11/10/09

Last week's vote for a new Jerome County Jail didn't reach its needed 66 and two-thirds percent super majority; but county authorities say that the need for a new jail didn’t go away, just because the vote failed.

Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said, “The thing these people understand is it would be nice to lock in current low interest rates over the life of our jail project, which the lease would do.

The voters' most common concern was that the city and county didn't hold their respective elections in the same polling places, so voters had to go to two different places each to vote on city and county matters. From now on, Jerome County will oversee the city elections.

Jerome County Commissioner Charlie Howell says, 65 point 3 percent of the voters said this was a good idea, a good plan, and that we were on the right track. So we do believe in that part. We want to honor their commitment and the work they've done so far. And that's where we want to go from here.”

Howell says he talked with voters who said they were sure the vote for the new jail would succeed, so they didn't bother voting.

Now the commissioners will need to explore what options to pursue next, which will include deciding whether to put the new jail issue on the May primary ballot. But then the problem they'll face is keeping voters' interest in the jail up for six more months.

McFall says, “Several options available that are on the table. And I think we owe it to the citizens to evaluate our options, and proceed with the option that's going to best meet the needs of Jerome County.”