Dear Supporter,
Just days ago, we learned that Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern submitted an application to the state for $80 million dollars of jail construction funds. The Board of Supervisors quietly authorized this move at the end of June, in an apparent effort to avoid the attention and opposition that has risen against new jail plans throughout the state.
CURB members have been fighting jails from Los Angeles and Contra Costa to Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Sheriffs are moving forward with plans for new jail beds, often advertised as “nicer” jails that would supposedly provide treatment and opportunities for rehabilitation. But we know better. We know that what we need are treatment and services based in the community — not in cages.
We have a lot of questions for Sheriff Ahern: Will there be new jail beds? Why a mental health unit in the jail, instead of more services in the community? What better alternatives to incarceration could this money be spent on?
We want to show the Sheriff and the Board of Supervisors that the community is watching, and that we don’t support money being poured into our Sheriff’s pockets. In an effort to gain more transparency, we are asking for a public meeting where all the details of the plan are shared.
Add your name to the list of community members who are concerned about the jail plan.
Tash Nguyen
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
A member of Californians United for a Responsible Budget
P.S. Please share Emily Harris’s commentary about the jail plan in last week’s Oakland Tribune on Twitter andFacebook!
