So they say publicly that they don't think jail privitization is a good fit. Privately, according to the Commercial Appeal, they have their minions meeting to work out the details. How long will the public be fooled by these slick politicians. "Hear what they say, but watch what they do!" I say follow the money. It's the same issue as the outsourcing of inmate feeding. Both the jail and the correctional center spend $5.00 per day, per inmate to a company called Aramark for food. On a daily average inmate population of 5,000 that works out to 9.125 million per year! If we trimmed our costs like they have in Phoenix, AZ it would result in a savings of 8.03 million per year. Even in Tipton county, where their feeding costs used to run $6.00 per day, they have cut it to $1.00 per day, per inmate by taking charge of the situation and making it happen - without outsourcing. Using the dollar-a-day forumula Shelby County would save over 29 million in just four years.
Privitization is about feeding the rich, not about cutting costs. The good ole boys are at work again behind the scenes. Don't let them pull a fast one!
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5 comments:
I wonder why "they" haven't reigned in those costs? Do they not know how?
They (present administration) probably DO know how to do what John says. After all, the Phoenix sheriff certainly has received plenty of publicity for their cost-saving and recidivism-reducing efforts.
But in Memphis/Shelby County we primarily have decision makers who pander to the lowest element of their constituency: the voters of our welfare state.
It appears Luttrell and Wharton are cooking up a scheme to follow my suggestion. Rumor has it they are going to put the correctional center under the Sheriff and look at cutting the feeding costs. They have wasted over 25 million over the last three years. Why now, why not three years ago? Follow the money! Outsourcing fattens the corporate pals.
If you are saying that an outside source such as CCA should come in and run the jail, you are very, very misguided.
A GOOD Corrections facility can do many things in-house. An absence of leadership and the urge to make sweetheart deals is what causes bad jailing.
Keep control, keep the C/O', but find better ways to do things.
I'm saying and I've said many times the Sheriff should run both and the cost should be cut. No privitization! Governemt can operate as efficiently as private business, it just takes someone with a will to make it happen. Luttrell doesn't have that. Otherwise, he wouldn't be outsourcing the feeding at the jail today.
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