Republican vs. Republican

Sheriff Simon L. Leis, Jr. sent out this email recently:

You recently might have received a solicitation letter or telephone call from Pat DeWine talking about the jail and safety plan that I and other County leaders have put forth.

This is a critical issue for our community. Unfortunately, Mr. DeWine’s effort to raise money from you was incredibly misleading. As a fellow Republican and as your Sheriff, I feel compelled to set the record straight.

A couple key points:

FIRST, we finally have a solution to our jail overcrowding problem. For too long, County Commissioners like Mr. DeWine have passed the buck on the biggest problem we have in the County—providing enough jail space to keep criminals off the street. For decades, I have asked repeatedly for their help, and they have refused. As a result, I’ve been forced to let thousands of prisoners back onto the street. And people wonder why crime is so high!

Finally, the current County Commission (except for Pat DeWine) has boldly stood up to help me solve the problem. We have worked closely on this issue all year, and, as have law enforcement leaders throughout the County, I commend them for their leadership.

The Comprehensive Safety Plan will build and operate enough jailspace for the long term. Early releases will end. It will add more police to the street, secure tougher sentences for the most violent offenders, and, through intervention, will reduce the number of non-violent criminals who become repeat offenders. This comprehensive approach is also the most fiscally conservative way to tackle this problem, because it builds a more efficient system and will lower future demand for jailspace.

SECOND, in his effort to solicit money from you and others, Mr. DeWine has misstated the facts. Contrary to Mr. DeWine’s letter, most of the money in the plan will go either to build the new jail in Camp Washington, or to operate that jail. When Mr. DeWine wrote that most of the money is going to “costly new programs,” he was misleading you. Beyond building the jail itself, most of what he calls a “costly new program” is simply the necessary cost of operating that new jail (for 30 years)--such as paying our hard-working corrections officers. As opposed to Mr. DeWine’s tax increase plan last year, which left the operating costs completely unpaid, the current plan is simply more honest about what the real costs of a jail are (to see a copy of the budget yourself, go to www.hamilton-co.org).

Mr. DeWine also is misleading you when he says our plan will only add 400 permanent beds. In fact, it adds almost 800 permanent new beds. And it replaces 800 other beds that have to be replaced almost immediately because, as the Enquirer reported, an 800-bed temporary facility we run today is crumbling beneath our feet.

FINALLY, I can tell you that Mr. DeWine has proposed no real solutions to this problem. His prior "band-aid" solution has already cost millions of dollars renting 300 beds from Butler County—those dollars are coming from the County’s rainy day fund, which is nearly depleted. There is no long-term funding source to keep Butler County going, leaving us in our predicament today. So Mr. DeWine’s temporary plan has not only bankrupted the County's reserves, it has failed to solve the problem.

And if he and Mr. Smitherman succeed in their current action, DeWine will force us to release those 300 prisoners, and then release more every day after that. As the Sheriff, and a former judge and prosecutor, I am not as comfortable as he is releasing prisoners back onto the streets.

Cincinnati and Hamilton County were once known for being as safe as any place in the country. Unfortunately, that has changed of late. We are now in a bind—high crime, not enough jailspace, and a reserve fund that is almost broke thanks to years of expensive band-aid solutions. Finally, we have a real answer to this crisis, and leaders with the courage to make the tough decisions. It's long past time that we put politics aside, and stepped up and solved the problem.
After years of watching as politicians dodged the issue, I believe this bipartisan, comprehensive plan is the most responsible path we can take. As you carefully consider the crisis we’re in, and the facts, I hope you will also support our effort.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,

Sheriff Simon Leis