Recent editorials from Alabama newspapers:
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Sept. 9
The Decatur Daily on Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announcing plans to move forward with state leasing of three privately built mega prisons that would begin construction next year:
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is proceeding with plans to build three new mega-prisons. Almost no one disputes the need for new prison facilities, if for no other reason than most of the state’s current prisons are in terrible condition. But Ivey’s plan leaves much to be desired.
Last week, Ivey announced that the Alabama Department of Corrections will enter into negotiations with two development teams including Nashville-based private prison company CoreCivic and Alabama Prison Transformation Partners - a group including Alabama-based construction firm BLHarbert - to build the new prisons, reported The Associated Press. The state would lease the prisons and staff them.
Ivey has plunged ahead after years of inaction by the Legislature that has led the state’s prisons to fall into such a sorry state that a federal takeover seems likely unless the state takes drastic steps and shows some improvement - or at least demonstrates that improvement is likely.
“The Legislature, we tried it twice, but we failed cause everybody got in a political food fight over which prison closed and who got a new one,” said state Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, who has been the Legislature’s point man on prison reform.
For many lawmakers, especially in the state’s chronically depressed areas, a prison looks like an attractive economic development program. For other lawmakers, keeping an existing prison or making sure it’s replaced is just as vital. But economic development shouldn’t be the motivation for building prisons.
Unfortunately, by proposing that the state lease the new prisons rather than build and own them itself, Ivey is avoiding the fiscal accountability that should accompany any undertaking of such size. The Republican governor has put some state Democrats in the position of fiscal hawks.
“We are going to spend well over two billion dollars and not own the land, or the facilities or have any control over the facilities,” said state Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa.
Prisoners’ rights advocates, meanwhile, stress that building new prisons alone will not solve the Department of Corrections’ systemic issues.
“The U.S. Department of Justice has already told us twice that brick and mortar is not the answer to the conditions that the DOJ found ‘routinely violate the constitutional rights of prisoners,’” the group Alabamians for Fair Justice said in a statement, as reported by The AP. “Data-driven, humane policy solutions are needed now. It is time for the State of Alabama to put people over political interests and corporate profits.”
Ward has expressed similar sentiments, and in particular mental health remains a major issue in the state’s prisons.
Nevertheless, the state seems locked into a process now where the governor is going to make the call, locking the state into billions of dollars in commitments, with little input from the lawmakers responsible for passing the state’s budgets and, ultimately, making sure the state has the revenue to pay off the debt the state incurs. The governor tells us the state can save money by ridding itself of the expense of running the most dilapidated of its current facilities, but it’s easy to overestimate that savings.
The Legislature shouldn’t micromanage the state’s executive branch, but the fact a governor can bypass the Legislature on a major undertaking simply by making it a lease seems like something lawmakers should address.
Online: https://www.decaturdaily.com
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Sept. 6
The Decatur Daily on transparency about coronavirus cases at Alabama schools:
Most area school districts understand the importance of giving the public timely and complete information on the impact of COVID-19, and all citizens should be thankful for their candor.
Every school district should be publicizing both the number of positive COVID-19 tests and the number of quarantines among students and staff.
The information is critical for parents as they weigh the risk of the virus infecting students and family.
It’s important to all residents as they decide whether to attend a football game or other school event, and also as they process information needed to understand the extent of the risk throughout the community and what steps they should take to guard against the virus.
David Spillers, CEO of Huntsville Hospital Health System, which includes Decatur Morgan and Athens-Limestone hospitals, recently spoke on the topic of transparency. His point was that Huntsville and Madison County have been extremely candid in communicating COVID-19 information to the public, but his words are at least as pertinent to schools.
“One thing that was reinforced for me, and has been throughout this process, is the value of communication. I think our community by and large has done a fabulous job communicating issues - good or bad, total transparency - giving people numbers, not trying to hide anything. We’ve not dodged any questions,” Spillers said at a news conference. “I think that’s a lesson learned for any other community that has to deal with something like this, but also a lesson learned generally.
“Communicate openly. Be transparent. Share good and bad information. That’s how you build credibility with the community. That’s how you get through issues like this. That’s how you get everybody on board.”
Decatur City Schools and most other area school districts have been forthcoming with both positive test results and the number of students and staff who are in quarantine. Others, unfortunately, have been less candid.
Being open about the number of students and staff in quarantine is just as important as being open about the number who have tested positive. Recent changes in guidelines put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decrease the likelihood that exposed and even ill people will get a test at all.
As parents and students make difficult decisions about whether to opt for in-person or remote education, it is imperative that they have all available information. A paternalistic view that they won’t understand the information, or that they won’t react to it rationally, is especially inappropriate when dealing with COVID-19. Even public health experts are struggling to understand the disease, and the risks are different in every household. School officials have no way to know, for example, if an elderly grandparent or an immunocompromised parent has frequent contact with a student.
The stakes are too high for secrecy, and we applaud those school systems who have chosen transparency as the best way to deal with the threat.
As Spillers pointed out, that’s the only way to build credibility with the community.
Online: https://www.decaturdaily.com
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Aug. 16
Opelika-Auburn News on litter in Alabama:
Occasionally, motorists might notice a sign along roadways in Alabama stating that a portion of the route has been adopted by a particular organization or civic group that will keep their stretch of road free of litter.
Sometimes, those lengths appear cleaner than others, but it doesn’t last.
In no time, Alabama drivers manage to trash the cleaned-up portions with the same cigarette butts, fast-food wrappers and aluminum cans that mar the shoulders of virtually every roadway.
Alabama the Beautiful has a litter problem; rather, Alabama has a problem with people who litter.
It costs taxpayers more than $7 million annually in cleanup, yet it continues.
The state Department of Transportation has launched a public service campaign to highlight the problem, pointing out that littering violates state law, carrying hefty penalties - $500 for a first offense; $1,000 plus community service for subsequent offenses.
That may seem onerous, but consider this: It’s a situation that can be eliminated if people show respect for their surroundings and their fellow citizens.
One can avoid the fines by simply keeping their trash in their vehicles until they have access to a garbage can.
Give state officials credit for giving motorists fair warning about littering offenses.
The state should follow through by issuing citations when the campaign ends.
Online: https://oanow.com
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