Your Opinion: Commissioners fail to justify courtroom construction

Dear Editor:

I am very frustrated by the Cole County Commission's decision to build a new courtroom. I believe the Cole County Commission:

• Presented incomplete information regarding the need for a new courtroom.

• Is not acting transparently.

• Is repeating mistakes made with the new jail: poor planning and overbuilding.

The county taxpayer is caught paying for the above mistakes.

Incomplete Information: According to statistics posted on the Office of State Courts Administrator's (OSCA's) website, the number of court cases per year in Cole County has decreased, not increased. So why is constructing a new courtroom necessary? In my opinion the number of court cases per year should be increasing significantly to justify spending $2,000,0000 to $3,000,000 (and probably more) on a new courtroom.

Not Acting Transparently: When the Cole County Commissioners were in the process of deciding on how to proceed with this project, each commissioner met individually with the architect, in private, to ask questions. If the commissioners had questions for the architect, those questions should have been discussed in public meetings.

Repeating Mistakes: I have been told that our new jail has an entire floor (the size of a football field) that is unused. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to build for the future, but I'm not so crazy about that idea now. Overbuilding for a perceived future need, is not always smart planning. For example what if we did some things that caused the crime rate to decrease and there was not a need to house all those prisoners?

If what I have been told is true, Cole County taxpayers are paying for an entire vacant floor in the new jail. I do not want to pay $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 for a courtroom that we do not really need. While this money is thrown at this new courtroom, and while we pay to maintain a vacant floor in the new jail, other needs are not met: infrastructure, education, the library, public transit, housing homeless veterans, health care for those who cannot afford it, the list is endless.

If the Cole County Commissioners are so flush with money, that they can spend it on this new courtroom (that we may not need), then they should reduce taxes and make those funds available for other purposes: to taxpayers, the city, and those in need.

The Cole County Commission needs to step back from this project.

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