There were many reasons why I ran for mayor, but building a jail was not one of them. Unfortunately, the need is clear and unavoidable. The good news: We can do it without raising taxes.
Our courtrooms and jails have been chronically overcrowded since the early 1990s, posing risks for sheriff’s deputies, the public and inmates. On average days, our courtrooms and jails range from 130 percent to 140 percent of capacity, with peaks at the downtown city jail reaching 172 percent.
We haven’t built a courthouse in Denver in more than 70 years. As Denver has grown, our courtrooms have become so overcrowded that we spend more than $400,000 a year to lease courtroom space in a downtown hotel.
Prisoners are transported an average of eight round-trips each between the Smith Road jail and downtown for court appearances. In the City and County Building hallways, prisoners brush past victims, their families, witnesses and jurors. Every year there are escape attempts, fights and other disturbances.
At Smith Road, dormitories are crowded to four times their capacity, inmates sleep in closets, and cells are literally falling apart. I challenge anyone to show me an animal shelter that treats dogs as we treat our inmates – many of whom have yet to be convicted of anything.
Last year, I sought advice from the Urban Land Institute and appointed a community task force to make recommendations with three core ideals in mind: the safety of the public and deputies; the just and efficient processing of inmates; and cost effectiveness. Thanks to that public input, the proposal before voters is far better than where we started.
We are committed to building a Justice Center whose design befits its place in the Civic Center. But quality design doesn’t have to cost more. We pared construction costs to $292 million. Adding $51 million in contingency, $31 million in inflation, and $4 million for bond issuance costs, the total is $378 million. But because we are paying off a number of existing bonds, we can fund this project while staying well under our current debt service level. Tax rates will not increase. If you are paying $100 in taxes now, you will pay $100 after 1A is approved.
Making use of the debt capacity for this project is fiscally the right thing to do. It will not eliminate our ability to fund future voter-approved projects. Denver will still have three-quarters of a billion dollars in additional debt capacity to issue over the next 20 years.
In order to make system- wide improvements, we are taking a holistic approach to addressing the issues in our justice system. We convened a community task force last year to identify proven programs to reduce our jail population. The city’s investment in diversion programs will reduce the recidivism rate and ensure that those individuals who can be rehabilitated are given a chance to do so.
Our 2005 budget already dedicates more than $14.6 million to prevention, diversion and alternatives to sentencing. And, we intend to increase that amount by $1.2 million in 2006, another $1.3 million in 2007 and more in the years to come.
The national average growth rate in prison populations is 4 percent, but the justice center proposal is designed to accommodate only 1.3 percent growth because we are committed to reducing jail-population growth through prevention, diversion and alternatives to sentencing. The more successful we are, the longer the bricks and mortar in which we are investing will serve our community.
A unanimous City Council, neighborhood associations and community leaders throughout Denver are backing the Justice Center. Significantly, the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association, representing the neighborhood in which the Justice Center will be located, has endorsed 1A. The Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Civic Center Conservancy and the nearby cultural institutions also support the Justice Center as a future neighbor.
In the end, however, it comes down to you. We need each of you to not only vote on or before May 3, but to also talk to your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors about this important issue.
Over the past several years, Denver voters have invested in schools, health care, transit, arts and culture. When it comes to the unsafe and overcrowded conditions in Denver’s courtrooms and jail, we have a dire need. We spent a great deal of time and energy ensuring that we deliver a plan that is sound, fiscally responsible and just. With your support, we can change the unsafe conditions that exist within Denver’s courtrooms and jails, helping to make our city a safer place for all.
For additional information on the Justice Center plan, visit www.SafeDenver.com.
