On Tuesday evening, opponents of a proposal to purchase land in Garfield Heights as the site for a new Cuyahoga County jail packed the county council meeting to weigh in.
Last week, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne proposed legislation to spend nearly $39 million to purchase a 72-acre parcel of land located near the intersection of Transportation Boulevard and I-480.
The standing-room-only crowd included county residents, addiction specialists, union members and activists from the Stop the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition, the group that helped block plans last year to build a new jail in the Industrial Valley near Downtown Cleveland.
Members of the Greater Cleveland Congregations, a coalition of religious organizations active in criminal justice issues, would rather see a reduction in jail beds and investments in services for residents instead of detainment while awaiting trial, said Rev. Jawanza Colvin, of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland.
"We know and the research shows there’s an equally effective and more just way of ensuring county appearances while also maintaining public safety," he said.
Tuesday's meeting was a time to "listen and learn," said Ronayne, noting that the county executive office and council should focus on pretrial services.
The proposal is the most recent development in a years-long discussion over what to do about the current county jail, located on West Third Street in Downtown Cleveland.
The existing facility is notoriously decrepit. In 2018, the U.S. Marshals called conditions inside the jail "inhumane" and said they violated the constitutional rights of people held there and put staff and detainees at risk. The Marshals had been called in to investigate after seven detainees died at the facility over the course of months.
The county should improve conditions at the current jail rather than constructing a new one, said Larry Heller, of the Northern Ohio Recovery Association.
"Please keep in mind, no one in the jail died in the jail because the building is too old," he said. "No one was denied medical care in the jail because the building is too old.”
Officials should reduce the jail population before deciding to build a new jail, said Rev. James Crews, of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland.
"A person’s life can suffer irreparable harm in as little as three days," he said. "Those in jail for more than three days are more likely to plead guilty when they’re not guilty. This just puts them in the system, and they’re more likely to go back.”
Not all comment was in opposition to the Garfield Heights location, however.
New jail construction is in the best interest of prisoners and good for the economy, said Dave Wondolowski, executive director of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council.
“Regardless of where it’s located, our members will be put to work, which is a good thing,” he said, adding inmates “are human beings who can go on to live productive lives if their health and wellbeing is protected.”
Ronayne also proposed legislation to extend the county's .25% sales tax for another 40 years, presumably to pay for the new jail. The sales tax was set to expire in 2027 and was initially passed to pay for the Global Center for Health Innovation, originally known as Medical Mart, and renovate the Huntington Convention Center.
Cuyahoga County resident Ross DiBello spoke out against spending tax dollars to fund the project.
DiBello said he wanted to see the county "spending less on the jail, no more taxes, no new facility away from transportation, investing in public schools and health and reducing the jail population are the compassionate and wise things to do."
