.’) As we see, the highest number of inmate days — 16,251 — dates from 2004.
The fourth column shows the daily average number of inmates housed by the Sheriff’s Office. Once again, the highest average came in 2004: an average of 45 inmates per day. That was the average. So presumably, there were days when Sheriff Tom Richards was housing more than 45 inmates. (And presumably, Sheriff Richards and his staff were blatantly violating federal law in 2004, because our existing County Jail was designed to accommodate only 34 beds.)
The lowest number of inmates dates from 2015: 10 inmates, on average. Less than a quarter of the average number housed in 2004. That year — 2015 — also saw the lowest number of arrests since 2000: 305 arrests. So we have an interesting situation here. IN 2015, the Sheriff’s Office made about half as many arrests as in 2004, but those arrests resulted in only about a quarter of the ‘inmate days.’
The average number of inmates housed greatly increased between 2015 and 2017. In fact, it nearly doubled. Nearly doubled, to an average of 19 inmates. That’s a number which, presumably, could have been easily accommodated in a 34-bed jail. (Like, for example, in our existing — but abandoned — 34-bed jail downtown.)
Once upon a time, we believed that locking people up in jail was a good solution. In 2018, we’re not so sure. We’re beginning to understand that jails are places where inmates are taught — by their fellow inmates — how to be successful criminals. We’re beginning to understand that people who are locked up in jails and prisons often leave with unresolved anger issues. And we’re beginning to find much less expensive ways to monitor non-violent offenders.
Americans are no longer willing to build bigger and bigger jails. We have other priorities. Or rather, I should say, some of us have other priorities. But County Commissioners Ronnie Maez and Steve Wadley want to cut funding of crucial services to the community, so they can build a 54-bed jail — the same size jail that the voters rejected on November 6.
Can we define this as political arrogance?
Meanwhile, the Town Council members were clear about their very different priorities. Affordable housing for our work force, for example, rather than ‘unaffordable’ housing for our criminals.
Council member Nicole DeMarco:
“When I listen to the priorities, broadband is the most likely problem for a [non-subsidized] market fix. So if I were to prioritize any of them, it wouldn’t be broadband. That could be profitable in two years. Something will come along and the market will fix that.
“I don’t see the market fixing the affordable housing problem. Like it or not, I think that’s something that we’re going to need to continue to fund. And early childhood education… I’m interested in hearing what other projects they have going, outside of the new facility…”
Council member David Schanzenbaker:
“Ronnie, to your point that you don’t want the [strategic priorities funding] to be an ongoing thing. Remember that we’ve only been putting money towards these three things for six months. So we didn’t even get a full year out of the 2018 contributions.
“To completely cut off two of them is short-sighted…”
It was clear, from the discussion, that Commissioners Maez and Wadley have no intention of addressing the affordable housing crisis, or the childcare problem, in their 2019 budget.
The Town Council was equally clear, meanwhile, that housing and childcare continue to be prominent funding priorities.
And for that, I am thankful.