Community Corner
Johnson County Justice Center Proposal Fails with 54 Percent of Vote: Daily Iowan Reader, May 8
Also inside: Mason discusses cambus accident, Iowa baseball loses to Neb.-Omaha, Campaign supports entrepreneurs.
After more than 12 tumultuous years of back-and-forth divisive debate regarding the treatment of Johnson County’s growing judicial and jail demands, a $43.5 million bond referendum was defeated Tuesday evening, leaving plans for a new justice center in the dust.
The bond referendum gathered 13,648 votes with 54 percent voting in favor of the plan. A 60 percent supermajority was needed for the measure to pass. In all, 7,394 ballots were cast to push the two-tier project forward, while 6,226 voted to deny the measure.
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Longtime advocate and Johnson County Supervisor Terrence Neuzil said the next step for government officials is to hold a May 14 meeting to begin the process of mulling the facilities’ future.
“I have a responsibility for the safety, health, and welfare of our employees and the public, and I want to see some immediate changes to the Courthouse and to the jail to address that,” he said. “If anybody thinks by voting no the issue is going away — actually, in the long run it’s going to get more difficult and more expensive from here on out. We’ve got a lot of work ahead.”
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