The time has come once again to tell the Dane County Board of Supervisors that we do not want a new jail. We need CARE, NOT CAGES. We need to loudly say NO to this and all money wasted on the jail!
- Context about the jail
- How to contact your Dane County Board supervisor
- How to register for the meeting in opposition
- Socialist talking points for the jail
Context about the jail
Only one bid for the jail project came back, and puts the new price tag at the absurd amount of $197 MILLION. So the county board forced through $27.6M more in spending on top of the $166M borrowed in total so far at their last meeting, and now this week they’ll try to accept that one bid they got before it expires.
Initially in late November, there were rumblings about spending money set aside for environmental purposes on the jail. Now they’ve decided to just go further in debt and launch full steam ahead. More context in Tone Madison.
How to contact your Dane County Board supervisor
Supervisors really do listen to constituents sometimes. Even if you think electoral politics don’t work, harm reduction is possible by applying pressure to politicians. One call to your supervisor can be more impactful than a bunch of re-shares on social media.
First, find your district on this map. When you find your district number, scroll on the left to match it with the supervisor to contact. Click “More Info” by their name to get phone and email.
Personal phone calls and emails can really help change minds!
- Example phone script that focuses on the jail
Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a constituent in district [DISTRICT NUMBER]. I am calling to ask you to vote against resolution 287 at this week’s County Board meeting. This resolution would accept Miron Construction’s bid for the Jail Project, which I am adamantly opposed to. I urge you to vote against this resolution and any future resolutions that would further the jail project. Instead, I’d like to see the county put time and effort into alternatives that help divert people from the jail and build a more stable community. - Example form email that focuses on the jail
Dear [SUPERVISOR NAME],
I am a constituent in district [DISTRICT NUMBER]. I am writing to ask you to vote against RES-287, which would accept Miron Construction’s bid for the jail project. I am opposed to anything that furthers the jail project as it is something I see as a waste of taxpayer money. The jail project is set to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on something that will not make our community any safer. I’d urge you to vote against this resolution and any future resolutions to further the jail project.
Instead, I would like to see the County invest in alternatives that help divert people from the jail and build a more stable community, such as expanding the CARES program and increasing our efforts to keep our neighbors housed.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS/CONTACT INFO]
How to register for the meeting in opposition
Meeting details are here. The jail item is 2023 RES-287 to accept the bid from Miron Construction.
Register for the 7:00pm meeting here: https://board.countyofdane.com/meetings/attend-meeting
- You will need to create an account if you don’t have one.
- Once logged in, click “Register” in the red bar.
- Under “Available Meetings”, click “2/2/2024 – County Board“
- Choose if you will be attending via Zoom, phone, or in person.
- Click the left box, “I’d like to speak to or indicate my position on an agenda item“
- In the big list, here are the items we’re interested in; you may have opinions on others as well!
- Choose “Agenda item position” OPPOSE for K5. AWARDING OF A CONTRACT TO MIRON CONSTRUCTION CO. FOR THE DANE COUNTY JAIL CONSOLIDATION PROJECT
Socialist talking points for the jail
- At the 1/18 meeting, several supervisors expressed doubt that this is the right plan. We cannot barrel forward hoping for the best if we aren’t even sure about this plan.
- Miron Construction has a history of having numerous change orders on past municipal projects, we cannot even be sure that this obscene amount of money is the final amount.
- We oppose more spending, and we oppose building any new jail.
- It’s ridiculous to keep trying to tack on money to this.
- Invest more in actual public safety and violence prevention efforts instead of funneling money to the Sheriff.
- Jails are a public safety nightmare and cause more harm than they prevent.
- We want to see the City-County Building (CCB) floors closed sooner than waiting for a tower to be built.
- We want to see the county continue to invest in alternatives to incarceration, like the Crisis Triage Center and housing-first programs.
- Things that actually create safety in our community like affordable housing, access to healthcare, access to mental health services, access to addiction treatment (REAL TREATMENT, not carting people off to detox for a few hours and then dumping them back to where they were)
- A new jail won’t fix the brutality and oppression of our racist punishment system.
- People like Jimmie Joshua who suffer violence in the jail are not going to be saved by a shiny building. Jimmie Joshua’s suffering was at the hands of sheriff’s department employees, not the building.
- The abuse will still happen unless we fix our system, and the only way we believe that will happen is shrinking its power.
- The problem is we are, as a society, putting too many people in cages. We have to figure out how to put less people in cages and actually reduce harms.
- We believe abolishing cash bail is a necessary step towards reducing the oppression caused by our jail.
- Cash bail is freedom for the rich and cages for the poor; it’s that simple.
- We’re not talking about safety here. Under existing Wisconsin law, cash bail is explicitly not about safety, despite the manipulative wording of the recent statewide referendum.
- Cash bail is part of the reason we end up forcing so many people into plea deals and not giving people their constitutional right to a fair trial.
- Bail ruins lives.
- We should abolish cash bail, like Illinois is doing!
If you’ve got thoughts for more helpful talking points, get in touch on Slack or socials!
Red Madison 