To the editor:

Before the county spends $163 million of our tax money, we need to know that all options short of incarceration have been exhausted. Instead we see a media campaign based on fear and threats, warning us of dire consequences if we don’t vote to approve the sales tax. Douglas County desperately needs a mental health crisis center, but we should not be held hostage with its jailhouse shackle.

The county’s talking points and strategies are directly from Treanor Architect’s website treanorhl.com/thinking/building-public-support-jail-projects. Believing that our commissioners are good people wanting to do good work, it is difficult to think of them as puppets of Treanor’s marketing. Treanor will profit from this expansion while many of the individuals locked up will face life-changing disruptions.

So while our county commissioners and others in leadership use Treanor’s strategies, (“leverage media relationships,” “make the cost less painful,” “time the election carefully”…) we encourage all voters to think through this important choice without the slick sell. Follow the money, and question the propaganda.