Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/603225
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS LastweekinmycolumnI discussed the local, state, and national responses to crim- inal behavior over the past 40 years. It is my personal opinion that we often at- tempt to pun- ish our way to a better society by locking up of- fenders for as of- ten and for as long as possi- ble. Not only do I believe this strategy is too often ineffec- tive from a rehabilitation and community protection stand- point, it has also proven to be debilitating from an economic standpoint. Apparently I am not alone in my thinking. In the past few years, both the California legislature and this state's electorate have en- acted significant reforms to our criminal justice system. Assembly Bill 109 was enacted in October 2011. It mandates that individuals sentenced for non-violent or non-sex offenses will serve their sentences in county jails instead of state prisons. Additionally, in 2014 Califor- nia voters passed proposition 47. Prop 47 reduces the penalty for simple drug offenses, in ad- dition to other offenses such as shoplifting, forgery, check fraud, theft, and receiving sto- len property. While one might reasonably argue for or against these sig- nificant changes to our crimi- nal justice system, what is ab- solutely true is that these mod- ifications materially increase our need for detention beds in Tehama County. The current bed capacity at the Tehama County jail sits at nearly 200 persons. Tehama County corrections officials long ago found it necessary to create such alternative sen- tencing programs as work fur- lough and electronic monitor- ing in order to avoid jail over- crowding. With the addition of the above-referenced man- dates, there is no more room at the inn. In what should be seen as positive news, Tehama County corrections officials recently ap- plied for and received a nearly $16 million grant to construct a 64-bed secure detention facility adjacent to the current Tehama County Jail. Unfortunately, the siting of the new jail has be- come the latest hot button issue in Tehama County. While the primary issue centers around the potential closure of one block on Madi- son Street, there is a large seg- ment of this community which opposes altogether the siting of a detention facility in down- town Red Bluff. Like most folks in this com- munity, I would prefer that our county jail be sited some- where other than a block away from the beautiful old historic State Theatre; a place that for the past six years has occupied much of my time and energy. Unfortunately that ship probably sailed nearly a cen- tury ago when this commu- nity built that "Cool Hand Luke" era jail (the one with the giant fish pond) on the site where the courthouse an- nex now stands. More impor- tantly, that ship undoubtedly again sailed some 30-40 years ago when the powers-that-be constructed the current jail lo- cated on the corner of Oak and Madison streets. I am reasonably sure that the County Board of Supervi- sors would like nothing more than to start all over and build a brand new state-of-the-art 400-bed secure detention com- plex on a perfectly placed 20 acre property somewhere in unincorporated Tehama County. With a finite fund- ing pool allocated to allevi- ate overcrowding in all 58 Cal- ifornia counties, this county was more than fortunate to re- ceive $16 million to expand its current detention capability. Finding $120 million to move the entire operation to a more desirable location quite sim- ply isn't going to happen. Nor is it practical or economically feasible to locate a new 64-bed facility in any location other than adjacent to the current Tehama County jail. As relating to closing off Madison Street to accommo- date 64 additional jail beds, frankly I feel strongly both ways. Given my background in corrections, I understand that this county is fortunate to have been awarded funds in support of critically needed detention beds. I understand why the county would prefer to close off one block on Mad- ison Street in order to have a fully enclosed jail campus, and at the same time avoid spend- ing another million tax dollars on a bridge to somewhere. I sympathize with neigh- boring businesses and resi- dents who would undoubtedly be negatively impacted with the closure of Madison Street. This area is already a hodge- podge of poor street design. I also understand why the City Council might pound their collective shoe on the ta- ble and demand that the Mad- ison Street route be protected from closure. After all, they are representing the inter- ests of 14,000 folks who reside within this city's limits; and all of those folks would prefer this street remain open. Un- fortunately, it just isn't that easy. By California law, we are dealing with the expansion of a county jail. By statute, the city of Red Bluff has little or no skin in the game as re- lates to siting, building, own- ing, and operating this fa- cility. That said, when com- pleted, the facility will not be a city jail, nor in reality will it be a county jail. Call it what you may, what we really have at the corner of Oak and Mad- ison is a badly needed commu- nity jail. Should a city that has been identified as having the fourth-highest crime rate in California be excused from making the tough call as relat- ing to detention practices in this community? Probably not. Should a city that has found it necessary to fund its city swimming pool operation ev- ery summer for the past couple of decades by holding flea mar- kets and garage sales be more understanding regarding the county's difficulty in coming up with another million or so to keep Madison open? Probably. Would the City Council and Board of Supervisors swap po- sitions on the issue if the name on the side of the building were Red Bluff City Jail? Most likely. Do the county and the city share a collective responsibil- ity to figure out what's best for the entire community, juris- dictional bias notwithstand- ing? Absolutely. Good luck to you all. • • • • Coming State Theatre at- tractions: Tehama Concert Se- ries will present Ken Lavigne, Canadian Tenor at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. Tickets are available at the Tehama Coun- try Visitor Center or at the State Theatre box office on the evening of the performance. BillCorneliusisalifelong resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill. cornelius@sbcglobal.net. William Tells No easy answers on jail expansion Cartoonist's take I'm often out of touch with our rapidly changing culture norms. Here's one change I'm be- hind on: that so many are getting so easily offended by every per- ceived slight, real or imagined. These days a fellow can't com- pliment a lady for wearing a beautiful dress without worry- ing that she might call him a chauvinist pig. A fellow can't criticize a pres- ident, whose policies have dou- bled our government debt, without being called a hater and a racist. He can't question whether climate change may correlate to natural phenomena with- out being called a climate Lud- dite, whose questioning will kill us all. Across the country, critical thinking is being overcome by emotional thinking — and this feelings-based approach is be- ing institutionalized on college campuses, according to a fas- cinating article in The Atlan- tic by Greg Lukianoff and Jona- than Haidt. "In the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protec- tion from words and ideas they don't like," write the authors. This is a worrisome turn of events. As the authors point out, universities are not sup- posed to be in the business of teaching students what to think — but how to think. "The idea goes back at least as far as Socrates," they write. "Today, what we call the So- cratic method is a way of teach- ing that fosters critical think- ing, in part by encouraging stu- dents to question their own unexamined beliefs, as well as the received wisdom of those around them." Critical thinking is hard work. Feelings are easy. "A movement is arising, un- directed and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas and sub- jects that might cause discom- fort or give offense," write the authors. Jay Leno explains how hy- per-sensitivity is getting out of control. When one of his show's college interns asked if he wanted Mexican food for lunch, Leno told him he didn't like Mexican food. "Whoa, that's kind of racist," said the intern. Leno, telling the kid he had no idea what racism really is, said, "Being anti-gua- camole is not racist!" What is worrisome about the institutionalization of emo- tional thinking over critical thinking is that easily offended emotional thinkers are going to have a much more challeng- ing time getting through their lives and solving their problems — not to mention the consider- able challenges our country is facing (debt, exploding entitle- ment spending, millions who don't graduate high school, etc.) Here's a simple example of emo- tions getting in the way of so- lutions: One day I heard two women screaming in a parking lot. One woman had slammed a car door on her elderly mother's finger; her finger was caught in the door. I asked them to calm down, but they wouldn't. They were in a panic. So I shouted, "Shut up!" They stopped screaming. I reached my hand inside the top of the window, unlocked the door, then opened it. Problem solved. Emotional thinking — whereby you allow yourself and your feelings to be the center of your universe — puts you at risk of being swallowed up by your problem. Rational, critical thinking — which helps you to step out- side of your worries and preju- dices — gives you the liberty to evaluate and resolve the diffi- cult challenges you will eventu- ally face. So how do we overcome our feelings-obsessed thinking? The authors argue that uni- versities need to get back to their original mission — teaching critical thinking — as stated by Thomas Jefferson, founder of the University of Virginia: "This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Tom@ TomPurcell.com. Tom Purcell Critical thinking needed now more than ever Finding $120 million to move the entire operation to a more desirable location quite simply isn't going to happen. Tom Purcell Bill Cornelius President Barack Obama: The White House 1600Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 Fax: 202-456-2461 president@whitehouse.gov U.S. Senate Dianne Feinstein: Hart Senate Office Building Room 331 Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3841 Fax: 202-228-3954 One Post St., Suite 2450 San Francisco, CA 94104 415-393-0707 Fax: 415-393-0710 Website: feinstein.senate.gov Barbara Boxer: Hart Senate Office Building Room 112 Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3553 Fax: 202-228-3865 501I St., Suite 7-600 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-448-2787 Website: boxer.senate.gov U.S. Representative Jared Huffman: 1630Longworth House Office Building Washington D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-5161 Fax: 202-225-5163 3173rd St., Suite 1 Eureka, CA 95501 Eureka phone: 707-407-3585 Fax: 707-407-3559 Website: huffman.house.gov Governor Jerry Brown: State Capitol Building, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-445-2841 Fax: 916-558-3160 State Senate Mike McGuire: 130310th Street Sacramento, CA 95814Phone: 916-651-4002 Fax: 916-651-4902 710E Street Suite #150 Eureka, CA 95501 To email, visit http://sd02.senate. ca.gov/contact/email State Assembly Jim Wood: P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0002 Phone: 916-319-2002 Fax: 916-319-2102 To email, visit http://asmdc.org/ members/a02/ Let them know How to contact public officials from Washington, D.C. and local communities. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, November 18, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6