County’s Abarca and Sheriff Forte need to talk about jail accountability now | Opinion
A very public dustup between Jackson County Legislature Chairman Manny Abarca and Sheriff Darryl Forte about issues with the new County Detention Center needs to end — the sooner the better.
Public spats between two high-ranking elected officials do little to solve the concerns detainees and their families have raised since the new $300 millon facility opened. Reported problems included flooding, overflowing toilets, a damaged HVAC system, a water main break and other issues that continued to be monitored, Forte told me Tuesday.
Instead of a verbal tit for tat that we have seen play out recently, Abarca and Forte should hash out in private whatever differences they have in this matter. At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember here is that no matter what detainees have been charged with or accused of, each of them has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, a fact that I am pretty sure both leaders would never downplay or ignore.
I spoke with Forte and Abarca about their differences and what I can safely conclude is that both of these public servants have the best interests of Jackson County detainees at heart.
Forte excluded from bill of rights discussion
On Monday, the Jackson County Legislature held in place for further discussion an ordinance that would establish a bill of rights for all detainees at the new detention center. Sponsored by Abarca, the proposal would formally establish specific standards for care, protection from abuse and a formal grievance process for individuals held in county-supervised residential facilities such as the new jail.
The idea for the bill of rights proposal was introduced to the Legislature earlier this year by a group called Our Voices, which is an affiliate of the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, or MORE2. In a recent interview, Our Voices’ Jill Hanlin told me that the proposal is all about holding the sheriff’s office accountable for how it treats those in custody.
“Jackson County is a holdover center,” Hanlin said. “People there have not been convicted of crimes and they’re waiting for court proceedings to play out. But while they are there, they need to be treated like the humans that they are.”
I will always champion holding public officials in positions of power accountable for their actions. In this case, Forte must be held to the same standard as any other county leader.
But here’s my main sticking point that must be corrected: Forte wasn’t invited to the table to discuss the ordinance, but that wasn’t the case in other discussions involving the new jail, he told me in a text message.
“I was invited to discuss the opening of the new detention center and to discuss decommissioning of the old detention center,” Forte wrote.
When I asked Hanlin if Our Voices had invited Forte to participate in discussions about the proposal, she told me he hadn’t been invited to take part in those talks. I truly believe he should have been.
Because of that very glaring oversight, the best course of action would be for everyone with a stake in this issue to develop an accountability piece of legislation that includes input from the sheriff’s office about measuring how detainees are being treated while locked up.
Is the current policy working?
While any of us could appreciate the concerns shared by Abarca, members of Our Voices and the families of inmates, the proposed ordinance is redundant and unnecessary because the sheriff’s office already has a policy in place that is supposed to ensure the humane treatment of people in custody, according to a recent letter Forte sent to the full Legislature, and that he shared with me.
“Currently, there are policies in place related to standards of care, as well as established formal processes for inmates to file complaints and to share their concerns,” Forte wrote.
When and if Forte and Abarca meet, they should discuss if that policy is working.
Under the Jackson County Charter, the Legislature has no say in how the detention center is run —that responsibility falls squarely under the Sheriff’s Office purview, according to Abarca. The legislative body does control funding for the office, though.
At Monday’s meeting, Abarca threatened to withhold some funding from the sheriff’s office if Forte doesn’t play ball and comply with county ordinances, a suggestion we all should take exception to. Just the mere mention of defunding the sheriff’s office made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, figuratively speaking, of course.
And the missive wasn’t the first time Abarca took such a stance, according to Forte’s letter.
“The inclusion of potential civil actions and progressive discipline in Ordinance No. 6077 is counterproductive to what I desire to accomplish,” Forte wrote in his previous correspondence to the County Legislature.
“Established policies, procedures, and a collective bargaining agreement already provide clear frameworks for accountability, which includes progressive discipline,” Forte’s letter continued. “In addition, many elements of the proposed ‘Bill of Rights’ are already in place, and disciplinary procedures are clearly defined in the collective bargaining agreement, which I will continue to adhere to. There is no established pattern or practice indicating mistreatment of inmates.”
Threats to defund county jail
For his part, Abarca did not back down from his funding cuts threat when we spoke on the phone Tuesday. However, he did say that he was more than willing to sit down with Forte to discuss the bill of rights proposal.
“I’m always happy to sit down and talk through issues with folks, but we gotta make sure that there’s more participation than not,” he said. “We can have a conversation, we can disagree, but we gotta move on.”
For the sake of all detainees at the new Jackson County Detention Center and their well-being, the best path forward would be for our elected officials to indeed move past their grievances with one another and come up with an amicable solution that works for everyone.
