• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 17 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

RESPECT OUR LEADERS AND THEIR DESICIONS!!! : 7/7/2010

GOD BLESS OBAMA !!!

Jail tax : 7/7/2010

Something none of the news articles mention is that SB County sales tax is already 8.75%. Ventura is a whole percent lower. A half percent raise would make our sales taxes 9.25%. These taxes hurt poor people more than those with larger incomes, because working poor have to spend every cent on goods & services. Higher tax will cut into budget for neccesities.

Good response to the court order : 7/7/2010

Not so sure the County ever was "wallowing" in a budget surplus, but this year support of a sales tax will be a very difficult vote to get at a 2/3rds requirement. Problems are the subsequent funds needed for operating expenses and how fuzzy or padded the estimate is for the sales tax revenue in the long term.

total sales tax only would be 8.75 percent : 7/7/2010

The article here fails to note that the existing 1.0 percent State sales tax surcharge will end next year, so the net effect with this proposed 0.5 percent sales tax increase is a negative half percent, for a total county sales tax of 8.75 percent, which still is about the highest among California counties.

I feel so much better now.

Mess over the Poor, Protect the Rich : 7/7/2010

This country is becoming one of the most regressive and brutal in the world with regard to the treatment of the poorest population. The rich get tax reductions, breaks for capital gains, substantially lower taxes on investment income and bonuses. The inheritance tax which only applied to the multi-million dollar estates is gone (hopefully for only a short time). Meanwhile the sales tax and the latest darling of the right the VAT (an even bigger sales tax) are growing as sources of income. These taxes are the exact opposite of the sort of funding we should look to for public agencies. So the poor will pay to have themselves incarcerated at a rate 10 times higher than in other civilized countries. Class warfare is alive and the rich are winning.
All Brown wants is a bigger empire. His deputies want more jobs. Another "liberal" alliance with the devil.

RHS

new jail vote : 7/7/2010

Release all the marijuana related convicts and vote no on the jail.

pinot noiriste

new jail : 7/7/2010

Wow.Just read what RHS wrote. Excellent and accurate analysis. What state is this, California or the Police State?

Pinot noiriste

Unscrupulous Board of Supervisors : 7/7/2010

This matter was agreed to be heard and decided on July 13.
The current Board of Supervisors members ought to be impeached.. most especially Janet Wolf.

They have habit in accelerating items on the agenda without knowledge to the public and without consent.
This matter should be voted against paper ballots only.

Observer

Recall Janet Wolf : 7/7/2010

Under her leadership and support, we are now looking at an increase in our local sales tax for government to 8.75%. She has shown incredible incompetence in fiscal management. We are going to be royally screwed next year when their shell game with the budget will be exposed. Mark my words. By December, that $15 million undesignated reserves will be closer to $9 million with a projected deficit of $40 million that will required balancing. This isn't a suprise. This has been coming for 4 years and Janet has done nothing, Salud has done nothing and Doreen Farr has been a south county lackey as the expense of those in the Santa Ynez Valley and Lompoc area. We can get rid of her in 2 years, but we need to start working soon on getting Janet out. A fifth grader with basic math skills could have done better.

Former Democrat sicken by South Co. BOS

New Jail : 7/7/2010

If a detailed analysis of the County jail system were done and shared with the public, it would most likely show that a disproportionate number of those jailed at the local facility are either there for minor drug or other offenses,and/ or they require mental health services, which are grossly ignored in jail. (http://www.noozhawk.com/local_news/article/062310_goleta_woman_recounts_ordeal_while_in_jail).
Many homeless people are caught in the merry-go-round of the legal system. They get busted for a minor offense (say, being drunk in public, acting out, or some other minor drug-related offense). Most of them cannot make bail, even when it is very low, since they are broke, so they stay in jail longer than those who CAN make bail, keeping the jails more full than they should be. Even looking at releasing some of these non-violent offenders on their own recognizance would help some. They then get stuck in the probation system, due to lack of appropriate legal representation which results in people agreeing to excessive and highly restrictive probation in lieu of more jail time, which requires weekly drug-testing and follow-up meetings with their PO (which is expensive and overloaded), and almost ANY minor violation can end up putting them back in jail, for increasingly longer periods each time. A much-too-high percentage of these folks (not all of them) suffer from untreated mental illnesses that could be treated if the County Mental Health system had not been cut to the bone in each prior budget year for as long back as I can remember. In fact, with appropriate treatment, and/or medications, if necessary, many, if not most of these otherwise law abiding people would never get into jail in the first place, which would render the new jail unnecessary.
The above-referenced use of jail as the de facto mental health system for SB County is a lose-lose-lose proposition. The patient/prisoner loses, the Sheriff's Department loses, and the public at large loses in this scenario. Perhaps, if one were to look at the expense of building a new or expanded inpatient mental facility and adding a qualified psychiatrist or two, combined with a reasonable, simple, and safe input system that could triage folks with mental illnesses to where they can get the treatment they need - not "one size fits all".
I have personal experience of a family member who was in the jail/probation system for years, when they SHOULD have been in the mental system, which is inadequate. Over-the-hill and often uncaring psychiatrists who are burned out and overworked often do little to help their patients, and there are not enough social workers to assist these folks in getting the proper treatment, medicines, routine heath care, and other services such as SSI, Medi-Cal, and housing, all of which would result in the jail revolving door either being eliminated or severely reduced. I fear, however, there will be no public acknowledgement of this problem, since people can wrap their minds more easily around more jails than more mental health support (most people don't like to think or talk about mental health issues - it is too unpleasant to contemplate, so it is easier to just deny/ignore). Most people are not aware of the connection between the jail system and the mental health system, but I assure you it is real from personal experience.
Several years ago, my family member was able to get into a pilot program (purely out of the luck of the draw and getting access to one of the few social workers who actually did his/her job) designed to do exactly what I propose, and my family member is are now getting the treatment they need, have not been in jail for more than eight or nine years, have subsidized housing, and they live a semi-dignified, semi-independent quality of life (I use the word "semi" because they still are in "the system", which tends to stigmatize mentally-ill persons, even if they are able to function at a relatively high level, by legally-required regular bureaucratic intrusion into their lives to justify the services they receive (I can't argue with this, as there can be abuse, but the stigma exists, nonetheless). They still don't have a social worker to help navigate the tricky program requirements. This is left to family members, like myself, who have become skilled at how "the system" works.
Imagine the YOU or your family member have a controllable mental illness, and that you qualify for mental health treatment, and you are getting the medications you need,and/or are getting off the medications that you don't need, are getting counseling, are getting subsidized housing (however, often in roach-infested places run by SB slumlords who grossly game the SBHA, but a roof over your head nonetheless), are getting Medi-Cal to get necessary health care, and have completed all the paperwork to qualify for SSI, which, combined with the subsidized housing in SB, is still far below the poverty level by a long shot (and it has declined by more than 7% in the last two years due to the California financial disaster). You would be living in fear daily that, at any time, without warning, your landlord will decide not to participate in the subsidized housing program anymore, and that you will lose your housing and will not be able to find any replacement, since I am told that there are 10,000 people in SB County on the housing waiting list. You would be living in fear that your medications will be removed from the Medi-Cal formulary, and your ability to function in society "normally" will be negatively affected, since you don't have enough money to pay for the meds that allow you to function. You would be living in fear that "the system" would take your talk therapist away from you (which they did to my family member after twelve visits). I pay for my family member's treatment out of my pocket, since, just before they were cut off, my family member and the therapist reached a breakthrough which has led to remarkable improvement over the past three years that could lead to full recovery over time). The cost (which is at Medi-Cal rates due to the generosity of the therapist) is the equivalent of 1/3 or more of your disability payment, which on top of the 30% you pay for rent, would leave you about $250 - $300 per month for food, household items, utilities, basic cable, internet access, and phone service, clothing, transportation, AND any other expenses that come along unexpectedly. You would live in fear EVERY DAY that you might be returned to the streets, and, by default, the jail system and the never-ending circle that perpetuates.
So, let's vote not to build the new jail, but to put an equivalent amount of resources into our struggling County Mental Health system. The big picture will show that not only is it money well spent on the front end, but it improves the odds that many of these folks will return to productive lives that get them out of "the system" permanently and contributing back to society, something that most of them long to do to regain their sense of self-worth and dignity that is stripped from them the first time they are thrown in jail for some minor offense. I have not seen recent studies on this issue, but older studies show a huge return to society on the model I propose.
Violent offenders, even if they have mental health issues, need specialized care, and may end up stuck in the system, but there are many, many non-violent offenders for every violent offender.
Food for thought.

Gandalf47

Screw the Jail! : 7/7/2010

No justice no peace!

Myra Bever

Necessary Evil : 7/7/2010

is this tax. Dangerous criminals need to be locked up for public safety. Most male prisoners are sons of prostitutes. Prostitution, illegal drug use, and alcoholism are all on the rise. More and more male children are exposed to this illegal culture so more jails will be needed.

I don't go out at night anymore

well..... : 7/7/2010

ALL NEEGERS AND SPICKS MUST BE JAILED

wowo man

no! : 7/9/2010

Everyone who wants to raise money is just plain greedy. Can they not see what the real situation is?! I say no on using OUR money for this stupid reaon....In my opinion criminals who kill should die themselves automatically, instead of using up space in jails. That's it. They don't deserve to live. This whole country is just messed up and its getting worse day by day.

: 7/9/2010

I really do hope somebody reads this. If there's over crowding in the first place just send these losers else where. They don't care about us, so why should we bother with them. They should all just not exist anymore really.

truth versus paranoid delusions : 7/14/2010

"Necessary Evil : 7/7/2010
is this tax. Dangerous criminals need to be locked up for public safety."
by far most of the people in jail are no threat to the public.
"Most male prisoners are sons of prostitutes."
this is a laughable and ludicrous proof that people who take such opinions are disgustingly ignorant and opinionated with false information.
" Prostitution, illegal drug use, and alcoholism are all on the rise."
All of which are non violent offenses solved by real problem solving process, not jail.
They are not on the rise, they have remained more or less constant for many years.
People just make this stuff up.
"More and more male children are exposed to this illegal culture so more jails will be needed."
No more jails are needed.
You are wrong on all counts, two of them laughably wrong.
"I don't go out at night anymore"
You are so ignorant and wrong that it would probably be best if you didn't go out in the day time either.

Examples abound : 7/14/2010

Homeless man X who shall remain nameless has serious physical ailments which make it nearly impossible for him to walk
without crutches.
He is a harmless chess player and stick juggler and if he broke any law it would be simply sleeping.
Recently, he was beaten, and jailed, without access to much needed crutches and all of his worldy possessions were lost or destroyed by the pigs.
He managed to get out with only two days, but many are not so lucky. If he had tried to fight the charges against him they would have kept him in jail for weeks or months.
This is not a person who should be in jail, and even if he did deserve it for some reason, the police should be responsible to keep his possessions safe for when he gets out, and should take crutches with him or provide them to him in jail.
One more proof that SB police are evil scumbags without a conscience, and that the jail is filled with victims of the evil pigs, not people who pose any threat to society.
Their assorted abuses would be actionable suitable offenses, but they know that he has no money and no way to retain a lawyer, so they get away with it.
They have no regard for his rights or civil liberties or the real and serious physical problems he has. they are scum, and they don't need a new jail, they need to have their ankles broken and then get themselves force marched around town, just like they did to this poor man.

Elohim