Congratulations to the sheriff on being elected sheriff

This ballot question was a re-do after having failed back in November.  It fell apart then because people are, rightfully, dissatisfied with the state of the jail and because they.. probably also rightfully.. are distrustful of the sheriff.  But after having thrown a fit over that, voters grudgingly accepted that they had to do this.  It's really not that bad, anyway.

The proposal, championed by Sheriff Marlin Gusman and Mayor Mitch Landrieu, didn't raise taxes. Instead, it called for freezing the current tax rate at 2.8 mills and allowing the sheriff to use the revenue for the "operation, maintenance and upkeep of jails and related facilities." Money raised through the original tax was dedicated to capital projects.

Gusman asked for the additional money for jail operations to help pay for improvements required under the terms of a federal consent decree that could cost as much as $22 million a year. The sheriff's office estimated the new tax proposal would provide the sheriff's office with an additional $4.4 million in 2016.

Someday maybe we won't spend so much money incarcerating people.  Maybe the fact that we also decided to invest in supporting our communities with libraries yesterday will help with that.