To the editor:

One big lesson that should be learned from the jail/crisis center vote is don’t lie.

I thought there were valid arguments on both sides of the question, and I was wrestling with my decision. My wife was settled on no for quite a while. Her reasoning was there are better alternatives than incarceration for many problem individuals. If you build a larger jail it just gets filled up again. She had two Vote No signs stolen from our yard. Who would imagine people engaged in criminal behavior supporting a larger jail?

In the months leading up to the vote a great number of people asked that the jail expansion and the creation of a mental health crisis center be presented as two separate issues. County leaders said a number of times they were legally bound to combine the questions and were unable to have separate ballot questions.

What nailed down my no vote was when our county leaders finally said that actually they were not legally required to combine the two issues.

I felt I was lied to and had to vote no regardless of the merits of the question passing.

Bad behavior cannot be rewarded.