MediaUpdate

Andrew Caplan
The Gainesville Sun

Alachua County leaders took a significant step Thursday toward giving inmates free and unlimited phone calls from jail while also reducing costs for overpriced commissary items in an effort to help those in need.

During a six-hour meeting that was combative at times, a collaborative solution emerged between the Alachua County Commission, Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr., his staff and dozens of community members.

In the end, commissioners voted 4-1 to immediately reduce costs for jail calls and work toward terminating a contract with a vendor that provides the service. Watson’s office, which manages the jail for the county, will also help develop a new proposal for companies to bid on to ensure inmates have free and unlimited calls by Oct. 1, a cost that county officials vowed to cover.

Commissioner Chuck Chestnut voted in dissent.

The commission, which asked Watson’s office to begin finding ways to implement free calls through a trial period of sorts, also voted to look at ways to reduce excessive costs or fees for services and items purchased by inmates and their families, which includes basic essentials such as soap, toothpaste and other toiletries.

“We still have a long way to go to really build a system based on justice, but this is a step in the right direction and it shows the county’s commitment to eliminating areas where government is contributing to exploiting and toward alleviating stress for our most vulnerable families,” Commissioner Anna Prizzia said.

Jail calls cost inmates and their families cost 21 cents per minute and are capped at 15 minutes, during the approximate hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.The county receives 9 cents for every minute used, which generates roughly $375,000 annually. The rest goes to the company, Securus, which owns and operates the phones, lines and equipment.

There are roughly 110 phones and 120 video phones in the Alachua County Jail. If a new vendor is chosen, a company will have to install its own equipment, which is estimated at $800 to $1,000 per line.

By removing call costs, Watson’s office estimated that phone calls could likely double and generate a loss in revenue of $1.3 million. Data, however, from other counties that made the changes show that calls only increased about 30%, so the loss would be roughly $700,000.

Regardless, commissioners and members of the public said phone call money is being collected while preying on those who need the service most. Watson, whose employees gave a series of thorough presentations, also seemed to agree.

“We are committed to doing what this body wants, whatever that is,” he said.

Inmate numbers have fluctuated but steadily increased over the past two years under Watson’s leadership and currently sit around 860, the sheriff said.

Asked what efforts his office is doing to reduce the figures, Watson said his office has several diversion programs and partners with nonprofits and other groups to reduce recidivism.

“When they’re released, they’re our citizens,” said Watson, who pushed for diversion programs as a legislator. “They do not lose the ability to be humans because they made a mistake and find themselves unfortunate enough to be in our jail. We look for ways to help them.”

A reduction of inmates would further bring down the expected influx of calls.

What the public had to say
As manager of the jail, Watson repeatedly asked for autonomy to control the contract with the vendor Securus, for logistical reasons, similar to how his office maintains control of the food and medical contracts with vendors.

The ask was met by resistance from the public and ultimately ended after Prizzia arguing that such lively debate would be shielded from public input if removed from the commission’s control.

While the room offered some support for Watson’s office, a vast majority of speakers demanded free calls for inmates and urged the commission not to grant the sheriff’s wishes.

Still, Watson’s office will play a key role in crafting the bid that goes out to vendors, which Securus can participate in, as well as future contract negotiations.

His office also prepared presentations, which weren’t heard, about staffing at the jail and the possibility of providing tablets to inmates, allowing them to make calls and watch movies. Those talks will be taken up at a later date.

Prior to the passing of the third and final motion, Commissioner Mary Alford asked people in the meeting room to raise their hands if they supported it. Most did.

“Last night, we took substantial steps to improve the lives of families in Alachua County,” Commissioner Ken Cornell said. “With input from our citizens and cooperation from Sheriff Watson, we took the unprecedented steps to make all calls at the jail free and unlimited. I am very grateful for the work of our staff at both the county and the sheriff’s office to move in this direction.”

​GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Alachua County inmates can now get some free calls through a new county phone plan.

Read more.

​ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Periodically, the Department of Homeland Security provides funding to FEMA to reissue the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) and execute new detailed studies in selected areas. The FIRM is used by insurance brokers and housing lenders to determine the risk of flooding and to set the premiums for flood insurance.

Read more.

​GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Alachua County inmates can now get some free calls through a new county phone plan.

Watch this story.

Will we ever know why the Court Services Director resigned? I don’t think he will be missed at the department. He was only here for a short time, less than two years.

Read more.

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the end of the April 4 Alachua County Commission Special Meeting, which lasted almost five hours and featured over 50 public speakers, the board voted 4-1, with Commissioner Ken Cornell in dissent, to move forward with due diligence on a proposed meat processing plant in Newberry.

Read more.

​A group of Gainesville residents gathered as the sun began to gleam. They were ready to watch. Not a football game or a flash mob, but something far more squishy.

Read more.

​After a delayed meeting in March, three motions with additional modifications, multiple presentations, a passing of the gavel and a five-hour meeting, Alachua County voted 4-1 on Thursday to make phone calls at the jail free for all inmates and terminate its contract with the phone provider. 

Read more.

​After nearly four hours of passionate public debate and multiple reminders for the audience to remain respectful, the Alachua County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to advance plans for a meat processing facility in Newberry.

Read more.

​Following a nearly five-hour special meeting, Alachua County will continue to explore a project that would build a regional meat processing center, or slaughterhouse, in the city of Newberry. 

Read more.

After two hours of public comment and a preceding protest, Alachua County officials opted to move forward with plans to build a controversial meat-process facility.

The Alachua County Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday during a special meeting to continue exploring constructing the facility on 15 acres in Newberry.

Commissioner Ken Cornell was the lone dissenting vote.

Around 100 presenters, protesters and other attendees packed the Jack Durrance Auditorium in the County Administration Building where almost 50 people spoke on the topic. Attendees appeared split on bolstering local farmers, advocating for animal rights and more sustainable food production practices.

"It is the public interest and our county goals to invest in building a robust and resilient local food economy," said Commission chairwoman Anna Prizzia. "Farmers and ranchers play a crucial role in providing quality food and food security for our community and in helping us solve complex problems like development sprawl and climate change."

Commissioners acknowledged an ethical dilemma but emphasized that the continuance of the plan doesn’t necessarily guarantee the facility’s construction.

The county will still conduct research and seek out contractors to build the site, which planners hope to complete by the end of 2026.

Commissioner Mary Alford, who initially proposed the motion, said she hopes to discuss the facility in more detail at a later date. With animals in mind, she promised to visit UF’s own federally-approved meat-processing facility to learn more about what the Newberry site might look like, which could cause her to waiver on the issue.

“I don’t feel good about either decision,” she said. “I’m supporting the motion, but it isn’t with a smile.”

About the project
The meat-processing facility would total 15 total acres in Newberry’s Environmental Park. In addition, the county also separately has plans for a waste collection facility and a fire rescue training site in the park.

The county plans to allocate $2.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund the facility, which would distribute products within a 100-mile radius across north central Florida.

Informational presentations to the commission found the facility would generally benefit Alachua County. Presenters demonstrated both economic and environmental pluses, arguing that localizing meat-processing operations would boost local farmers and lessen the negative impacts of outsourced producers.

Those who spoke in favor of the project also argued the Newberry plant would be more humane than alternative facilities where people get meat.

Christa Court, director of the Economic Impact Analysis Program through UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Science, said that the facility would provide an array of economic opportunities at the local and state level.

A study found the facility would generate about a dozen jobs directly, along with as many as 80 jobs indirectly, with other sectors related to meat processing potentially seeing a surplus in jobs due to the added production in Alachua County.

The study also estimated operations from the $5.25 million facility would add up to $16 million to industry output through direct profit and the multiplied benefit to other sectors.

Community benefit
Local producers spoke largely in favor of the facility for the potential benefits to their farms.

John Nix, who owns a farm in the eastern part of the county, said the ability to serve his product directly to customers would increase his profits and the efficiency of his production process.

County Sustainability Manager Betsy Riley said local ranchers must wait four to eight months for outsourced facilities to process their product. The wait, the study found, creates a bottleneck effect and reduces potential profits for farmers.

Nix has felt those impacts on his farm, he said, with production delays from remote facilities slowing his sales. A local facility, he added, would expedite the process and ensure his farm’s longevity.

“By adding this economic structure and bringing it closer to the consumer, it would allow the next generation to take over a lot of that farmland,” he said.

The county argued that the facility will aid in preserving small, local ranches like Nix’s, with access to a processing site in their backyard bolstering the viability of each site as well as potential profits.

“The facility fits into the local ecosystem,” said Sean McLendon, the county’s economic development and food systems manager. “That’s part of the reason we’ve had such a wide endorsement.”

Newberry mayor on board
Cornell, who originally supported preliminary talks of the facility last December, said his vote was partially out of concern that Newberry residents wouldn’t support a facility in such proximity.

"With so many needs throughout our community, I just can't support the use of public dollars to build a county-owned meat processing plant," he said Wednesday. "No other county in the state of Florida is pursing this type of project, and I'm not aware of any other county in the entire country that owns a slaughterhouse."

If Newberry were to present research that favored the facility, Cornell said he would revisit his vote to move forward.

Newberry hasn’t held any formal meeting or study on the subject, but, according to Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe, a potential wastewater treatment plant next to the future facility already has most residents on board.

“From sitting in the restaurants, from sitting in the classrooms, from sitting in the ball games, Newberry is very excited about this,” he said. “This is a project that I am 1,000% behind.”

Because the Newberry City Council has not put the plant on any of its general meeting agendas, residents have not been able to formally comment in this setting.

A planning and zoning meeting saw one public commenter voice their support for the project, the mayor added.

Getting push back
Despite letters of endorsement from groups like the Alachua County Farm Bureau, the meeting had strong pushback from members of the community.

It started with a protest of about 15 people outside the meeting, who then filtered inside the county chambers to join the majority of speakers who voiced their opposition, citing animal rights concerns and health detriments that would come with it.

Watts cited lung damage, skin damage and other health issues to meat consumers, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder for facility workers. Instead of the plant, she said, the commission should consider redirecting facility funds to aid local farmers to transition to plant-based agriculture.

“A plant-based diet is safe and healthy for all ages and stages,” Watts said. “There’s plenty of options.”

Tensions between the two sides spiked in the two hours of public comment, with some opposers calling the commission’s conscience into question upon the notion of approval. Prizzia, the commission chair, warned to have disruptive attendees removed after displays of frustration from a crowd of opposing commenters.

Among the dissenting voices was Cody Yelton, a Gainesville resident who expressed concerns about what the installation of the facility would mean for the county’s character.

Yelton has lived in Gainesville for almost three decades. In that time, she’s come to know a local government that listens to resident concerns. She argues that the approval of the facility indicates that the county approves of killing animals.

“Your vote to spend over $5 million on a slaughterhouse is neither progressive nor kind,” Yelton said during public comment.

Even those who supported the facility conceded to the discomfort in killing animals, but they lauded its construction as a step in the right direction toward more sustainable agricultural practices and a healthier local economy.

The benefits were enough to convince the commission to keep the facility’s potential alive.

Though the meat industry is rife with issues, Prizzia said a local facility would allow Alachua County to help fix a broken system, not contribute to it.

“We are complicit in that system, but we have an opportunity to do something different,” she said. “We have an opportunity to support our local ranches to continue to live their lives and protect their land.”

​Alachua County Commissioners voted 4-1, with Commissioner Ken Cornell in dissent, to move forward with plans to consider a meat processing and job training facility in Newberry.

Read more.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Alachua County Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of moving forward with plans for a meat processing facility in Newberry.

Watch this story.

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Alachua County Public Works employee Dwight Thomas recently won top honors in a regional heavy equipment rodeo hosted by the City of Gainesville. Thomas won four out of the six heavy equipment operator events, making him the grand champion of the rodeo.

Read more.

The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) authorized staff on Tuesday to move forward with its parameters for paving roads in 2024. 

Read more.

Heather Bushman
Correspondent

The fate of an approved multimillion-dollar meat-processing facility is still up in the air ahead of a special Alachua County Commission meeting despite previously being unanimously approved.

The commission will meet Tuesday to discuss the future of the facility, for which a work plan was approved last December.

The facility is planned for a 15-acre site in Newberry. Part of the land is deemed a superfund site, though not where the meat will be processed. The project aims to foster job creation and provide locally sourced meat to lower-income communities.

Goals of the facility
The project is expected to cost a total of $5.25 million, with $2.5 million in funds drawn from the $52.25 million allocated from the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021. The facility’s work plan sets a construction start date at the beginning of 2024 and a completion date at the end of 2026.

The facility’s work plan outlines three main goals: Jobs in meat processing and culinary arts, aid to local ranchers within a 100-mile radius and local access to meat processing and distribution.

Officials hope the facility will connect local ranchers and farmers to food processing and remove barriers to business, bolstering the county’s economy and keeping meat-processing operations local.

Already-existing food and employment discrepancies were exacerbated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the work plan. The facility aims to address these inequities through a wave of job opportunities and proximity to a reliable food source.

Approximately 15 animals would be processed per day.

What officials say
The commission unanimously approved the proposed work plan at a Dec. 6, 2022, meeting. Dissenting public comment warned of the danger toward potential facility workers and the negative effects of large-scale meat production. The facility’s economic benefits and support for local farmers overweighed those calls for the commission.

Commissioner Anna Prizzia, who has a background in sustainability, was among the vocal proponents of the plan at the meeting. The facility, she said, would help preserve local farmland and localize a process that often outsources its providers.

“This is a great opportunity to continue to have that conversation so that the last crop on those ranches isn’t housing,” Prizzia said. “We can transform the meat industry from something that’s a highly concentrated, industrial system to a regional and local, resilient system.”

Community feedback
The facility has received pushback and support from a range of county residents.

The county spoke with local farmers to gauge interest in the facility during the work plan’s early stages. It found ranchers routinely face issues accessing facilities with the capacity to process their products, and several groups like the Alachua County Farm Bureau and CareerSource of North Central Florida have written letters to the commission in support of the facility.

These groups represent direct benefactors to the proposed facility, but even some with no apparent ties to it have voiced their conditional approval.

There is a protest planned for 4 p.m. at the county's administrative building in opposition to the slaughterhouse.

In a surprising open letter to the commission, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk also wrote that it would support the construction of the facility, but with a caveat. The facility must be literally and figuratively transparent.

The letter called for glass walls or a 24-hour video stream from the facility to guarantee constant public access to its operations.  

PETA hopes the added visibility will discourage consumers from purchasing meat processed in facilities like the one Alachua County could build. If the process is public, the letter asserts, then residents could access an unfiltered look at how the facility treats animals.

"The proposed structure would be built with taxpayer funding, so it would be reasonable that it should have a glass wall or walls so that everyone could see inside," Newkirk wrote. "Should you insist on building a slaughterhouse, at least be transparent about what goes on inside it."

Next Steps
Though the commission approved the preliminary work plan, the facility’s construction isn’t concrete yet. Tuesday’s meeting will continue discussions about the facility and outline the next steps to putting it into place in Newberry.

A host of speakers, including researchers from the University of Florida, are expected to give a presentation about the plans.

The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in the Jack Durrance Auditorium, located on the second floor of the County Administration Building at 12 E. First St. in Gainesville