Claire Wineman
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Oct. 2, the Office of Civic and Social Responsibility hosted a voter education discussion regarding the 0.3 percent tax levy on the Wayne County ballot in November, from which funds would be used to construct a new jail. Speakers on the panel included County Judge Corey Spitler, Sheriff’s Captain Doug Johnson, Wayne County Commissioner Sue Smail and Mark Woods, executive director of Anazao Community Partners, a mental health support organization. The event was attended by over fifty students, faculty and community members looking to learn more about the issue, ask questions and express their concerns.
The event is part of the College’s larger election engagement project, which has been at work throughout the fall semester helping students register to vote and becoming educated on civic issues.
“I really want to see more of our students involved in the local community,” says Nate Addington, director for Civic and Social Responsibility at the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. “There are a lot of things we look at on campus that don’t always have to do with things exterior to ourselves. All the election engagement events are part of helping everyone to see Wooster as their home. If this is your home, think about it as a place larger than campus, and how are you engaging with that? How are you thinking about the folks who are your neighbors, even if you don’t see them on a day-to-day basis?”
The need for a new jail was identified through a study conducted over the course of eight months by 20 individuals, including county officials and representatives from local mental health organizations. The study is based primarily on issues of overcrowding; the present jail facility has a capacity of 120 inmates, but currently houses an average daily population of 135 inmates, in addition to over 20 inmates being housed out-of-county. According to information provided at the discussion, the new jail will cost approximately $33,750,000 to construct and will resolve these issues by expanding jail capacity to 240 beds, with additional spaces for inmates dealing with mental health problems and other medical needs.
Many students and staff present at the discussion had questions regarding the process and conclusions of the committee. Concerns were voiced over why the current jail facility cannot be updated and expanded instead of building an entirely new structure, while broader questions were asked regarding the research that went into the decision.
“The panel made their expansion arguments based on incomplete reasoning and a statistical analysis that is questionable,” said Dr. Amyaz Moledina, chair of the economics department at the College, who attended the discussion. “The reports I have read have not engaged fully with data on the wider context of the drivers of the jail population. They have also not discussed the options we have outside of the jail system to help people suffering from addictions.”
Dr. Laura Burch, associate professor of French and Francophone studies, expressed similar sentiments. “The current proposal fails the citizens of Wayne County in three areas: facts, fiscal responsibility and faith. Facts, because it uses incomplete, inaccurate and biased information to determine the new jail size. Fiscal responsibility, because without the facts, how can we be sure whether the new jail is a good or bad use of taxpayer money? Faith, because it shows no faith in research, rehabilitation or restorative justice; no faith in public input on county decisions; and no faith in our moral and civic obligations to reject fearmongering and the dehumanization of others.”
The panel provided an opportunity for county officials to hear and respond to these ideas and to help voters better understand what they will encounter on the ballot come November. “That’s what a public discussion is — people have as much of a right to be against something as to be for something,” says Halen Gifford ’21, one of the College’s two College Election Engagement Project fellows. “It’s a way to challenge yourself and even reassure what you already believe, because if you go into a situation believing one thing and then hear information about it, that can even strengthen your opinion. The way you make that vote could really end up affecting the community.”