News
Elbert Co 11-14-2-13
Elbert County
November 14, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourelbertcountynews.com
Elbert County, Colorado • Volume 118, Issue 42
51st state initiative rejected by voters Funding measures for Elizabeth schools, county all go nowhere By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com
Lunch is prepared Nov. 7 in the kitchen of the Elbert County jail. Photos by George Lurie
Feeding prisoners for $4.50 a day Sheriff ’s staff cuts costs at no-frills county jail By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com Elbert County Sheriff Shayne Heap is garnering praise for the way his department has managed to cut meal costs at the county jail. “We’ve got it down to about $1.50 a meal,” said Sheriff Heap, whose staff served about 50,000 meals in 2012. “The hard thing about meals is you can’t cut it to just bread and water,” said the sheriff. “There are rules.” The jail has the capacity to hold about 45 inmates — “55 if we pull out some cots,” said Heap. The department’s deputies are on track to make 16,000 service calls this year, Heap said, adding that 60 percent of arrests made are of people who do not live in Elbert County. In 2013, the jail’s daily inmate population is averaging between 35 and 37 prisoners. And like all department heads around the cash-strapped county, Heap said he is constantly being asked to cut expenses. But the sheriff’s kitchen staff “has to meet certain nutritional and caloric standards” while serving three meals a day, he said. “One lawsuit claiming we’re not feeding these folks appropriately would be a big problem for a county in our financial situation,” Heap added. So while jail food meets certain basic minimum standards, the sheriff and his staff have become very creative with the facility’s food budget — and menu. Frozen hamburger patties are purchased by the dozens of cartons — and at a deep POSTAL ADDRESS
Elbert County Sheriff Shayne Heap shows off a section of the jail’s garden, which is cultivated using free inmate labor. discount. “Last summer we had a lot of zucchini so we made a lot of zucchini bread,” said Heap. “The inmates liked that.” The jail’s kitchen is equipped with government-surplus refrigerators and freezers, acquired at little or no cost to the county, and Heap’s staff makes good use of “dayold” bread donated to the jail on a regular basis by Safeway. The kitchen is partially staffed by prisoners, and inmates grow their own vegetables in a garden behind the jail. “Getting assigned to the garden is a perk,” said Sheriff Heap. “We don’t pay them a nickel.” In fact, the sheriff said that sometime later this year, he plans to go before a judge and argue that inmates at the Elbert County jail should “pay for their cost of care.”
“Places like Summit County and Garfield County already charge inmates,” he said. “I think we should be able to do it here too.” According to the sheriff, the average total cost of housing an inmate is $79 a day. “For those who can afford it, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to charge them at least $25 or $30 a day while they’re staying with us,” he said. Board of County Commissioners Chairman Robert Rowland is a big fan of the sheriff and praised Heap and his staff for their resourcefulness. “I think the sheriff and his department do a magnificent job with the resources they’ve got to work with,” said Rowland, who called Heap “one of the superstars of Elbert County.” “Shayne’s very smart and has a great business mind,” Rowland said. “And he is thoroughly dedicated to this county.” Heap, 42, was hired by the Elbert CounPrinted on recycled ty Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in 2002. He newsprint. Please rose quickly through the ranks and was recycle this copy. appointed undersheriff in 2007 and then elected sheriff in November 2010. His annual salary is $66,600. Wearing a buzz cut, combat boots and Jail continues on Page 7
By a surprisingly wide margin, Elbert County voters gave the thumbs-down to Ballot Question 1A, the so-called 51st state initiative. The ballot question’s defeat was a clear signal from voters to county commissioners to end the secession discussion. In five of the 11 counties where the secession question appeared on the ballot, the measure passed. But Elbert County voters weren’t so keen on exiting Colorado. Only 42 percent — or 3,810 voters — voted yes, while 57 percent — 5,137 voters — rejected the idea of trying to form a 51st state. Before election results were announced, Board of County Commissioners Chairman Robert Rowland said he had received more e-mails and calls on the 51st state proposal than any other issue since taking office. But going forward, Rowland said that he and the other two commissioners won’t spend any more of the county’s time — or money — pursuing the idea. Voters this year were clearly in a penny-pinching mood, rejecting a handful of measures that would have boosted funding to both county government and local schools. Two ballot issues — a proposed mill levy increase to help shore up the county’s finances and a repeal of the tool tax exemption — also were defeated by large margins. Ballot Issue 1B — repeal of the tool tax exemption — failed by a nearly 3-1 ratio, with 73 percent of voters voting no. Ballot Issue 1C — a plan to increase the mill levy on property taxes — also failed by a wide margin, with nearly 85 percent of county voters voting no. The rejection of the proposed tax increase puts even more pressure on the county to fund ongoing operations and repair or replace outdated and decaying equipment and infrastructure. “The bottom line is that it will push us to be as efficient as we possibly can be,” Rowland said about the election result. “We are going to turn over every rock we can to find places to save money and get creative with finding efficiencies.” Countywide, voter turnout in the vote-by-mail election eclipsed 50 percent, “which is even higher than we were expecting,” said county elections manager Sherry McNeil. “All in all, I’d say this year’s election went pretty smoothly,” added McNeil, who was hired by the county just three months before this year’s election. Interviewed in his office two days after Election Day, Rowland was going through the county’s budget, line by line, looking for ways to cuts expenses and increase revenues. The commissioner was critical of Vote continues on Page 7