As an occasional visitor / mentor to the lower security Springfield prison I’m willing to say that these legislator comments are SPOT ON.
There are so many fixes to put in place. Many would be very quickly and easily completed in a private enterprise setting.
Our State’s lack of investment in, and understanding of, the opportunities to reduce recidivism and actually assist the future of the incarcerated leaves much to be desired.
I challenge the legislators who signed this letter to NOT invest in a new building WITHOUT giving taxpayers assurance that they provide taxpayers assurance they will improve the people side of our prison problem, too—meaning both the inmate outcome
I totally agree with this comment. Had Representative Degroot not got confused and accidentally vote the opposite of what he thought he was voting tax payers would have been on the line for an 850M prison, which Governor Rhoden and these very same article authors vowed we needed. In addition, these same people vocally tried to hoodwink other legislators into thinking the prison construction was going to cost much more if not passed in the 2025 legislative session. Who would have thunk the cost could go down 200M? You authors of the article are clueless if you think you should be patted on the back for your participation in trying to push a 850M prison down taxpayer throats. You should pat those on the back who voted against the 850M prison, even Representative Degroot. His error has saved taxpayers millions.
So we don't need blinders and blame shifting? What the hell is this letter BUT a way to shift blame and put blinders on South Dakotans about the thousands and thousands of tax dollars the signers of this letter decided to pour down a rat hole in Lincoln County? What kind of blinders do YOU have on? YOU decided Kelly Wasko was qualified, not the voters. YOU thought the taxpayers would just roll over for this prison/DOC dumpster fire, and when we didn't, YOU started running for cover. By writing this letter, you're trying to cover your OWN keisters, not ours. WE still get stuck with the bill for this fiasco, not you. How about, just for a change, YOU start taking responsibility for YOUR OWN ACTIONS? My Dad taught me many, many years ago that when you screw up, YOU own it, no delays, no excuses, no alibis, no exceptions, it's what grown men do. Why do supposed adults, elected leaders no less, think they can dodge responsibility and get away with it by throwing somebody else under the bus? In my opinion, none of the signers of this letter deserve re-election, they're both liars and cowards, and completely undeserving of their offices.
Why did we spend $50m in prepping the, now abandoned, Lincoln county site? Was there an unmentioned appropriation made in the last legislative session?
As an occasional visitor / mentor to the lower security Springfield prison I’m willing to say that these legislator comments are SPOT ON.
There are so many fixes to put in place. Many would be very quickly and easily completed in a private enterprise setting.
Our State’s lack of investment in, and understanding of, the opportunities to reduce recidivism and actually assist the future of the incarcerated leaves much to be desired.
I challenge the legislators who signed this letter to NOT invest in a new building WITHOUT giving taxpayers assurance that they provide taxpayers assurance they will improve the people side of our prison problem, too—meaning both the inmate outcome
and the management practices.
The other half of the State House knew this in January.
I totally agree with this comment. Had Representative Degroot not got confused and accidentally vote the opposite of what he thought he was voting tax payers would have been on the line for an 850M prison, which Governor Rhoden and these very same article authors vowed we needed. In addition, these same people vocally tried to hoodwink other legislators into thinking the prison construction was going to cost much more if not passed in the 2025 legislative session. Who would have thunk the cost could go down 200M? You authors of the article are clueless if you think you should be patted on the back for your participation in trying to push a 850M prison down taxpayer throats. You should pat those on the back who voted against the 850M prison, even Representative Degroot. His error has saved taxpayers millions.
So we don't need blinders and blame shifting? What the hell is this letter BUT a way to shift blame and put blinders on South Dakotans about the thousands and thousands of tax dollars the signers of this letter decided to pour down a rat hole in Lincoln County? What kind of blinders do YOU have on? YOU decided Kelly Wasko was qualified, not the voters. YOU thought the taxpayers would just roll over for this prison/DOC dumpster fire, and when we didn't, YOU started running for cover. By writing this letter, you're trying to cover your OWN keisters, not ours. WE still get stuck with the bill for this fiasco, not you. How about, just for a change, YOU start taking responsibility for YOUR OWN ACTIONS? My Dad taught me many, many years ago that when you screw up, YOU own it, no delays, no excuses, no alibis, no exceptions, it's what grown men do. Why do supposed adults, elected leaders no less, think they can dodge responsibility and get away with it by throwing somebody else under the bus? In my opinion, none of the signers of this letter deserve re-election, they're both liars and cowards, and completely undeserving of their offices.
Couldn't agree more.
Why did we spend $50m in prepping the, now abandoned, Lincoln county site? Was there an unmentioned appropriation made in the last legislative session?
Who approved that? Was there a RFP?