Story Created:
Oct 9, 2007 at 3:55 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Oct 24, 2007 at 2:07 PM CDT
Signs posted on a wall and a room with several angry people are all saying no way to the 125 million dollar price tag on a new Smith County jail. A jail most commissioners are pushing for.
"They haven't been completely honest with their constituent ...they've been misleading them," said Bobby Curtis, the Campaign's director.
Curtis said the proposal is not clear.
The campaign provided a list titled--"Top Ten Reasons why the jail proposal is a bad idea"
One of those reasons?
Confidence in the process. Stating the plan is a blank check.
"We still don't know what's included in the $125,000 million dollars...other than the things I stated are not included in it," said Curtis.
Ken Good, with "The Build the Jail Committee" disagrees.
"This plan does not have hidden cost like the last two proposals that were defeated. Now...is there things that can go wrong?
Well...yeah. We can have a hurricane hit Smith County, but you know...we cant just say...don't trust anybody," said Good.
Another concern for those against it---public meetings.
"Folks this commissioners court has made it a practice of communicating as little as possible with the public. They had to have their arms twisted to have public meetings about the budget, so that people who worked during the day could get there to have a voice," said David Stein, former Smith County commissioner who's against the jail.
In all, the list goes on and on mentioning other issues like security, location, future courts and others.
One thing is for sure, both sides agree a new jail is needed.