Why not more time for jail?

Why

not more time for jail?

It amuses me that

what I heard said at the Fayette Commissioners meeting is

such a contradiction to what I read in The Citizen

regarding the jail issue.

I attended the meeting, and

I agree that many questions were not answered. The

commission chairman, Mr. Harold Bost, was quoted in your

paper on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000, as vowing, "We'll

stay here until sunrise if that's what it takes."

Mr. Bost, since when did

the sun rise in Fayette County before midnight? I agree

to rules for a public hearing, and I can see that it can

get out of hand. But, why, with so many questions

unanswered, were the people cut off after an hour and a

half? The reason you gave was you only scheduled an hour

for questions. Why didn't Mr. Bost state he wanted to

hear what the people had to say as long as they said it

in an hour and a half?

I also don't think anyone

disputes the necessity of a jail, which was so heartily

defended. The excuses used were for the safety of our

police force, attorneys, jurors, judges and marshals.

If you kept the jail intact

and connected it to the current facilities to be used for

persons awaiting trial, you might still be able to build

a separate jail facility elsewhere to house persons

already sentenced. There are alternatives; there are good

arguments for the pros and cons of this issue; it's a

shame you didn't have time to hear us out.

Debbie Behlke

Fayetteville