(link...) as referenced in an article written by The Daily Times; (link...)

Based on recommendations from jail designers, the 302-capacity jail should have 80 cameras for observation and safety, he said. “On one day (The Facility Group) cut out 60 cameras,” he said. “We were left with 20 cameras. We’re experiencing a lawsuit right now, because we didn’t have camera in the pat-down area.”

A. The sheriff heads a department responsible for at least one broken arm while in BCSO custody, and the fault lies with a construction company?

B. The mayor shut down the PBA so developers and other elements of the machine could have their way. The PBA was set up to control spending on the Justice Center.

“Even today we’re experiencing” problems, he said. “We put in substandard elevators. We don’t have water fountains anywhere in the sheriff’s department.

With oversight, if this is what happened in '98/99, can you imagine what's going to happen down at the dump with no oversight? It's a dump alright - AKA a taxpayer money pit.

C. $350K for road surveillance (link...) - but none for the house

Berrong said: “In any corrections facility, the pat-down room and your intake is the most vulnerable part. We wanted four cameras in the intake and one in the pat down. We got one bad-angle camera” to cover both areas.

When did we learn this, before or after? (link...)
No cameras by forced builder omission? Apparently the only people in years to keep the sheriff from getting what he wants are the folks at Facility Group. Maybe we can get an executive list and see if some of the soon to be jobless want to run for office. I figure we'll have spots for them, as some of our guys are going to Nashville to fight corruption.

What do you bet we still don't have cameras in the pat down room since the incident with Mr. Southerland?

Regardless, if we had taken less than 1% of the $367,000 it took to buy a luxury RV and a hostage phone for the sheriffs department, we could have gone to Sam's and bought a system (link...). But hey, Sam's is in Knoxville, to far to drive to buy a camera or use a driving track or a firing range.

What's that Wheel Tax business again? More money for what? We're building what for why? These are all simple questions with no obvious answers. At least none that you'll hear in a public setting.

D. Was this the first time Facility Group was involved in bribery?

L. NEW BUSINESS:
6. Approval of concept for new E-911 facility.

con-cept

1.a general notion or idea; conception.

Translation for Blount County- as long as it is on record the blame for whatever happens can be pointed at an under informed County Commission. The same County Commission which will raise taxes to pay any mistakes made with this concept.

Since it is well know that folks like to ask the Commission for permission after the fact- is the hole for this basement already dug?

SeeJaneRide

Not that most County Commissioners don't know this already BUT when Berrong or fellow commissioner Helton ask for ANYTHING the answer is NO! For two who barely made it out of high school, taxpayers should be questioning EVERY penny they want.

Is there anyway to look at the amount of money brought in by housing federal prisoners and the amount that the county has to pay to house the federal prisoners? I continually hear that housing federal prisoners is a money boom for the county, but I would like to see figures. Who should I ask for the information (and please don't say Bennett).

Anybody who thinks Blount Co. should get deeper into the prisoner business ought to go take a Sunday afternoon drive around Morgan Co.

This page (link...) has the total number of county crimes listed for Blount County under the heading; Crime in 2005 (reported by the sheriff's office or county police, not the county total): as 2,023 total

Lets say the percentage of crimes committed under the influence are correctly stated here: (link...) at 33%.

That means 668 people are our counties criminal drug problem. Now, take $800K in missing cars, $350K mobile command unit, $250K driving track, $800K in a firing range and maintenance, tens of thousands in pay raises for cops who gave fake degrees to get them (link...), and whatever this "blessed" building that the ECD and Guard have use of, but we maintain the liability costs - I'm guessing we are in the $4 to $8 million range. Sorry I can't narrow that down any better, it's hard to put a price on a blessed concept.

I will be conservative in my estimate and say it's just three mil..., wait, instead I'll be conservative like the Republican conservatives on the commission, you know, the ones always nodding - and say $5 million.

Take $5 million worth of "drug money" i.e. my and your tax dollars, just like all other monies and property our government collects, and spend it on drug treatment for the 668. That would be $7485 worth of drug counseling or rehab for each of the 668. Say it worked on half. That leaves 334 criminal drug types on the streets with 115,000 of the rest of us. Think we can handle them?

No, instead, let's just buy or build something else. Maybe something to lock up more people in. God bless America...,

Something I stumbled on in the middle of the city-data page under the section titled Blount County government finances in 2004:
Police Protection: $7,317,000
Corrections - Other: $5,927,000

Those numbers were from 4 years ago. I wonder today how close we are to spending more OF OUR OWN tax money on criminals than we are law abiding citizens?

BTW - don't be fooled if you start seeing our sheriff back in uniform. Word is JJ Jones in Knox county has found it to be a popular move (link...) . Problem is, our brass has found that their suits fit - so now they must wear them. Anything other would be an insult to all the Blount cops who wear the uniform everyday.

SeeJaneRide

Why the deafening silence on this issue from the cities of Maryville, Alcoa, Maryville College and Blount Memorial Hospital? You cannot convince me the cities want a penitentiary in their community much less in the backyard of a "picturesque" college.

If they would step up, the sheriff would be forced to stand-down.

(link...)

Judge William R. Brewer, board chairman, said their architect and the sheriff’s office architect have discussed the building plans and it was decided it would be more feasible to build two buildings on the property.

ok then.. that should cost about 1.8 million, eh? Great concept!