Gibson-Alston standoff looming
Another battle is brewing betweeen Guilford County commissioners Paul Gibson and Skip Alston. This time, it's about plans for a new jail.
Gibson, the board chairman, was a spectator at a meeting Alston led Monday where county officials and other community leaders discussed various ways to ease crowding in the county jail system.
But just after the meeting started, Gibson stood up and said the group was supposed to be only studying the pretrial services program, which helps court officials determine if an inmate should be released pending trial. Pretrial services received more funding from the commissioners earlier this month at Alston's recommendation.
"This thing has warped into something much different than the board asked it to do," Gibson said in an interview Tuesday.
Alston, the board's vice-chairman, has opposed a new jail for years, arguing that more alternatives to incarceration and drug treatment options are needed because most jail inmates have substance-abuse problems. On Monday, the committee discussed pretrial services, but they also discussed treatment and jail-alternative programs.
Gibson agrees additional programs are needed and deserve further study, but says Alston has shifted the committee's focus to suit his intentions.
"This is all a dog and pony show for Skip Alston to prove we don’t need to build a new jail," Gibson said.
At the start of Monday's discussion, Alston said the meeting shouldn't be about building a new jail or not, but afterward he discussed it plenty.
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