County officers from throughout the nation wrapped up their annual winter assembly within the nation’s capital Monday with a speech from President Biden and for some, a slate of ultimate conferences.
About a half dozen county commissioners from Oklahoma attended the National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference this yr. One commissioner from Rogers County (Ron Burrows) was pushing for everlasting funding for the maintenance of inland ports and waterways, whereas one other, from Oklahoma County, took the chance to fulfill with specialists on jail development.
Related Story: Rogers County Commissioner Lobbies D.C. For Dedicated Waterway Funding
“And they’ve been very gracious this week in educating me on some of the pitfalls and stuff to watch out for,” stated newly elected Oklahoma County Commissioner Myles Davidson.
Commissioner Davidson is speaking about his conferences with representatives from the National Institute of Corrections, which he says is providing to assist with the county’s plans to interchange its long-troubled detention heart, a undertaking that voters green-lighted final yr by approving a $260 million bond challenge.
“We released $40 million in bonds just last Monday,” stated Davidson in an interview Tuesday morning, “that’s going to allow us to do the architect search, it’s going to allow us to search for a property to put it on…it’s stage number one.”
As issues with the present jail proceed unabated, Davidson says velocity is essential, however not on the expense of hiring the best folks.
“We were able to talk [with NIC] about the importance of hiring a construction manager that will allow us to work specifically on the jail,” Davidson defined, “and somebody who has experience in building jails across the country.”
Davidson was anticipating to overlook President Biden’s speech this afternoon, as he already had conferences arrange with members of the state’s congressional delegation to speak about what he says is one other precedence — getting funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fill the county’s $70 million development backlog.
It’s actually vital,” Davidson said. “They’re going to be champions for us right here, so coming to them and telling them precisely what we want and letting their workers know what we want.”
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