Guess who else supports the safety plan?

Hamilton County’s Comprehensive Safety Plan has another supporter: the Cincinnati Business Committee, a organization made up of various business CEOs.

Committee chair Robert Castellini, who is also CEO of the Reds, said the county is in a "public safety crisis" with too little jail space, too many arrests, too high a recidivism rate, substandard detention facilities and disjointed treatment programs.

"Public safety is of the utmost importance to our community. A safe community provides a foundation for a healthy community and, therefore, is of the utmost importance to our community and to the Cincinnati Business Committee," he said.

Commissioners David Pepper and Todd Portune raised county sales tax May 30 to pay for the plan, which includes construction of a $198 million jail. Opponents have launched a referendum effort. Castellini noted the county will waste $8 million to $24 million if it has to wait until the November election to decide the issue. IT is spending $2 million a month on the current system and housing of overflow inmates in Butler County.