What's the rush to double the jail beds?
Less than 10 of the 46 beds have been occupied over the past year. So why is there high pressure to double the number of beds when the pattern has predicted less use of Lynnwood jail beds and building costs are at a historic high?
Even after community outcry asking the city to go back to the drawing board to make a less expansive project and incorporate community feedback, the City continues to move forward with a 69 million dollar project.
WHAT’S PLANNED FOR $60 MILLION+ OF YOUR CITY FUNDS
● Brett Hanson from Mackenzie architects’ proposed design is now ≈85,000 sf with a 84-bed jail, two courtrooms (one billed as therapeutic), and a new police station with on-site records storage.
● To build the 122-car secure parking lot, one of Lynnwood’s last remaining native forests would be cut down, removing a total of 132 trees.
● Despite claims that the jail was designed with a focus on healthcare, the proposed community justice center was going to be approved with only a 6-bed medical facility.
● The partnership with the Community Health Center of Snohomish County Lynnwood Clinic is touted as a way to continue care after incarceration. Providing health services in jails is both less effective and more costly than in-community treatment.
● The addition of two custody officers is in the funding document the council shared on August 2, 2021.
FINANCE
● $49,315,000 in bonds were issued on June 3, 2021. When the bonds mature in 2050, the payments will total $86,401,778. Lynnwood owes a payment of ≈$2.98 million every year from 2023 to 2050.
● Publicized as a budget of $64 million with $60 million from bond debt and $4 million from the criminal justice sales tax.
● To just break even on the cost requires other municipalities pay LMJ to jail 18 people per day at $175 for each bed.
● Only an additional ≈$500,000 is in the annual operational estimates for a facility more than triple the current size. Facility maintenance, insurance, or other increases are not included in budget estimates. Operating and maintenance costs cannot be paid for with bond debt. Already $5 million more is being sought for building cost increases.
WHAT’S THERE NOW
● ≈24,000 square foot facility with a 46-bed jail (no outdoor access), one courtroom, and the police station with off-site records storage.
● Built in 1994 from retrofitted dental offices.
● Previously the jail was often operating at full capacity. Each day there were around 40 people in LMJ and another 30 people being incarcerated for Lynnwood at other facilities such as SCORE Jail in Des Moines, Snohomish County Jail, and Yakima County Jail. With COVID measures and the Department of Corrections budget reduction strategies, no more than five people were jailed on any day in 2021.
● Electronic Home Monitoring (EHM) is used to surveil people and their families without physically having them in a facility. To use EHM in Lynnwood, people must pay $15 per day of their sentence; a financial burden that amounts to $1,350 for a 90-day misdemeanor sentence.
● In 2019, there were 17 Lynnwood Police Department officers assigned to detention & corrections and another 74 full-time officers. LPD has 82 vehicles.
● 47% of the city’s expenditures are for the police. Only 1% is for social services.
THE LEGISLATIVE & BUILDING PROCESS
● We are opposing the expansion of the Lynnwood Jail- a project that has been in development since 1999. On September 9, 2019, the design contract was unanimously approved by council members Cotten, Frizzell, Goodwin, Hurst, Ross, Sessions, and Sutton.
● On March 22, 2021, the current city council of Altamirano-Crosby, Cotten (seat filled by Decker), Frizzell, Hurst, Ross, Sessions, and Smith voted to approve bond debt up to $62 million.
● Construction was put to bid on May 6, 2021. Kassel & Associates, FORMA Construction Co., PCL Construction Service, Cornerstone General Contractors, Lydig Construction, and Walsh Group submitted bids.
● Following the call of Justice for Tirhas Tesfatsion in early August 2021, Mayor Nicola Smith convened a task force on behavioral health to propose “non-substantial” changes that would not change the footprint of the building design, which originally had a 149-bed jail.
● At the council work session meeting on September 7, 2021, the task force put forth a plan that would reallocate some space from the jail to build a ≈12,500 sf center for community behavioral health needs. In this plan, the jail occupancy would be reduced “from 120-beds to 84-beds.” The proposed jail’s occupancy has been mis-stated and changed multiple times.
● The cost, which is currently unknown, and council approval for what is being called community recovery center is separate from the proposed community justice center.
● The community recovery center would be 3-levels. The potential services provided are not decided, but possibilities include a behavioral health urgent care and a crisis stabilization unit.
● The plan includes a 26-bed medical clinic so incarcerated people can receive medical treatment outside of a jail setting to meet Medicaid funding requirements.
● The city council can either award the building contract to FORMA Construction or follow the needs of the community at the meeting on Monday, September 13th at 6pm; join via Zoom ID 863 2657 6445 or call 1-253-215-8782.
WHAT SHOULD BE BUILT INSTEAD
● The future of Lynnwood is not more incarceration; it is neither fiscally viable nor socially valuable. Situations which allow harm or violence to take place are preventable or can be mitigated. Consequences must connect one to the community and their responsibilities, not isolate.
● The Human Services Commission’s survey identified the top needs of Lynnwood as free community gathering spaces and access to medical care.
● CAT-911 and Sotoria House are possible models of care. More at millionexperiments.com.
● To provide supportive housing for the 40+ neighbors who are unhoused would cost ≈$900,000 annually, which is cheaper than what it costs us to have people living without a stable home (National Alliance to End Homelessness).
WHAT YOU CAN DO
● Sign the petition from the family of Tirhas Tesfatsion, who LPD wilfully neglected in Lynnwood Municipal Jail causing her death on July 13, 2021. Governor Inslee needs to ask State Attorney General Ferguson to initiate an investigation of LPD. Contact Gov. Inslee directly at 360-902-4111.
● Contact Lynnwood City Council so they know not to award the building contract at their meeting on September 13th. The council needs to follow through on their voted motion for an investigation by the State AG. If you live nearby, also contact your city’s council to tell them not to contract with the negligent LPD to incarcerate your neighbors.