It’s good to see one mainstream media outlet follow up on Scott Yost’s Rhino analysis of the Kimme Report, the 2005 study concluding that Guilford County needs a new $105 million jail. You have to wonder if anyone else is going to follow suit or if they’re just going to let the Rhino dominate coverage of this very complex and expensive issue.
Yost reports that, after concluding that Guilford did indeed need a new jail, Kimme & Associates attempted to get the contract to design the new jail.
No big deal, says the sheriff’s department:
Major Debbie Montgomery, with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department, who was on the architectural firm selection committee, said the fact that Kimme & Associates conducted the study and then applied for the contract to design the new jail does not invalidate the results of the study.
“The study is still good,” she said.
She said there are firms that study jail situations that are not in the business of building jails, but she added that it was not uncommon for a firm that built jails to conduct studies on whether a new jail was needed.
“That’s the nature of the beast,” she said.
Honestly, Montgomery is right. These conflicts of interest have become so common that they’re basically accepted as standard mode of operation by most public officials. That leaves the public at large and the media to question the ethics of such operations. I guess it’s a good thing the Rhino is living up to the nature of the beast that once was the media.
