OKLAHOMA CITY- Opponents of the plan to fund an all-new Oklahoma County Detention Center with a new sales tax held a press conference and rally Wednesday, just days away from a contentious election.
Voters will decide on November 3rd whether Oklahoma County will impose a sales tax for the first time ever to fund the construction of a new County jail and detention “campus” on Oklahoma City’s far eastern side.
While supporters of the tax and the new jail plan include Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna and the Greater OKC Chamber, a press conference outside the current jail facility Wednesday evening proved the measure’s detractors to be just as outspoken and broad in their dissent.
Free Press previously reported on a Chamber-led event featuring Behenna and others voicing support for the new jail plan and the sales tax:
The controversial proposal would implement a 0.4% sales tax for 25 years to raise approximately $800 million, a plan hotly criticized by a panel of officials and activists who spoke Wednesday about political justice, human dignity, and fiscal responsibility, touting proactive crime prevention as a more reasonable alternative to new infrastructure and funding.
“I believe any time we’re voting on any issue, the party that is putting forth that issue has the mandate to prove why it is worth the money we are putting behind it,” said local activist and organizer Nathan Wiewel of Home Base, “the County has not made their case sufficiently.”
Claims of fiscal irresponsibility
As Election Day approaches, those opposed to the building of a new jail remain firm that funds are best used for building renovations and improving living conditions inside the current jail, not to mention diversion projects which aim to help residents stay out of jail in the first place.
Foundation for Liberating Minds co-founder Tevin McDaniel explained that the proposal “comes after voters approved a $260 million bond for general construction in 2022, and the project’s projected cost exploded far beyond that original number.”
“Today we’re asking the public and the media to look closely at the erroneous decisions made by the county that have led us to this jail tax,” McDaniel remarked in the first speech of the night.
The $260 million approved in 2022 for the construction of a new jail has resulted in little more than an intake center, kitchen, and laundry on the new site at 1901 E. Grand Blvd.
“We gave them the $260 million in bond funding in 2022 when they asked for it,” Wiewel told Free Press, “and now they want, in my opinion, an even worse funding mechanism for an even bigger facility.”
Among those speaking in opposition to the tax and the new jail plan was former OKC Ward 7 City Councilwoman and current State Senator for District 48, Nikki Nice, who emphasized that not only has the County mismanaged funds, but that the jail, in and of itself, is a poor means to achieve true public safety.
“Regarding this jail tax,” Senator Nice stated, “we cannot keep asking our communities to pay more for a system that fails to address the reasons people end up in it.”
‘The promise of safety’
The second major outcry from the speakers at the protest centered on public safety, which they believe the county hasn’t adequately addressed.
Wiewel said that the new jail would “not [be] a sufficient delivery on the promise of safety that the county’s making,” along with noting that “we need to get as many people out of there, who don’t need to be in there, as possible.”
According to Wiewel, there are several cities in the U.S. that have implemented “more humane” alternatives to the cash bail system in which Oklahoma County still operates, and those alternatives, he said, are helping to keep jail populations low and easier to serve effectively.
“The primary reason we’re putting people in [the jail] pre-trial is the cash bail system,” he said. “We’re relying on jailing to make sure people show up for their trials.”
The proposed new jail is set to include several hundred more beds than the current jail, meaning more room for detainees and, as Free Press has reported, potential financial gain for the County if beds are open to federal prisoners.
Senator Nice’s conviction about the County’s responsibility in this regard was clear.
“Our responsibility is not to build bigger systems of incarceration,” she said. “It’s to build communities where fewer people end up behind bars in the first place.”
About more than a building
Despite the heated opposition and rhetoric from either direction regarding the new jail plan and the proposed sales tax to fund it, both sides have agreed that the state of the current jail building is deplorable and the conditions inside are inhumane.
But the speakers Wednesday were clear that the upcoming vote is about more than a building.
“The vote is framed around a building, but it’s ultimately a question of what kind of public safety system we want,” McDaniel said, “what outcomes we’ll pay for, and what alternatives deserve our attention.”
The 25-year, 0.4% sales tax for funding new jail construction and operation will be on the General Election ballot in Oklahoma County on November 3rd.
Tyler Smothers is a local, an Okie, and a poet living in Oklahoma City with his wife, Sadye, and their animals, Toby and Oscar.
He teaches medieval history and literature to 7th graders and loves everything from "Canterbury Tales" to "Mrs. Dalloway."
