A Letter from a Neighbor

Dear Friends,

There is no question that a new jail is a legitimate need for our community. However, the County’s current plans for the jail site involve meeting that legitimate need in an illegitimate way.

Imagine if the county decided to put the jail next to your church or your child’s school; you would not agree with that decision or vote for that site. Now imagine that the county decided to put the jail next to your home. You certainly would have a problem with that site and you would hope and pray that your fellow citizens would support your opposition to such an inappropriate and incompatible addition to your neighborhood.

If Washington County voters approve the new taxes for the jail on June 9th, they will also be approving a jail site that is in the middle of a neighborhood. One family on Oak will literally walk out of their front door, walk across the street, and be on the jail campus. When they sit on their front porch, they will be looking at a jail. May it never be!

If Washington County voters approve the new taxes for the jail on June 9th, what will history say about that decision? Will it be a flagrant example of maltreatment of the poor? Will it be viewed as a discriminatory act against the African-American community? Will it a brazen illustration of the powerful taking advantage of the weak?

I urge Washington County voters to exercise the Golden Rule when you step into the voting booth on June 9th; do to others what you would have them do to you.

Sincerely,

Sonja Settle


After Sonja sent out this email, she received an inquiry about what her solution would be if we all voted no. Here is how she responded:

I think that that is a great question; thank you for taking the time to ask!

First, this problem (what happens if we vote no) would not be a problem if the County had not "jumped the gun" and purchased the property BEFORE it was properly zoned. If they had not done that last year, then when the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission voted down their proposal to rezone for a jail (on May 27th, last year) then the county could have "dusted themselves off" and proceeded with their plans on another site. They quite possibly could have broken ground on something during this past year. Instead, their problem then became the City's (as in City Council) when the County appealed the MAPC decision. The City Council knew it was wrong, which was why they first voted NOT to rezone to allow for the jail. And then they broke their own statute (and the law) when they revoted a week later. And now, here we are -- again . . .

I still say that this problem is THEIRS (the County's) not ours. I believe that they should sell the property and start over with plans on a different site that is at least 1/4 mile away from a residential area (like their own Treanor Report recommends). I have heard of many different businesses and prospects thrown around about what would go great there; my personal favorite would be for someone to develop loft apartments or for Habitat for Humanity to buy it. Other ideas have been a neighborhood grocery/market. Or a Christian school. Or a baseball field. Restaurants. And such a plan could be worked out with the help of the BDC.

Also, you will hear the argument that the jail needs to be near the courthouse because of transport issues. However, a police official, whom I will allow to remain anonymous, stated that transport is NOT an issue because they have to pick these prisoners up all over the county anyway to bring them here. (I think he has possibly done a 180 on this statement). Therefore, there are LOTS of viable sites that do not involve a neighborhood.

The bottom line is that these neighbors went through the proper procedures (months of work to get the formal petition filed), and yet were treated with a different standard than any other neighborhood would have been treated. It is a flagrant example of "unequal weight and measure"; and it shows a weakness in our local government.


Proverbs 29:7
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 19:17
He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

Jail Debate

Luwana Brewster and Mike Dunlap debate the jail controversy.

Tom Holland Interview with Ty Hager

Is it true that if voters choose to VOTE NO for funding the new jail that the State will come in and build a new jail and leave us with the bill?? Listen to Tom Holland try to defend this stance with a caller on the Ty Hager show. After listening, we are sure you will realize that this is UNTRUE.

State jail inspector Don Garrison is quoted saying this, "if citizens had heard that he or the health department had said that the county has to build a new jail, that it was “totally erroneous.”“I don’t care … that you ever build a new jail but you’ve got to correct (the) problems in the jail now,” he said.

LWV to host public meeting on proposed jail

(This is a copy from an Examiner news article. We wanted to add that Nancy Strong will be at the meeting representing Neighbors for Justice.)

By E-E Staff Report

The League of Women Voters of the Bartlesville Area will hold a meeting to discuss the proposed new Washington County jail, LWV spokespersons said this week.

The meeting will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor meeting room of the Bartlesville Public Library in downtown Bartlesville.

Funding proposals for the new jail will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, when voters will be asked to approve two ballot measures to fund the facility.

Funding proposals include an ad valorem tax to total $13.5 million of the projected $18,650,000 cost of the facility, and a half-cent sales tax — one quarter-cent to fund the remaining amount of construction and one quarter-cent, which will be permanent, for ongoing maintenance and operation. If approved the facility will be constructed near Eighth Street and Oak Avenue.

The following people are expected to participate in the meeting:

• Mike Dunlap, Washington County Commissioner District No. 3.
  Dunlap serves as chairman of the County Commissioners. Prior to his election as commissioner, he served three years on the Bartlesville City Council.
• Don Garrison, director of Jail Inspections with the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
• Rick Silver, Washington County sheriff. Silver served with the Bartlesville Police Department until his election to sheriff in July. His most recent work has been in the area of illegal drug enforcement.
• Bettye Williams, member of the Public Safety Facilities Advisory Committee. Williams has been a member of the committee since it was founded in 2005. Williams, a longtime resident of Bartlesville, retired from Phillips Petroleum in 1995 and has served the community as assistant to the Washington County Election Board and as a member of the board of directors of the Salvation Army and the Agape Mission.

The moderator of the panel will be Kathy Hinkle, member of the Tulsa Metro League of Women Voters. She is former president of the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma, and is presently a Tulsa Metro League of Women Voters board member and the League’s Voter Service chairman.

There will be time for audience questions and answers after the presentations.

This meeting is open to all. Attendees may bring lunch and a drink if desired.