Editor’s note: This was first sent to the Cook County commissioners and the Cook County sheriff.
Good morning Cook County Board of Commissioners and Sheriff Eliasen.
I toured our jail, LEC, on March 4th. Sheriff Eliason, his staff, and their predecessors have done a great job of taking care of a great facility. They have an excellent facility from which to execute the expectations of the county as it relates to law enforcement.
I was struck by how quiet it was there. One inmate that day. I counted three staff persons working that day. Sheriff Eliasen was unable to accompany us. I didn’t sense any panic around the place, which, those beating the drum for an expansion to double the size of the facility, are leading us to think exists. Commissioners … that is YOU!
To date, we have a wildly under-utilized hospital, which can’t deliver babies for the new moms we want to reside here. We have an absolute cluster of a YMCA. And now you want to add another burden to the tax roll before you address the existing real needs.
Attached to the now current jail conversation, is a future conversation around Health and Human Services facility. This piece has not been presented. This is another part of another concern over the transparency issue.
I suggest that each of you stands up against this tsunami you’ve created and say NO to an expansion of the Cook County jail, NO to an expansion of any sort. Purchase a new transport van that will work better in the existing jail garage. Begin to consider housing the future Health and Human Services needs in the existing hospital. I urge you to listen to your constituency.
And remember … your path to an expanded LEC is not substantiated by any of the documentation out there with the exception of the Wold piece, which is wildly suspect and blatantly subjective.
Gordon J. Salisbury
Hovland
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