Trish Mahaffey for The Gazette:
[County Sheriff Brad] Kunkel told The Gazette he doesn’t know how to come up with a better plan than the one voters rejected.
“I understand the concern over costs, but we consulted experts because jails require standards and security measures,” Kunkel said. “I think we took a conservative approach on the size of the jail and what will be needed in the future. We didn’t ask for anything we didn’t need.”
He also pointed out how much money the county has already spent on a needs assessment and design plan and a community perspective study for the proposed jail and sheriff’s office.
The needs assessment study and design work by Shive-Hattery Architecture and Engineering Consultants cost $673,854 and ended with the proposal for 120-bed jail and sheriff’s office that was on Tuesday’s ballot.
Another $53,000 went to the University of Iowa Center for Social Science Innovation for a community study that polled a sample of county residents to gauge public input on a new jail.