New Jail proposal: Current Context
Chris Ronayne announced he wants to buy a site in Garfield Heights for the new jail for $38.7 million dollars, and wants to tax everyone in the county for 40 years to pay for it: and do so without voter approval. We say: No Way!
From go the organizers of the proposed new jail project have been undemocratic in structure and deceitful in projecting how much it will cost. Initially proposed at $550 million, the project shot up to $750 million within a year. It’s estimated to be about $2 billion once you account for interest to bondholders on the long-term loan. As for democracy: the proposal committee has no meaningful public input, and the project has not been put to vote–even though it’s our tax dollars! That isn’t right!
The first effort to get a jail built came in 2022 when county officials tried to authorize $750 million to build a new jail on a brownfield site on Transport Road near the Central neighborhood. This site was loaded with so many toxic chemicals that it was deemed not worthy of being a horse stable for Cleveland Police: and yet they wanted to imprison people from our community there!
When word of this effort became public, the community said NO – and although they tried some backroom deals, the community’s voice shut down the purchase of the toxic site. But the struggle is not over: it’s time to step up and pressure county officials to make real changes, not just building another building as a false solution.
Failures of the Garfield Heights plan
• Lack of care: Garfield Heights lacks preparedness to address an influx of community members with the intersections of vulnerability that contribute to arrest, including mental health concerns, substance use, homelessness. For instance: Garfield Heights has no housing or homeless support services except for 18-24 year old males aged out of foster care and with mental health issues.
• Lack of transport: There is limited and insufficient public transportation for released persons, leaving them without resources or transport throughout the area, left to walk in dangerous and high-traffic areas like 480 and Grainger Road.
• Perception of safety: Building a major facility in Garfield Heights will mean increased calls to law enforcement for people walking through neighborhoods. The county sheriff will not deal with this, meaning it will be left to local police.
• Longer commute times for most: A Garfield Heights jail would also mean longer travel times – up to 17 minutes – from most of the communities from which most of the jail’s population originates. Cleveland officers coming from five districts or their future headquarters on Superior Avenue will have to travel up to 12 minutes longer to reach a Garfield Heights jail, depending on the time of day, over their current drive downtown. (cleveland.com July 31, 2023)
• We don’t want “jail city” this proposal fundamentally misunderstands what alternatives to incarceration are. Putting a diversion center directly next door to a jail makes no sense within a model of alternatives to incarceration.
Why the jail should stay in Cleveland
• Public transportation: There is a robust network of bus lines and rapids effectively transporting community members to and from the jail and courts.
• Care services: The numerous service providers located downtown Cleveland provide housing, meals, mental health, and substance use referral services, and legal assistance to people returning from jail.
• Renovation of the existing jail is possible: A renovation would be less expensive and better for all. County Council should demand the law department make public the 2014 study looking at Justice Center Complex & jail renovations.
What happens if the jail leaves Cleveland
• More jails: Cleveland will be forced to build its own jail as Cleveland police will not transport community members taken into custody to another city.
• More expenses: Cleveland will have to build a new courthouse due to the county court’s inevitable move to follow the county jail.
• Further Expenses: Cuyahoga County Jail staff will have to be given more and newer vehicles for transport of incarcerated individuals plus an increase in staff to transport people in jail from another city to downtown Cleveland.
• More Let Downs : The Regional Transit Authority pledges to increase route frequency which costs and will likely be an immediate victim of cost cutting. Individuals getting out of jail often have no funds to afford riding a bus, so it will be underutilized.
Why building a new jail is wrong
• Wasteful, and the true cost is higher: The price of the proposed project has gotten inflated from $450 to $500 to now $750 million dollars, and it won’t stop there. County Council admitted at a July 2023 meeting that “the final negotiated price, which may or may not be $750 million, would arrive in 8 to 12 months, following confirmation of site selection,” according to Cleveland Scene (July 25, 2023).
• Your grandchildren will be paying for it: County Exec. Chris Ronayne proposed a 40-year sales tax to pay for the jail, meaning that he plans to tax the next two generations of Cuyahoga County residents to pay for it.
• It will prompt more expensive building projects: County taxpayers will soon be asked to pay for a new courthouse as officials justify the project with the self-inflicted problems of separating the jail from the courthouse.
• Lack of access to legal representation: The courts will only have video access to people arrested and will be forced to transport them if they exercise their right to appear in person. An already understaffed jail workforce will be transporting those incarcerated, likely falling short of requirements and causing violations and backlogs. Attorneys who see clients between court appearances will cease this efficient practice once those incarcerated are no longer housed near the courthouse. This further strains attorneys and affects defendants’ representation.
• Broken promises: Chris Ronanye campaigned on a promise of community input for projects like this and is trying to push through the costliest county project in history without a vote.
• Anti-democratic: We, the community members and taxpayers of Cuyahoga County, have never been consulted about this project. We have had no meaningful public presentations, no serious community surveys, no seat at the planning tables, and no vote.
Reduce the jail population:
• Bail reforms that provide pretrial services that help each person get their life back together, and treat pretrial detention as a last resort
• Jail officials and staff need to stop incarcerating people past their release date
• Invest in alternate responders, not more police officers, for crises involving mental health and substance abuse. Keep both officers and community members safer when mental distress and substance abuse crises are handled by other professionals.
• Sentencing: prioritize using alternatives to incarceration that support people to rebuild their lives and provide for their families and community.