Wows & Scowls
Wow: The Fayette County Prison Board may be at the cusp of some creative solutions to help ease an ever-growing prison overcrowding problem. While the “lock ’em up forever” mentality sounds good at campaign time for state legislators and judges, the truth is that the trend toward mandatory minimum sentences comes at a hefty price that neither of them has to pay. Locally, that falls squarely on the backs of county commissioners, who must foot the bill using your county real estate taxes. Despite building an annex a few years back, Fayette is still budgeting $350,000 this year to house inmates outside the county. Sensible alternatives recommended by consultants, such as time off for good behavior, is one way Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites believes the burden could be eased. While some may think such action weakens the penal system, the overcrowding problem is so pervasive and costly that any idea deserves consideration. District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon deserves credit for long being a proponent of some sort of reform, and we encourage the prison board and county judges to embrace as many of the consultants’ recommendations as practical.
Scowl: State Rep. Peter J. Daley II (D-California) spent time this week crowing about how the federal “No Child Left Behind” is wrong because it’s not fully funded by the federal government. The part-time barrister summarized his feelings on the matter by proclaiming, succinctly, that the legislation “sucks.” Daley even wants the state to file legal action against the federal government for not ponying up enough money to fund “No Child Left Behind.” It baffles us that Daley apparently didn’t inform the governor or the state attorney general of his plans, especially since it’s they whose help he is soliciting.
But while we’re on the topic of his distaste for unfunded mandates, perhaps Daley can offer reassurances that he’s never voted for any state legislation that imposed the same thing on county or municipal governments. For example, mandatory minimum sentences approved at the state level, for crimes such as DUI, impose a great hardship on county government coffers. The recent requirement that counties update their voting machines does the same. What does he have to say about those unfunded mandates?
And what of his one-time plan to create a new county for the Mon Valley? Who did he think would pay for that nutty, going-nowhere-from-the-start idea?
As a parting comment, we’ll remind Daley, in language he should understand, that his yes vote for the legislative pay raise also “sucks.” But we won’t take that complaint to the governor or attorney general, because they’re beneficiaries of it, too. Which, by the way, also “sucks.”
Scowl: While we have great empathy for those victimized by Hurricane Katrina, its residual effect of being yet another reason for escalating gasoline prices adversely strikes more than those living along the Gulf Coast. Prices locally are projected to soar to $3 a gallon, a price long considered unthinkable by American consumers, who’ve already been hard-hit by price increases in this very basic lifestyle cost. It’s a threshold that should force many if not most consumers to consider peeling back on automobile usage. And it could provide a boon to public transportation systems, including the sometimes-maligned Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation bus system, which a few vocal critics say operates buses that aren’t always full. If gasoline prices keep escalating, an expanded FACT network might be something people actually start clamoring for.