Pepper urges Yes vote on Issue 27

Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper makes a final request to those on his e-mail list to vote Yes on issue 27-- the sales tax increase to build a new jail and fund public safety programs.

Dear friends:

Tuesday is a critical day for Hamilton County. There are many important issues and races on the ballot, so please be sure to vote to have your voice heard on all those races.

As you vote, I respectfully ask for your vote on Issue 27.

At the County, we have worked hard to put together a plan that, finally, addresses our safety and criminal justice needs in a responsible way. Unlike past approaches, we have reached across party lines to craft a bipartisan solution--one that balances the need for more effective enforcement with the equally important need for more effective prevention, intervention and rehabilitation. Issue 27 addresses a short-term crisis of jailspace, while putting into place long-term, proactive reforms that will keep such crises from reemerging in the future, while creating a far more effective and efficient system.

Our goal is that the Comprehensive Safety Plan will not only make our community safer in the short- and long-term, but will create a national model of how to bring safety to a community in a thoughtful, comprehensive way--and not just through the same costly band-aids and political slogans that we've seen fail for too long. And a comprehensive approach is far more cost-effective, in the end, than the desperate jail-only bandaids that some continue to push for.

We are honored that as individuals and groups have come to understand our plan, they have overwhelmingly endorsed it. The Democratic Party. The Republican Party. The Charter Committee. Law enforcement leaders. Civil rights leaders. Religious and business leaders and groups. Even groups that initially opposed it have now lined up in favor of it. And, just yesterday, the Enquirer joining the Post. It is a remarkable coming together on such a difficult subject. Click to read their endorsements: Enquirer and Post.

Before voting, if you have any final questions about Issue 27, we answer almost every question imagineable at the website, www.safercommunity.org. Feel free to call the campaign if you have any more after that.

Tuesday is a great opportunity to change from a failing status quo--a status quo of high crime, high recidivism, and millions being wasted propping up a system that is not working.

Tuesday is a great opportunity to build a safer community, in the right way.

Again, I ask for your vote on Issue 27.

Thank you.

David

PS -- Feel free to come by LeBoxx Cafe at 819 Vine Street, beginning at 7 p.m. to watch election returns.