County Board Meeting Wedndesday!

– Your Voice is needed –

The decorative Riverfront Downtown Jail Project is moving forward & your HELP is needed. This Wednesday evening there will be an OPEN House at the County Courthouse at 6PM to view the current plans and meet the County Board supervisors, as well as the architects and planners. Following the Open House, the County Board will be voting whether to allocate $25 million dollars towards advancing this project forward.

We are marching on the courthouse this Wednesday.

Meet us at 5:45pm, Wednesday February 20, at the corner of First and Grand Avenues (also called Peace Park, in the shadow of the proposed riverfront jail). We will walk together to the open house at the nearby Courthouse to make our collective voices strong: NO JAIL DOWNTOWN.

Even if you can't make it early, please attend the meeting and speak out! You are needed to help stop this project while we still can.

Even though agendas for the Wednesday County Board Meeting have not reached the board members as of Tuesday morning, the agenda when received will call for a vote on approving a $25 Million dollar bonding issue to continue the Jail project.

The City has not yet had an opportunity to approve or reject the re-zoning of the riverfront property that the county wants to use to build it’s 4 story jail. There is a planned Protest Petition being filed with the City Council when this re-zoning reaches the Council for discussion & vote.

The Citizens for Accountability in Jail Expansion feel that the county board should table it’s bonding effort until it is known if the city will change it’s comprehensive plan for downtown improvements on the riverfront and allow property proposed for the Jail to be re-zoned.


How can you help?

Meet in peace park (first and grand) this Wedndesday at 5:45pm.
Come later to the Wednesday meeting at the County Board.
Call your friends & neighbors about this & ask them to attend
Email this website to everyone you know who might want to see this project halted (click the envelope at the end of this message to email this page to your friends now!)
Put this announcement on your facebook or myspace page, add the rally to your calendar!
Call & email all of the county board supervisors
Call AND email all of the city council members
Call & email all of the Plan Commission Members
Call & email Mike Huggins the City Manager
Write a letter to the Leader Telegram opposing the re-zoning and urging the County & the City to gain its senses

We have several sample letters posted on this site. Feel free to cut and paste. The important thing is that you write or call with the simple message: No Jail Downtown!