More Trouble for Union County Jail
The Pal-Item reports today that Wayne County Sheriff Matt Stittmatter sent a letter down to Union County Sheriff Steve Leverton notifying him that Wayne County will no longer house Union County’s inmates. This is a problem for Union County as the county’s ancient 10 person jail is not sufficient to house its normal load of inmates. Union County has been having money problems for years, and is already shelling out money to rehabilitate its courthouse, so building a new jail is not a likely solution.
Strittmatter said he is dropping the housing deal with Union County because of the recent conflicts over the housing issue down in Union County, that I talked about over here. The decision complicates an already difficult situation for Union County.
Today’s Pal-Item also has further coverage of the Wayne County EDC situation. One article quotes Richmond Mayor Sally Hutton, as being concerned that the EDC controversy has made us the “laughingstock of the state.” I don’t doubt the issue has sullied the image of the Wayne County EDC, but Union County’s EDC situation is much worse - it is using it’s economic development tax proceeds to pay to house inmates in other counties.
The paper also has a nice timeline of the Wayne County EDC issue: A Recent History. One detail they report on that I do not remember seeing out before is EDC president Holbrook’s attempt to squelch debate over his management of the organization. I think the tactics reflect on Holbrook’s operating style:
Holbrook threatened legal action against EDC board member Denny Burns and former staff member Lisa Bates. The two received letters from Holbrook’s attorney requesting they “”to cease and desist” criticism of him.The letters varied slightly, but both read: “It has come to our attention that you have been contacting certain current members of the Board of Directors of EDC and have been making untrue, malicious and potentially legally actionable statements. It appears that you are attempting to destroy the goodwill between EDC and Don Holbrook.”
