'Trust,' a useful tool for deceitful people | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    If you have never been deceived or lied to you may want to stop reading now. The rest of this article will have no meaning to you. I do not want to disturb your blissful utopia. If, on the other hand, you heard Obama say that you can keep your medial insurance, or President Bush say "Read my lips, no new taxes," or some of Bill Clinton's denials about his behavior while president of the United States, and if you don't really believe that Eric Holder knew nothing about Fast and Furious when he testified to that before Congress you may want to continue reading. If we have Presidents of the United States lying and being deceitful while working at a fever pitch to gain our trust, what should we expect from lower level political figures? We have come a long way from George Washington's "I cannot tell a lie" about cutting down of the cherry tree. None of these three deceitful Presidents have shown any shame for their deceit.

    The really sad part about all this is that the public seems to have now come to accept that their officials will lie. It's a case of the acceptance of the unacceptable becoming acceptable.

    . Some candidates for office, and public officials, blatantly state the building occupied by the Beaufort County Sheriff's offices has been condemned and that is why we have to build new sheriff's offices. That is not true. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    There is a procedure set out in North Carolina General Statutes (153A 366-371 and 153A-40) as to how any building in North Carolina is to be condemned. In general, the City of Washington would declare the sheriff's office building to have certain specified deficiencies according to the building codes. The building inspector would notify Beaufort County by Certified Mail. The law provides for contested hearings and allows the owner of any building to make repairs. The owner does not have to bring the building up to current code, just make it safe. In contested cases structural engineers would likely examine the building, present evidence and recommend corrective measures if needed. No such studies have been done on the building the Sheriff's Office is currently located in.

    The Sheriff's offices located on North Market Street have never been condemned. They have been examined by contractors, engineers and building inspectors. The City of Washington Building Inspectors issued a permit to install a new roof costing about $60,000 dollars about five years ago. Common sense tells us the building inspector would not allow the County to put a new roof on a condemned building.

    There was a fire in the building many years ago, before Beaufort County purchased the building. After the fire debris was cleaned up the building was examined and determined to be safe. There is still char on some wood columns and timber beams. However, these columns and beams are judged to be safe. Fire rating schedules may be satisfied in several ways. Some of these are fire proof materials, fire retardant materials, heavy wood structural members and sprinkling, etc. Heavy wood beams satisfy the code for the building in its present condition.

    During Hurricane Irene, high winds, blowing from the west, blew water into the building, requiring the 911 offices and other rooms to be repaired. Water came in though steel frame windows on the second and third floors. Money to repair the building's windows was included in the budget, but the windows have not been repaired.

    The Sheriff's office building is three stories tall with ceilings about 13 feet high. Only the first floor is used for offices. Floors two and three are completely open. An elevator could be installed in the building and the second and third floors could be finished out for office space.

    What would the County do with this building if it were not used for the Sheriff? We would struggle to find a legitimate use. This building would become another deteriorating building in down town Washington.

    Now we come to the deceit of those who want a new jail and sheriff's offices. Their first line of attack is to say the building has been condemned, but they cannot prove that because it is not true. Where are the documents and orders from the City of Washington Building Inspector? Answer, they do not and have never existed. Statements about condemnation are false and intended to deceive.

    There is more deceit. Why have not the repairs been made to the windows since Hurricane Irene? All the steel frame windows on the other three sides of the building are warped and bent the same as on the west side of the building. If we get another hurricane that blows hard on any side of the building, we will again have flooded offices. We will again have the Sheriff and his minions saying the building is unfit and we need new offices. This for the lack of simple repairs.

    Those, who say the jail has been condemned are equally as deceitful. The repainting of the cells, repair of the emergency electrical system, repair of the laundry electrical system, and repairs to the plumbing brought the jail up to state standards. The principle of condemnation is the same in the case of the jail as it is in condemning any other building. The law allows the owner to make repairs and bring the building up to an acceptable standard. The present jail is approved by the State of North Carolina and as long as it remains in its present condition, the jail can keep 85 inmates forever, provided it is kept up. The deceit is in saying the jail has been condemned or is not acceptable for inmate housing.

    Those who would deceive us continue to say the jail is not safe for jailers. The argument about reaching through the bars has always been somewhat of a stretch. There is an absence of reports about incidences of prisoners reaching through bars to harm jailers. Inmates have in the past thrown feces and urine though the bars at jailers. But, we have now blocked all places that inmates could reach or throw liquids through the bars with heavy duty screening. So that argument is gone. But that is not to say that to say working is a jail does not have inherent risks. It does. But that is true even in the most modern jail.

    There is a pattern of deceit within the law enforcement community in managing both the Sheriff's offices and the jail. That pattern is to allow the facilities to fall into disrepair and demand the tax payers replace both the jail and the Sheriff's offices with a Cadillac standard. The new sheriffs' offices are planned to be more than 30,000 square feet in size. Why? Most deputies should be out working with the public, not holding down a desk.

    Sheriff Alan Jordan has increased the desk riding staff at the expense of road deputies. Donald Dixon estimates the law enforcement club called CALEA requires a staff of at least two people with an annual expense of $160,000. There are other desk riders in the Sheriff's Department. Take note that the State Highway Patrol abolished CALEA with the statement that they saw no benefit from being a member. A new Sheriff would reduce the office staff and the need for more space would disappear.

    Factual information developed during the past two years shows that the construction of a new jail can easily be avoided. No studies have been done to make sure the jail is properly managed. Beaufort County does not have a policy to reduce the number of inmates by insuring prompt trials. We have been using the jail to sweat out plea bargains. We have held prisoners for trial longer than their sentence would be if convicted. We do not have an effective house arrest program. We do have a week end jail program, but no solid data on whether that could be improved.

    We are permitted to house 85 prisoners. We sometimes peak at more than 105 inmates. We sometimes have less than 85 inmates. Pitt County has surplus capacity. They are willing to house prisoners for about $50 per day. That comes to about $400,000 per year at the most.

    The proposed new jail will cost an estimated twenty million dollars to build. The estimated increase in operating cost is four million dollars each year. This includes the loan and interest payment. That is an increase of 15 percent in property taxes.

    Would you rather spend, at the most, four hundred thousand dollars or an estimated four million dollars per year to house inmates? This is an easy business decision. We do not need to build a new jail.

    Citizens should be very suspicious of a justice system that uses deceit to feather its own nest. The shenanigans that go with this jail project are a red flag on the entire justice system. Have we created a privileged system of justice? Are we now their servant?