Mitchell, Faber differ on jail size, video gambling

In Jim Mitchell and Chris Faber, Kane County residents in District 9 have two candidates for county board who don't agree on much. That includes some of the key positions they've taken in their political careers.

For instance, Faber believes Mitchell and the county board made an obvious mistake in building a new jail that didn't have enough beds for the number of inmates the county had on the day it opened. Mitchell played a leading role in designing the new jail. Faber points to the county spending upward of $90,000 in September to house overflow inmates in other county jails. Meanwhile, mothballed “shell space in the jail goes unused. Faber likes Sheriff Pat Perez' idea of trying to open up extra space in the jail and renting beds to federal law enforcement officials for their inmates to make a profit.

“If we would've done it right and opened those spaces initially, we would have been able to do it for less than it's going to cost us now, Faber said. “The money that could be made from holding federal prisoners in our county rather than the money we're paying to ship them out to other counties ... sometimes you've got to think long-term. That's what we're all here for, trying to save taxpayer dollars.

Mitchell says it's unlikely the county would be able to get a federal contract and make money from extra bed space. In reality, the county can't afford the personnel costs of opening the shell space, he said.

“The key is to get the judges to manage the jail population for the people that don't need to be there, Mitchell said. “I don't mean to say they haven't. But I think a couple judges have forgotten where the economy is at.

Mitchell said it makes no sense to keep people in jail for up to five days because they can't afford to pay the bail. At five days, it often costs the county more to house the inmate than the actual bail amount.

But Faber says the idea of the county board telling judges what they should do to help the county save money doesn't sit right with him.

“Judges are judges, Faber said. “They make their own decisions.

While Faber is against Mitchell's stance on the jail, Mitchell said he's against Faber's stance on video gambling. Mitchell voted against legalized video gambling in Kane County. He doesn't believe the constituents of his district favor video gambling as a way for government to make money. Faber agrees with that, but also believes District 9 residents wants jobs more than anything right now.

“I don't really love video gambling, but that's what the state gave us, and that's how it works, Faber said. “It's the key mechanism of the capital bill, and I want to create jobs. If that's the only place where I can create jobs, then I would vote in favor of that.