Spokane County Must Act Quickly

Call it common sense or just good politics but the results are the same: Spokane County now has at least a fighting chance to build a new jail. But only if the Commissioners and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich work quickly to lay the necessary groundwork to gain public support for what will be the largest bond issue in county history.

Commissioners were rushing toward asking voters this November to approve a $245 million bond issue for the project---it was shaping up to be an abysmal failure. No public education campaign was in place, strong opposition to the new jail’s proposed site near Downtown Spokane had surfaced and was working hard to kill the project and creating a political committee to push the measure was only an afterthought.

But the questions now are will the time be used wisely or will the Sheriff and Commissioners revert to form? If experience is any judge they will find themselves in the same position a year from now. Why? The county staffers in charge of designing the project have strongly suggested since last January that a public education program explaining the need for a new jail be established before anything else is done. That wise council fell on deaf ears for more than six months---the only thing that got the decision makers’ attention was the price tag.

The Sheriff and Commissioners must move fast to gain public support because opposition will not wane; opponents smell blood and will continue working to ensure that the project never comes up for a vote. But my guess is that nothing will be done on the communications front until after November. Throw in the holidays and we’re into January before the subject resurfaces---a full year after staffers recognized where their leaders should go.

Communication is the key to this project—always has been, always will be. But there are no signs that anything will happen any time soon.