Loading ...Building Useless Prison Beds, Take Two
February 7th, 2008Two weeks ago, the Interim Finance Committee decided to spend $5-million or so building halfway-house beds that our prisons department said could not be used. It was one of the most clear examples of partisan politics getting in the way of good sense that I have seen in the last couple of years.
Here is the blog entry I wrote that day, with a bunch of comments.
Comment #8 surprised me. A fellow named Barry seemed to think it wasn’t a big deal because no actual vote was taken on the matter. He cited this story in the Review Journal as his authority:
Nunez told legislators during the Interim Finance Committee meeting on Thursday that he needed an immediate decision to stop the transition project because the contractor was ready to pour the foundation.
Despite repeated moves by committee Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, to secure approval, members never voted on Nunez’s request.
It’s academic at this point, but here is video of the motion made to approve the change order at 10:10am on that day, and the vote that was clearly taken at 10:22am.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
There they go again! Spending money that the state does not have is foolish and just what I expected out of a bunch of Liberals.
A Half-Way house when they are burdening out courts! This is stupidity at its finest!
February 9th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Lee is right!
“There they go again!” Wasn’t the governor telling us, just last April, how dire the prison situation was? Wasn’t Nunez testifying in front of the legislature telling the peoples’ (or corporate overloards) representatives how dire the overcrowding of the prison system was?
Yup, another hukster tale….so which testimony before the legislative panel was a bold face lie? We need it badly or we couldn’t use it if you gave it to us? THAT is the issue BEERS should be going after; not partis]anship tit-for-tat, but statesmanship.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
The video is very telling. I am reminded of the Keystone Kops videos. Nobody understands the background or the facts. It just reinforces my conviction to completely revamp the people we have in there. If this is what “experience” gives us in politicians, I prefer as novice a crew as I can get.
Bond money is meant for a specific purpose and should only be used in very limited and emergency circumstances. Making prisoners more comfortable does not raise to that level to me. Worse, however, is trying to use bond money to augment the general fund for other goodies by redirecting scheduled maintenance money so our children can be in ever greater debt. This is a scarey video and, I fear, is typical of what happens in our chambers of Nevada Government. I guess corruption spreads beyond the Clark County commission, but what really hurts is the insult to our intelligence. I hope Nevadans are not stupid enough to accept this without a fight….are they?