This Monday marked the first meeting of Monroe County’s community justice response committee (CJRC) after the membership was revised by county commissioners—to include all three commissioners, reduce the number of judges from four to two, but not add any representatives from Bloomington city government.
The previous couple of meetings had been contentious.
And much of the friction centered on the makeup of the group, which is supposed to be responding to the work of two consultants, released to the county government more than 18 months ago.
The meetings were contentious enough to prompt a rebuke of the committee from various quarters. Friction between the judicial and the executive branch surfaced about how input is treated from different people at the table, and how information is shared.
That friction surfaced at a previous meeting when county commissioner Lee Jones told circuit court judge Catherine Stafford, “I’m sorry, Catherine, would you please stop interrupting me.”
This Monday, it was Stafford who was asked by committee co-chair county commissioner Penny Githens to get the meeting started with some remarks.
The way Githens cued up Stafford’s speaking turn made it plain she wanted to start a new chapter: “I was chatting with my friend judge Stafford recently, and I was going to ask her if she would start the meeting off with just a few brief sentences.”
Stafford responded by alluding to some of the rocky terrain the committee had traversed: “I think that talking more is always a good antidote to talking less, or talking crosswise.” Continue reading “Jail committee tries to turn page on infighting: “Talking more is always a good antidote to talking less or talking crosswise.””