Public hearing held in Garfield Heights about possible plans for new Cuyahoga County Jail

Garfield Heights, Ohio (WOIO) - The controversy over building a new Cuyahoga County Jail is not going away anytime soon.

Another public hearing was held on Saturday morning at the Civic Center Dining Hall to field questions and get community input about a new jail complex, its possible location, and how the complex that’s expected to cost about $750-Million will be paid for.

One unidentified Garfield Heights man received applause from the crowd, “Until the owner of the land talks to whoever wants to buy it and they say they’ll buy it, there’s nothing any of us can do.”

The contentious debate surrounding the plan for a new Cuyahoga Jail includes if the new jail complex should be built on Granger and Transportation Avenues in Garfield Heights. That’s about 20 minutes away from the courts downtown.

Some community members who packed the meeting room, vehemently oppose a new jail in their backyard, while others appear to support it. Like one man who didn’t provide his name but said he represents two church congregations, “Initially, I was real skeptical about this jail facility coming here. But, actually, I think it’s a great idea. No one goes and does a crime around a jail.”

But, no matter what side of the new jail debate you’re on, there are still plenty of questions and concerns. Ross DiBello who says he worked at the Justice Center as an attorney for about eight years says, “A survey was done in March of 2021. It said what do we care about most (regarding the jail)? They said humane jail treatment. Since then once about every few months and sometimes more frequently than that, an inmate dies downtown.”

.Another major issue, is how will the approximately $750-Million jail facility be paid for. Chris Ronayne the Cuyahoga County Executive says ARPA or the American Rescue Plan Act funds will help purchase the land, “The second source for the bill down is as stated is to continue the quarter-percent sales tax, which would be rolling that into as we stated the 40-year plan.”

But, DiBello says despite public hearings on the issue, “I want to ask if the residents really think the residents are in charge or being asked what they care about here?

County Executive Ronayne says that’s the reason for the public hearings, so, taxpayers won’t feel handcuffed by a decision, “I go back to the initial premise, meaning the health and wellness of those most vulnerable and those that have done some bad things, but are in our county, we have got to find a way to better caretakers.”

There will be several more public hearings before a final decision is made on exactly where the new jail will be built.