#6 Jail bond issue receives 79 percent approval

RED OAK — After years of failed referendums, aborted studies, a fired consulting firm, and one jail break, Montgomery County voters finally had enough and overwhelmingly approved a $5.6 million jail bond proposal in August.

The bond issue will pay for a law enforcement center that includes a 15-cell, 24-bed jail, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Red Oak Police Department, and the E-911 Communications Center.
 “I can say this personally, I thought the people of Montgomery County, if they knew the facts, would have to vote yes … and 79 percent knew the facts,” said Clint Rubey, co-chair of the Citizens for a Safer Montgomery County committee that promoted the bond issue. “I’m proud today to live in Montgomery County.”
The final vote tally was 1,402-367 in favor of the facility.
Committee member Roger Ehmke, a member of the original jail committee first formed in the 1990s, said it seemed a long road when they first started, adding he was glad the vote wasn’t close.
“It’s great though to see this big of a percentage one way or another, so there is no doubt about what we need to do,” he said. “It’s been a very long process, but a very worthwhile one.”