Dear friends,
Thank you so much for writing Dutchess County's legislators to urge that bonds for the new jail project be rescinded. Over 500 people emailed us, almost as many more signed petitions, and the chair said he answered 55 phone calls. We've never seen anything close to that level of public input.
As you may know, the Republican majority didn't heed our pleas. The Budget Committee voted to keep the bond authorization (the 8 Republicans voted for, the 4 Democrats against). The result is very disappointing, but there are several steps we can take.
First, we encourage everyone to keep up the pressure and continue to contact the County Executive, urging him to reconsider or at least scale back the jail project. The bonds are not yet issued and the county is not obligated to issue or spend the full amount. ...
- Democratic caucus, Dutchess Co. legislature