Hope ([info]shadowriderhope) wrote in [info]ann_arbor_ypsi,
@ 2005-02-21 23:50:00
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Current mood: tired

Remember to vote tomorrow on Proposal A! (Washtenaw residents)
Edited: My personal view on it has shifted significantly over the last 24 hours. I'm not sure which way I'll vote, but at this point I'm more inclined towards "No." Here's a page with some links to the opposition viewpoint, provided thanks to [info]panaphobic.

http://www.arborupdate.com/index.php?id=669

My personal view is that it's a good proposal. Your milage (or is that millage?) may vary, etc. ;)

You can find out your polling location at http://www.publius.org/

Details also (specifics of the proposal) at http://www.ewashtenaw.org/new/vote_2-22.html

Voting Hours: 7:00 am - 8:00 pm



WASHTENAW COUNTY
PROPOSAL A

Proposition to increase the tax limitation to enhance public safety by providing funding to renovate the jail and increase jail capacity,
construct a district court and residential probation center and pay for operational costs related to the jail and jail diversion
programs.

.Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be imposed each year for all purposes on real and tangible personal property in
Washtenaw County, Michigan be increased as provided in Section 6, Article IX of the Michigan Constitution and the Board of Commissioners
of the County be authorized to levy a tax not to exceed three quarters of one mill ($0.75 per $1,000 of state equalized valuation) on the
taxable value of such property for a period of twenty years, beginning with the December 1, 2005 tax levy, (which will generate estimated
revenues of $9,600,000 in the first year) to enhance public safety by acquiring, constructing and renovating an upgrade and addition to
the Washtenaw County jail, the 14-A District Court, a Probation Residential Facility, and mental health diversion and treatment
facilities, and operating the jail and jail diversion programs designed to provide alternative rehabilitation for appropriate
individuals?.

Should this proposal be approved?

Yes _____ No _____


(Post a new comment)


[info]panaphobic
2005-02-22 06:32 am UTC (link)
No.
It encourages the growth of prison populations, instead of forcing legislatures to take looks at our sentencing of crimes like non-violent drug posession.
It will increase our tax burden without making us safer, and again encourages incarceration instead of rehabilitation.
Passing this decreases the chances of other millages being passed in the future for things like schools. This encourages the growth of the prison industry, even if only in a small way.
Vote no.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Great minds think alike...
[info]darnwall2000
2005-02-22 09:58 am UTC (link)
No.
It encourages the growth of prison populations, instead of forcing legislatures to take looks at our sentencing of crimes like non-violent drug posession.

My god, the EXACT same thing ran through my mind when I read the text of the proposal. You wouldn't happen to be Libertarian, would you?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Great minds think alike...
[info]qmrf
2005-02-22 01:31 pm UTC (link)
I don't think you need to be Libertarian in order to think this is a bad idea.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Great minds think alike...
[info]darnwall2000
2005-02-22 03:27 pm UTC (link)
No, you don't have to be Libertarian, but it would have gone along well with the "great minds think alike" theme if he was. :)

But yeah, it should certainly be apparent to all that this proposal is a bad one.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Great minds think alike...
[info]mike_coop
2005-02-23 06:57 am UTC (link)
Hey, it turns out my alter ego voted the same way as me on an issue! I was the 128th voter at my polling place at like 6 o'clock.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Great minds think alike...
[info]darnwall2000
2005-02-23 08:51 am UTC (link)
Haha, see, the vote was so obvious, even alter egos voted the same way.

Or was this another case of great minds? Eh, let's assume it's both. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Great minds think alike...
[info]mike_coop
2005-02-23 04:20 pm UTC (link)
Yep, definitely both.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re: Great minds think alike...
[info]panaphobic
2005-02-22 03:10 pm UTC (link)
Nope. I'm a tax-and-spend liberal. I just like to spend wisely.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]metalfatigue0
2005-02-22 09:11 am UTC (link)
This millage is vital for the seriously-underfunded Washtenaw County mental health system.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]tlatoani
2005-02-22 12:36 pm UTC (link)
I'm happy to support the mental health system. I'm not happy to provide more jail spaces for them to put minor drug offenders in.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]metalfatigue0
2005-02-23 06:56 am UTC (link)
Looks like we get to pick both or neither. Legislators are cunning little bastards that way.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]crankyasanoldma
2005-02-23 03:25 pm UTC (link)
This didn't come out of the legislature.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]shadowriderhope
2005-02-22 01:12 pm UTC (link)
That's the read that I'd gotten, or at least from what I've heard of it. Do you have any links or other info to support it?

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]qmrf
2005-02-22 01:34 pm UTC (link)
Well, so vote "No" on the proposal that says "BUILD A BIG HONKING JAIL (and add some funding for mental health programs)", and make them come back in three months with a proposal that says, "Provide funding for a high-quality mental health system."

I agree. Mental health services are extremely important, and if this millage were about those services, I would vote for it. But they shouldn't be shackled to a massive prison expansion program as an afterthought (or used as a smokescreen for a massive prison expansion).

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]dionysus1999
2005-02-22 12:57 pm UTC (link)
I tend to agree, who needs bigger jails?

(Reply to this) (Thread)
They're letting them out earlier
[info]trollhagen
2005-02-22 01:03 pm UTC (link)
Apparently judges have been letting criminals out before their sentences were done, not due to good behavior, but because they were short on jail space. In addition, someone told me if the millage doesn't pass, Washtenaw County will go ahead with the expansion anyway, but cut jobs to fund it. All of this means I should vote yes, but I think I'm voting no. I like my money to go for things that I might actually use like parks and libraries.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: They're letting them out earlier
[info]shadowriderhope
2005-02-22 01:13 pm UTC (link)
That's what I'd heard as well (that they were letting them out sooner).

This is cool, though - I'd hoped this would spur debate! :) I haven't made up my mind 100% on it, and the debate is helpful.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re: They're letting them out earlier
[info]madmarchie
2005-02-22 03:10 pm UTC (link)
They do let them out sooner.

I used to work for an Attorney's office in Ann Arbor. I usually only worked downtown, but occasionally had to come out to the 14A and 14B courts.

I HATED going to the 14A. It doesn't feel nor work like a court, there isnt enough space to work. It's dark, it's depressing, and the man being dragged by three bailiffs thru the public hallway crowded with people waiting to pay traffic tickets who is screaming "That's right, I killed the b*tch. The damn whore deserved it to and when I get out I'm gonna f*in kill her Mither F*in sister too" is NOT the way a court needs to be operated.

Do I wish we could improve the court system and leave the jail the way it is? Sure thing.

But which is more likely to get the improvments if we vote no and they take jobs? The court, or the Jail?

They'll build the jail and leave the court to rot.

I haven't decided yet. Won't be voting till this afternoon.

~Donald

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re: They're letting them out earlier
[info]panaphobic
2005-02-22 07:25 pm UTC (link)
Don't vote yes on bad laws. Make them come back with a better proposal.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]funpuff
2005-02-22 02:53 pm UTC (link)
They *say* they're letting them out sooner, but how do we know it's not some scare tactic to get voters to support the giant jail? Any data to support their claims? And in whose backyard are they going to build it? The prison building industry is a big scam in this country.

Also, they really should seperate the two issues.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]panaphobic
2005-02-22 07:24 pm UTC (link)
If they're letting out people for drug possession early, why should I care? The only danger is when they're letting violent offenders out early.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]panaphobic
2005-02-22 07:28 pm UTC (link)
More on the proposal here. (You might want to include the link in your post).

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]shadowriderhope
2005-02-22 08:43 pm UTC (link)
Hey, many thanks - t'was very good to read. I edited the post above.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

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