news-record.com

They can pat themselves on the back that they are saving the taxpayers money. It is the oldest game in the books. Estimate high, so you have a lot of extra money to buy goodies. The Board of Education is doing the same thing. We are suppose to give the praise for coming in under budget. The BOE built in a 15 percent annual inflation rate. The actual inflation rate is about zero. In the last four months the price of structural steel has dropped 20 percent. What will happen to the extra money?

Extra money?? There is no extra money. They might have saved some but its money they didnt have to begin with. It dosnt exist. Its a good start and now they should trim another ten million from it. Lets get rid of some of the things that prisoners shoudnt have to begin with. Give me the list and I will show you what needs trimming.

The extras include television and other items that make jails more like the Ritz Carlton then a jail cell. If there is any extra money it should be used to equip the jail with the latest and most appropriate technology needed to keep these inmates under control and staff safe like tasers, pepper spray and other like items instead of padding the county's coffers. However, I know any extra money will be blown by the county commissioners just like theGuilford County Board of Education has done with their money from the local, state, and federal government as well as bond money that has been approved. If you do not waste money then schools would be well maintained and not in constant state of disrepair and other programs could be funded.

Anyone who is talking about how cushy the jail is has never been. It is a crummy place; to say anything otherwise is not accurate. Sometimes (most of the time) the comments on here are just absurd.

I dont understand why everyone is so concerned about how nice the facility should or should not be. Look Alberto, you want to know what a crummy place is??? How about middle of nowhere village in Afghanistan, or Fallujah Iraq. Have you been there? Well i have and i didnt commit any crime! Granted i signed up to do this type of work, but i didnt have any luxuries. So why should inmates have ANY luxuries?! I dont like paying taxes like the next person in line, but i would rather those funds go to better roads, or schools, or scientific funding. Not a prison where, OH NO, somebody committed a crime and now they are in a "crummy place", we should build a new one, QUICK!!! You give up your rights when you cant obey simple laws...i.e. Dont kill, steal, hurt, rape, destroy, etc... Is there really a leg to stand on for these repeat offenders complaining about "crowding"? In my opinion, repeat offenders are nothing but willfully ingnorant. Fill it to 3x capacity.

There is a lot that goes on with the system that people are not aware of.....I know for a fact that the sheriff sent a deputy to stand guard on property which was trespassed on, broken into and items removed from it....and when 911 was called about this....I was told that I would have to call the sheriff's office about this....and then no one, I repeat, no one would tell me absolutely anything about this....they said "talk to an attorney"....and I did and everyone just swept this right under the rug.....so I am here to let you know....that a LOT goes on that people are not aware of....perhaps Barnes has been in office too long.....Greensboro definitely needs a change in leadership and protection.....the judicial system is able to keep things quiet....especially if no one talks about it....even the DA was contacted and again....he said get an attorney.....and the sad thing about getting an attorney....they DO NOTHING also....the try to drain people's bank account and do the least amount of work they can do....now I am sure there are a few good attorneys.....but they must be few and very far between....there is NO JUSTICE anymore....they just cover up things like this and hope they will go away.....in this case....this WILL NOT JUST DISAPPEAR.....what was done was wrong and those who allowed this to happen....know just how wrong this was....

The present jail is deplorable. It's an unfit place to work and an unfit, over-crowded place to house inmates, many of whom are merely awaiting trial and have been convicted of NOTHING!

As Diogenes walked the streets of Athens with a lantern looking for an honest man, I continue to work my way through these posts looking for a "compassionate conservative!"

It's hard to tell from the article whether the the percentage of contracts going to minorities and women is a result of preferential treatment or not. Of course, race, ethnicity, and sex should not be considered at all in deciding who gets awarded a contract. It's fine to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin color, etc. either--whether it's labeled a "set-aside," a "quota," or a "goal," since they all end up amounting to the same thing. Such discrimination is unfair and divisive; it costs the taxpayers money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it's almost always illegal—indeed, unconstitutional—to boot (see 42 U.S.C. section 1981 and comments we submitted to the Colorado DOT here: http://www.ceousa.org/content/view/655/86/ ). Those who insist on engaging in such discrimination deserve to be sued, and they will lose.

Roger -
Good points, all of them. The construction method that the county chose was specifically to get those local, minority subcontractors in the game.
Their argument was that for something like the jail, the lowest bidder may not be the best bidder.
And those are their words, not mine, just to be clear.
This story may help explain: http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/07/09/article/commissioners_weig...

Also, another point for people to remember in this discussion: the jail primarily holds people who have be accused - not convicted - of committing a crime.