Printed October 14, 2007

Support kids with a ‘yes’ vote on Prop. 1

Finally, there is something very easy and inexpensive we can each do to help Thurston County children.

On Nov. 6, vote YES for Proposition 1 to allow a miniscule increase in our sales tax. By simply being willing to spend just three cents more on every $10 you will make a significant difference in the lives of many of our community’s kids.

How often do you simply walk away from a penny you have just dropped? Just three of those pennies added to every $10 we spend will annually help provide over $6 million to local programs for children and families. These programs help to lessen violence in Thurston County homes, improve school readiness and help steer kids away from crime. The remaining one-third of the revenue would go to local public safety and law enforcement programs.

What a simple and inexpensive way to help kids, many growing up in abusive homes in Thurston County! Vote YES on Proposition 1.

Lynn Grotsky, Lacey
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Filling jails is not the answer

We have a rare opportunity to affect the high cost of crime by voting “yes” on Proposition 1. Our bulging jails are increasingly populated by inmates who did not finish high school, are drug or alcohol dependent, have a diagnosed mental illness and who were victims of child abuse. Their cycle of dysfunction is a lifestyle trap that is both nonproductive and very costly for the taxpayers.

In 1975, the county’s criminal justice budget consumed 35 percent of the operations budget. Today, it consumes 75 percent. If we do nothing, in 20 years the amount could rise to over 90 percent being spent on criminal justice. Who wants that?

There is a way out that will cost us only 3 cents on a $10 purchase. Proposition 1 will allocate 60 percent of its funds to: improving school readiness, reducing child abuse and neglect and reducing juvenile crime. Funds would be invested only in proven, research-based prevention and early intervention services. By focusing on these three areas, research tells us we will reduce the number of inmates, and related costs, in our jails in the future.

There is data that shows that investments in early childhood education, quality day care, nurse home visitation, drug courts, juvenile diversion and specialized counseling reduces crime and public welfare expenditures in the long run.

Do we vote for hope or do we vote for more of the same? For my three cents, I’m voting for hope by supporting Proposition 1.

Charles Shelan, Olympia
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Proposition 1 will break cycle of crime

Proposition 1 on Thurston County’s general election ballot offers a long-term, intergenerational approach to breaking the cycle of crime and violence that damages so many lives and costs local government a growing fortune.

In my years as an elected official, radio broadcaster and youth advocate, I’ve observed what can happen when people are exposed to positive role models, when they’re offered hope they can escape the literal breeding grounds for crime that many face almost from birth. I’ve known that our best chance to break the cycle that leads so many down the road to ruin lies with early prevention and intervention — proactive steps taken in the community BEFORE someone has gone astray, not reactive, after-the-fact measures. Proposition 1 will provide dedicated resources to do just that through use of research-based programs known to be effective in fighting crime.

As voters evaluate this proposal, they should consider some compelling evidence: Research shows a number of factors contribute to criminal behavior — low educational levels, high drop-out rates, histories of alcohol and substance abuse, mental illness, child abuse and neglect, and criminal behavior among family members. The majority of inmates cycling through our county jail exhibits one, two or perhaps all of these factors. Prevention offers the only realistic hope to change this picture.

Proposition 1 is a bold and visionary investment in the future, reflecting a faith that our community can make a difference in its quality of life and do it for mere pennies.

Dick Nichols, Tumwater
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Printed September 12, 2007

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish

I'm voting yes on Proposition 1. It's a small amount so that we can reduce future criminal justice costs that will just get higher and higher if we don't do something different.

The writer whose letter suggested that people should be held accountable for their own actions is right on target. I agree that if parents did the right thing and people corrected their own mistakes, we wouldn't need more programs and more taxes — regardless of how good the program goal or small the tax increase.

Wouldn't it be nice? But it's not a practical solution. If the parents of a 9-year-old choose the wrong path and become meth addicts should their failure curse their child for a lifetime? Unfortunately, when those parents fail, we are left with the cost if their offspring follows their lead. I'd rather invest in helping that child find and choose a better path than pay to incarcerate the parents and, in the future, their child as well.

We shouldn't have to pay for others' mistakes but we do and we will continue unless we can find smarter alternatives and better ways to keep people from entering our criminal justice system all together. Building more jails just can't be our only answer. Jailing is more costly and doesn't seem to change enough lives. We need a different approach and Prop. 1 offers that hope.

Margie Reeves, Olympia
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Printed September 6, 2007

Tax proposal focuses on prevention

Thurston County voters in November will decide whether to make a bold long-term investment in our community's quality of life through approval of a 3/10th percent increase in the local sales and use tax, with all revenue by law directed toward criminal deterrence and early prevention and intervention programs. Pursuant to an agreement between county and city governments, choices of specific evidence-based programs will be made by a board of accountable elected officials, who will also oversee resource allocation, cost-effective administration, evaluation and public reviews every five years.

This well-conceived proposal was drafted by a broad-based group of social service, education, business and elected leaders who recognized the immense strain criminal behavior places on county and city general fund budgets while exacting and incredible toll on human capital. They recognized a set of complex factors - often traceable to early childhood - not only send many people down the criminal path, but also are passed in an almost unbroken cycle from one generation to another.

The committee proposed focusing new resources from the sale tax in four areas: (1) improving school readiness; (2) strengthening families to prevent abuse and neglect; (3) preventing juvenile delinquency and reducing repeat offenses; and (4) promoting public safety by reducing repeat adult offenses while holding individuals accountable for their actions.

The proposal envisions a healthier, safer community where prevention of crime provides a productive alternative to mere reliance on incarceration of those who have already gone astray. Makes good sense to me!

Dick Nichols, Tumwater
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Printed September 3, 2007

Invest in kids and help families function

A jail can be put out of business if the inmates simply don't come back!

Simplistic, perhaps, but what if the treatment inside and outside correctional systems were such that a percentage of those inmates who would have otherwise been repeat offenders, did NOT re-offend?

Over 6,300 persons are released from our local jail systems every year and 64 percent of the persons booked had been in the system before.

What if fewer existing offenders committed robbery, or assault, or used drugs? What if an increased number were able to manage their anger, or obtain mental health services they needed, or keep sober?

Over 42 percent of the inmates are 30 or under. What if even more of these young adults were more emotionally able to parent? What if fewer children witnessed a dysfunctional parent? How would that ripple into that child's own development and affect that child's ability to learn?

What if a teen was better able to navigate the troubled waters of adolescence because of parents who themselves were more stable, better able to model constructive behavior and who had systems to provide support when they needed help?

Unrealistic, perhaps, that jails would become totally obsolete. But it IS very possible to increase the number of functioning families, increase the positive service system outcomes, and decrease the number of new and repeat offenders.

How? Vote yes on Proposition 1 — Safe Kids, Safe Communities. More information at www.investpennies.com.

Kathy Baros Friedt, Olympia
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Printed August 9, 2007

Troubled kids can change

People are responsible for their choices and need to be held accountable for their actions.

I began my career 30 years ago as a juvenile probation officer. That experience and a lifetime of others have left me believing that troubled kids can change and our community can make a difference. Sure, we ought not to have to. It would be better if strong families just raised equally strong kids who grew up never experiencing the criminal justice system. But that’s not happening for everyone, and it’s not just the kids that suffer but our communities as well.

I support the three-tenths of a percent increase in our sales tax to fund both traditional criminal justice programs and early prevention efforts to give kids and families a different path to succeed. I know a sales tax increase isn’t the best way, but there are no best taxes only solid outcomes from our tax dollars. The plan is to invest in evidence-based programs; ones that have promise to work at helping kids make better choices.

If we don’t do something different to reduce the kids who grow up in our criminal justice system, we’re going to see our taxes increase to build jails and house young lives in a dead-end system. It’s time for something different, it’s time to invest in keeping kids out of trouble, out of jail and productive. The mixture of accountability and prevention is the right response to making our community safe and our futures prosperous.

Dennis Mahar, Olympia