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Legislature accepts CGR jail assessment; approves $15,000 contract increase amid procedural debate
Summary
The Legislature voted to accept the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) assessment of the Tompkins County Jail and later approved a $15,000 amendment to the CGR contract to cover extra interviews and analysis. Members debated whether to 'commend' or merely 'thank' the contractor and raised procurement concerns about the additional work.
The Legislature moved to accept the CGR report assessing options to address the county jail's future. Rich John, the committee chair, framed the motion as an acceptance of the report rather than adoption of recommendations, noting that ‘‘accepting’’ lets the Legislature decide which items to pursue.
An amendment to change the resolution language from “commending” CGR to a less effusive phrasing was proposed and debated; members split along lines of confidence in parts of the report. The amendment failed, and the Legislature accepted the report. Separately, the Legislature considered an OTR to increase the CGR contract by $15,000 to cover substantially more interviews and data work than the original scope anticipated. Some members argued CGR should have renegotiated earlier; others said the county benefited from the additional work. The increase passed with several no votes noted.
