Parties agree on jail inadequacies
At odds over funding
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HOUGHTON -- The Copper Country Republican Party and the Houghton County Democratic Party are at odds regarding the proposed $28 million Houghton County Jail bond, according to a Sept. 30 release from the League of Women Voters Copper Country (LWVCC).
The release outlines a series of public endorsements and structural changes enacted during last month as the county prepares for the Nov. 3 ballot proposal. While both political parties agree that the current 1963 jail facility is inadequate to meet state mandates and modern safety requirements, they sharply disagree in their administrative and fiscal approaches.
The Copper Country Republican Party has formally endorsed a “No” vote on the 30-year bond. At the regular September meeting of the Houghton County Board of Commissioners, Dan Holcomb, chairman of the Copper Country Republican Party, addressed the Board, stating his organization understands the need for a modern jail, but the Republican Party cannot endorse the current framework.
"What we cannot support is a 30-year millage," Holcomb said. "A longer term makes the yearly rate look smaller. It does not make the debt smaller. This is not one payment toward a jail. It is the same levy, every year, for thirty years -- long after the building is up."
Holcomb also reflected the sentiment of others in the county who have voiced anger regarding the county's historical actions, noting the county used approximately $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to buy the Sharon Avenue property before voters ever approved a jail.
"That purchase is still a problem for a lot of people," Holcomb said. "A millage should pay for a jail. It should not be treated as a rubber stamp on a land deal already made."
Conversely, the Houghton County Democratic Party issued an endorsement supporting the “Yes” campaign. On Sept. 13, William Keith, chairman of the Houghton County Democratic Party, sent a letter to the county board in which he expressed concern for the urgency of a new facility. While Keith acknowledged no household in the county has spare money and that a "reasonable, well-informed voter can read the millage proposal, understand the need, and still conclude that the amount is more than their family can carry," the party platform maintains that the structural need is paramount.
"The present facility is unsafe for the officers who work there and the civilians who serve the inmates, as well as the inmates themselves,” the letter states. "When room is tight, every shift of prisoners exposes officers to danger."
Keith called attention to the poor condition of the jail’s nurse's station, the lack of administrative ability to appropriately separate inmates according to state classification mandates, and substandard working conditions for the officers and staff. The Democratic platform argues the 30-year timeline represents the most cost-effective method to spread construction costs across the projected 40-year lifespan of the new building while preserving existing county services.
Beyond the political party platforms, the actual size of the proposed building has also officially changed. Following the Board of Commissioners’ recent approval of Resolution 26-20, the county legally increased the minimum capacity of the proposed jail design from 60 beds to 70 beds. The expansion follows persistent concerns raised by Sheriff Josh Saaranen, who warned the board that a smaller 60-bed facility would be outgrown long before the building reached the end of its operational lifespan.