Both the city and county are in the throes of budget discussions and decisions, and the coming week is pivotal. For those interested in the question of whether the city will build a new jail for misdemeanor offenders — potentially, on one of two southeast West Seattle sites that are on the current “final four” list — there’s word of a budget-related comment opportunity, from Danina Garcia of Real Change, which has been working with jail opponents citywide:

On Monday the city council will have a series of budget meetings to discuss and vote on the “green sheets” before coming to a final budget decision. One of the things before the council is a budget proviso. This proviso would put a hold on 3 million of the 4.5 the mayor requested to move forward on the jail in 2009. This 3 million could not be spent until a panel, which would include people from outside the government, investigated and reported back on whether and how a new jail could be avoided completely, while increasing public safety and public order, if investments were made into preemptive social services, pre-arrest diversion programs and pre-booking programs. There will be a brief public comment period available before the start of business at 9:30 am Monday morning in City Council chambers.

The budget decisions are pretty much all going to be made on Monday; the final vote by the budget committee and then by the full council later in the week are procedural and largely formalities. So this is a prime opportunity to put a stop on expenditures that we don’t need and that will damage neighborhoods and lives.

If you can’t attend the council meeting, there are multiple ways to comment on this issue (or any other) – you’ll find all the info and links you need, by going to the City Council‘s main webpage.