[ OUR OPINION ]
Politicking impedes effort
to build new jailSTATE lawmakers agree with Governor Cayetano and corrections officials that Hawaii needs additional jail facilities. After years of NIMBY squabbles, they've decided that Halawa Valley is the best spot for a new facility. Legislators also have agreed to give the governor the power to negotiate a deal to replace the over-populated, outdated Oahu Community Correctional Center. However, as election fever intensifies, House Republicans are picking a fight about the governor's exercising that power.
THE ISSUE Republican legislators are questioning the governor's attempts to get a new jail built.
Lawmakers are obliged to oversee administrative actions, but there is a difference between oversight and obstructionism. Republicans often criticize state officials for moving too slowly to solve problems, but now, as Cayetano attempts to push ahead, they are putting body blocks on his efforts.
At the start of the legislative session in January, private companies proposed to build and operate two new corrections facilities if the state agreed to rent them. The proposal came after years of disputes about where new jails and prisons would be built -- with lawmakers loudly voicing "not in my backyard" objections -- and questions about how they would be financed.
Meanwhile, OCCC, which primarily houses people awaiting trials, has been packed with pre-trial detainees. The jail has been so crowded that the state has had to place about 950 people in the federal detention facility at a cost of $91 a day for each detainee. In such conditions, officials have no way to segregate those with health problems that may endanger other detainees, putting the state in a vulnerable position for lawsuits. In years past, Hawaii has had the federal court on its back because of poor conditions at its facilities and does not need to invite more trouble.
Further, OCCC -- once on the fringe of the urban area -- is now surrounded by homes and businesses in Kalihi. To secure the facility, 26 guards are needed to oversee the perimeter. A new jail would require 67 fewer staff members at a savings of $2 million a year in salaries, officials say.
In April, the state called for proposals for a new jail in Halawa. Only one company, Durrant-Media Five, made a bid. Cayetano turned away the first bid because of cost, but is still negotiating with the company to see if he can make a deal.
Building and operating prisons is an expensive undertaking that few businesses will attempt and the governor is taking prudent steps to get the most for taxpayer money. What doesn't help is campaign-conscious politicians attempting to gain the spotlight by criticizing the process they themselves approved.
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