To the Editor:
For a long time we’ve been deluged with the words, “dilapidated, deteriorating, unfit for use” when our elected officials talk about the county jail.
They assure us that conditions are so dire that the only solution is abandonment and new construction.
In last Sunday’s OD, the Sheriff, the Legislature and the SCOC all lined up again to tell us how bad things are at the jail.
Don’t they see how self-condemning, how self incriminating such statements are?
We all know of the repairs required to satisfy the State sponsored study back in 2006. We paid over $500,000 to fix conditions that should never have gone bad in the first place.
And now, five years later, the Sheriff and the Legislature are admitting again that their stewardship has been so lacking, so deplorable, so irresponsible, that shut down is the only solution to the problem of overcrowding.
Oh yes, and build a new oversize, over priced new jail.
At least in 2006, we knew what we had to do—roofing, air handling, air quality, paint & caulk—but today our officials won’t elaborate on these alleged new problems.
I’ve written to the Sheriff, FOILed the County and the SCOC and received nothing in the way of specifics. They adamantly refuse to divulge the conditions that make the jail so deplorable.
Today we’re just expected to take their word that they messed up over the years, they’ve let the building go to rot and now we don’t deserve any information—any specifics—just shut up, trust them and pay the bill.
This stubborn, dare I say arrogant, refusal to provide vital information to the public:
• Is contrary to the Open Meetings Law.
• Violates the Freedom of Information Law.
• Makes a mockery of the notion of transparent government.
• Presumes that 14 legislators have knowledge and judgement superior to 66,000 constituents.
• Is blatantly insulting to the taxpayers of Herkimer County.
Everyone, please acknowledge to yourselves that you have a civic responsibility to involve yourself in your government—pick up the phone, call the Sheriff, call your Legislator, ask to be told the specifics, not generalities, of any new alleged deficiencies at the jail. Good luck.
Carl Streeter, Ilion
