The Whatcom County Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Listening Tour has been making its way around Whatcom County. The purpose of the public forums, according the Whatcom County website, is “to provide citizens from every corner of Whatcom County the opportunity to share information, input, and ideas for improving Whatcom County’s criminal justice system.”
Tuesday, May 29th, the “Listening Tour” will arrive in Ferndale with the public forum beginning at 7pm at the Ferndale Public Library.
Prior to next week’s event in Ferndale, forums have been held since April in Deming, Lynden, Bellingham and Sudden Valley. After the Ferndale event, forums will also be held at Fairhaven and Maple Falls. Audio recordings of the events so far have been made available online.
Whatcom County Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee was formed earlier this year and given a budget of $100,000. It is composed of Whatcom County Councilmembers Barry Buchanan (Chair), Tyler Byrd and Satpal Sidhu.
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Click for more informationThe first phase of the committee’s 3-phase work plan is to hold these forums in order “to hear from the public regarding their opinions on our criminal justice system, how to make to make improvements and what ideas they may have.”
Draft forum questions included in the work plan are directed toward the past attempts to get voters to approve proposals to fund a new jail.
• What did you hear from people about why they voted yes or no?
• What were your concerns about the previous jail ballot measures?
• Would you support a new property tax or a sales tax for a jail?
• What do you believe the jail should be used for in our community?
After completing the “Listening Tour,” phase 2 of the committee’s work plan has them creating a needs assessment and feasibility studies to answer the questions, What do we want to use the jail for and who should be in jail?
The 3rd and final phase of the committee’s work plan is entitled, “Jail Planning” and this, according to the work plan, will be accomplished with “guidance and input from the community and with the work and reports of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force.” The Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force is a 24-member body composed of representatives from local government agencies and citizens.