Public Protection and Judiciary and Health and Human Needs expected to vote tomorrow night. Personnel and Finance to meet and vote the 23rd and the full county board to vote on Thursday, March 26.
This is the update from my county board supervisor, Heidi Wegleitner.
Below please find links to the agendas of the Health & Human Needs (HHN) and Public Protection and Judiciary (PPJ) Committees for tomorrow’s meetings. PPJ meeting begins at 5:15 with a closed session to discuss claims, but the Chair expects to be in open session discussing the next item by 5:30. That meeting is in Room 354. HHN will begin at 5:45 p.m. across the hall in Room 357 of the City-County Building.
In addition to the jail/criminal justice planning and reform resolution (556) both committees will be taking up resolution 575 to amend the budget to support “Access to Opportunities”, which includes more funding for the drivers license recovery program run by the YWCA, a pilot with the school district to fund driver’s ed, and a transitional jobs collaborative project in Southwest Madison. The total funds allocated to these projects is less than $58,000. Additionally, the resolution calls for the issuance of an RFP for the Affordable Housing Development Fund for a re-entry housing development project. PPJ will also be taking up an ordinance amendment to reduce the maximum forfeiture to $10 for 25 grams or less of marijuana possession. I have signed on to Res. 575 and the ordinance amendment.
I have concerns about the jail planning resolution (556), however, and have been discussing amendments with supervisors and community advocates. Res. 556 provides an additional $480K to Mead & Hunt (a jail architecture firm) to supplement their previous study with planning for the jail to not only address immediate health and safety needs (which I support), eliminating or greatly reducing solitary confinement (I support elimination), but also to include long term planning and a phased-in substantial rebuilding of the public safety building (i.e. plans for a $150M jail developed incrementally). I would rather we realign resources into alternatives to incarceration, jail diversion, re-entry supports (including more accessible housing), and community based mental health services to substantially reduce our jail population and the racial disparities in incarceration. I believe that some of the resolution’s sponsors share those priorities and I am hopeful we can improve the language to give more power and accountability to the recommendations of the work groups and eliminate the role (or at least limit the scope) of Mead & Hunt’s work. If amendments to improve the resolution as described are not successful, I plan to vote against the resolution. During the 2014 budget process (when $8M jail money was included), I voted in favor of amendment to take out the budget line for $8M in jail planning and land acquisition money.
It is expected that resolution 556 will be voted out of these committees tomorrow night, be taken up by Personnel & Finance Committee a week from today and be at the County Board floor for our 3/26 meeting. I would focus your comments on the substitute (also in legistar, available at below links), as I expect that will be substituted for the initial resolution early in the debate.
Sincerely,
Heidi
https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=388636&GUID=AED775B9-8784-4141-9A43-7A815F744364
https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=388868&GUID=036E4BD4-FDB9-4E9A-B33E-82CB433FCA67
Here is the resolution for those who have not seen it.
And the Sheila Stubbs substitute which is mostly being considered at this point.
