After the weekend’s vote in favor of the new jail bond proposal, I must admit that I’m still unsure what to think. Local politics has certainly made some strange bedfellows. Much to my surprise, many people I know and respect in our area have come out in support of the modest tax increase in order to finally put the prison issue to rest. The new prison will cost thirty- five million, but proponents say that some of those costs can be made up by housing state and federal prisoners from outside our area.
Even Tyler’s budget hawks have been divided on the issue. The “Grassroots America” organization supported the measure, while the Tyler Tea Party opposed it. Personally I certainly recognize the need to ease prison overcrowding, but as a Tylerite, I can’t help but feel somewhat duped. Every time the city has pushed for some new bond or other, citizens have said “no we can’t afford it!” whether it was school bonds or the continually re-emerging issue of a new jail. Well, in the latter case persistence has finally paid off. I wish I could say that I trusted our local bureaucrats to take the most frugal approach with our money, but sorry to say, I just don’t.
At the end of the day the passing of the jail bond may not be entirely bad news. Certainly building the new jail will have positive implications, namely local jobs and fresh outside funds. But I’m concerned that every other local committee is going to employ the same kind of grind us down, tactics the pro-jail people used. My advice is this; keep your hand on your wallet folks! There are always going to be things we need to buy or build. But let’s prioritize. There’s nothing wrong with making do with less, now and again!