Dream of "New Justice" Center

I would love for Denver to have a new Justice Center. In fact, I love all of the new stuff that Denver has gotten over the last 10 years. Even the Webb Building is very cool. Denver deserves the best it can afford. And that’s the problem; we can’t afford a new Justice Center until we can afford school supplies and textbooks for our kids. I know what I’m talking about here, because I am the director of a not-for-profit educational corporation which last year raised over $3,000 in cash and $10,000 in material donations for one elementary school in my neighborhood. These kids wouldn’t have had enough money for paper and pencils without these generous donations from our local businesses and agencies. So let’s get our priorities straight. A new jail would be great. But school supplies and textbooks have to come first. And then upgraded school facilities. And then increased salaries for our teachers. And so on. We can build a new jail for the kids and the adults that they grow into after we have given them the best education we can afford. I’m guessing that if we did that we might not need so many additional jail beds.