Turns out the City of Richmond Jail proposal requires review by the Virginia Department of Corrections before it will have all the required regulatory approvals. Oops. Somehow, it seems the City Administration missed that little requirement. The situation is described here in the Richmond Times-Dispatch article from this morning's front page.
Now, I really don't care about the tit-for-tat on who said what and who shot John. There is a recorded trasncript, just release the audio and transcribed recording, and that will be that. I suspect the truth will be somewhere in the middle between each side's claims.
So, I'm not suggesting that there was any intentional malfeasance here, in the jail design/build contract award. And I don't think anyone would suggest that the City of Richmond is not in desperate need of a new jail facility to replace the current overcrowded - and frankly inhumane - facility. BUT, it does appear that the City could qualify for a 25% contribution towards the construction budget from the Commonwealth of Virginia, if certain criteria are met. A 25% contribution amounts to almost $30M on the current jail development contract. Possibly leaving $30M on the table is a pretty d*mn big "oops!" in my opinion, and doesn't make the Administration look particularly competent.
Here's hoping the City will be eligible for that state contribution money. We could do a lot with $30M.
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