The Saga Continues

The Hardin jail saga just keeps going on. Is that any surprise with a $20 million dollar facility? Now the city if Hardin and Two Rivers Authority, the economic development authority, <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/12/news/state/18-hardinsues_x.txt">have sued the State</a> to overturn the Attorney General's opinion. Not once have we heard about any Legislative remedy that might fix this problem. Let's just run to the courts for our solution. Having just been through some legal proceedings of my own, I can guarantee you the only thing the Judaical process does is piss money away into the lawyers pockets. The Judaical route is one <strong>very expensive</strong> way to go. I guess if you are $27 million in the hole with no end in sight, what does it matter if you piss away you money.<br />n<br />nThere is a second article in the paper about the Jail supporters <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/12/12/news/state/21-jailbackers.txt">trying to get support from the Hardin business community</a>. You will note they don't say they got the support, just that they were looking for it. Another interesting little tidbit.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>The 12 members agreed to send a letter to the Big Horn County Commission, asking the board to support the project or explain why it will not do so. The chamber board is expected to complete a letter to the commissioners next week, so the members can get on an agenda and attend a meeting to get the response before the first of the year.<br />n<br />nThe county has not thrown support to the project, including declining to sign an interlocal agreement to partner with Two Rivers so the facility would qualify as multijurisdictional.</blockquote><br />n<br />nSo, the County doesn't appear to be supporting this. Not a surprise to me. The city of Hardin and the County have had a very contentious relationship over the years with the city screwing the county over every chance they get and the County is very tired of it. It will be interesting to see if the County responds to the letter.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>They said the lawsuit is the only option left for Hardin.</blockquote><br />n<br />nShould we translate this a little bit? Since they can't get any local support from Legislators to change the law, which would be the appropriate way to handle this, we are going to have to rely on a sympathetic Judge to get our point across. <br />n<br />nI note that they filed suit in Helena and not in Hardin for this little legal action. Does that say something about the local perception of the Jail, Two Rivers Authority, and some of the backers of the jail mentioned in the story? I'll guarantee you it does. <br />n<br />nLocal politics and old feuds, ain't they fun.<br />n<br />n<strong>That action is best which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers. Francis Hutcheson </strong>