Concerned Citizens of Canyon County want to share this with you:
Captain Daren Ward
Security Services
From: VICTOR RODRIGUEZ [mailto:VICTORERODRIGUEZ
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2018 10:06 AM
To: Office of the Canyon County Sheriff
Subject: Touring the Jail
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2018 10:06 AM
To: Office of the Canyon County Sheriff
Subject: Touring the Jail
Hello Sheriff Donahue, several of Nampa’s Citizens would like to tour the current jail. Please advise if you will allow us to.
Thanks Kieran
Victor Rodriguez
From: Daren Ward
Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 3:40 PM
To: 'VICTOR RODRIGUEZ'
Cc: Kieran Donahue; Daren Ward
Subject: RE: Touring the jail
Sent: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 3:40 PM
To: 'VICTOR RODRIGUEZ'
Cc: Kieran Donahue; Daren Ward
Subject: RE: Touring the jail
Victor, when I first read your email and responded I thought you were inquiring on behalf of the Citizens Academy with whom we have always had a positive and collaborative relationship with. I realize now that I misread what your email was requesting and what or whom your email was representing.
The simple answer is no, we have no intention of allowing you and your group to tour the jail facility as it is our belief your intentions for doing so are suspect at best.
Canyon County has been dealing with a jail crisis for well over a decade and yet only now do people like your group and their alleged expertise want to tour the jail and give their “expert” evaluations and opinions. Canyon County has gone through intensive and detailed lawful steps to hire real experts in these matters and the Sheriff’s Office stands behind the legitimacy of this professional, expert and scientific methodology that was provided whether people who have never been involved in addressing this crisis agree with it or not.
Further, it is distasteful and less than professional for members of your group to continue to go around the Sheriff’s Office to other elected officials in an attempt to garner an invitation to tour the jail after they have been told no by the Sheriff or his designee.
Captain Daren Ward
Captain Daren Ward
Security Services
From: ron harriman
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2018 1:05 PM
To: 'VICTOR RODRIGUEZ' ; 'Daren Ward' <DWard@canyonco.org>
Cc:
Subject: RE: Touring the jailDaren;RE: your communication with Victor Rodriguez concerning the jail walk through is now public.First Daren, I would remind you that you are a public servant and are subject to perform in a manner befitting a public servant and not an antagonist to those who provide your livelihood. From your response it is obvious you don’t understand we are actually trying to resolve the jail problem in a way that will be affordable for the citizens of Canyon County. This committee would not have become involved if the BOCC and Sheriff had come to logical and affordable solution to the jail problem.
The Sheriff on the other hand is an elected official and subject to stand for election every 4 years which is a little over 2 years at this point. Your repugnant response belies your position and is not one befitting a public employee.However, we do understand the difficulty and frustration of your present position in trying to perform your public assignment with inadequate facilities. We have come forward to assist in resolving this issue and we will guide the public opinion in that solution. When you question our expertise in a degrading manner you should realize that this committee is composed of attorney’s, businessmen, city councilpersons and experts on construction. I myself have extensive experience in construction and am not only a professional construction estimator, but also a structural expert in buildings. The reason I wanted to visit the jail is that I am concerned that the “Old” jail is nonfunctional and remodeling due to the described Flat Plate concrete design more costly than demolition.
I personally will not tolerate the employment of a public official with the attitude you appear to have. As such I would suggest that you consider serving the public you are supposed to serve or begin looking for another job.
Ronald M. Harriman
Perhaps the sheriff needs to be reminded who he works for.
ReplyDeleteI think anything less than a public apology to Mr. Rodriguez is unacceptable. I have known Victor for a long time and have never found him anything but very polite. The response he got from the Sheriff's underling for a jail tour with people who are interested enough to join in the conversation about how best to meet the needs for more jail beds unacceptable. A reprimand, demotion or even termination seems appropriate in this matter. It should not be swept under the rug.
ReplyDeleteA major public relations Faw Paux. As my wife asked What are they Hiding?
ReplyDeleteFrom the outside looking in, and reviewing the list of what I see as qualified persons that are part of the Concerned Citizens group, I think it is time to have some town hall meetings and people's forums concerning this matter.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Ward's response to Mr. Rodriguez's request is brazenly arrogant. This is indicative of the problem we face with our "public servants." Once in office they seem to forget who their employer is. Ron Harriman's chastisement of Ward is brilliant. It's a smack down that I feel needs to happen more often with most who hold Office.
ReplyDeleteGuardian reader Jerry Hillyard forwarded this letter to me and I am publishing it here with his permission:
ReplyDeleteFrom: JERRY HILLYARD
Date: 2/11/18 6:02 PM (GMT-07:00)
To: op-ed@idahopress.com
Subject: Concerned Citizens tour request.
After reading the article ,my blood was boiling. With the jail bond failing to pass on three occasions, you would think the sheriff's office would appreciate input from concerned citizens .
It sounds like Capt.Daren Ward doesn't put the interests of the county first. It seems like he has little man syndrome with a badge.
I have met with three on the committee and found that they have done their homework. I think Mr.Harriman has probably forgot more about commercial building than Wards knows about building.
I would think the county sheriff and commissioners would want all the input from this committee ,because they will need their help trying to convince taxpayers to vote for new jail.
Thanks,
Jerry Hillyard
Nampa
Hello Paul,
ReplyDeleteI, for one, am delighted to read Ron Harriman's brilliant chastisement of Captain Ward's brazen response to Victor Rodriguez's request!
Thank you for heading all this up,
Tara Barling
The problem is not a lack of jail beds but rather we stand ready to incarcerate people for a lot of petty things. Add to all this is the very well documented and failed war on drugs. It is time to declare victory on that war and start putting resources where they can actually to some good for society. We have way too many people in our prisons and jails at an ever increasing cost to taxpayers with each passing year.
ReplyDelete