Katelyn Cordero is reporting for the Poughkeepsie Journal the Dutchess County Legislature voted July 9, to move forward with its jail bond authorization by defeating a resolution that called for lawmakers to cancel more than $132 million in previously authorized funding for a new facility. The measure was rejected on vote of four in favor and eight against. Many county legislators said they are tired of “kicking the can down the road” on a jail that is “failing,” while others called on their constituents to find alternative solutions to the jail. Democrat Poughkeepsie town representative Rebecca Edwards said the defeated resolution is not the end of the road for the project. She said she hopes the discussions will continue, beginning with the board meeting scheduled for next week. “Everyone is saying that we want to have new programs in the new jail, we want the new jail to be more supportive of people returning to our community with rehabilitative services, so we really need to have a serious conversation, what are those programs, which ones work, what are we paying for…we hope to initiate that conversation,” Edwards said. According to Deputy County Executive William O’Neil the jail requires “millions” of dollars in repairs and its inefficient design requires a staff of 249 people. The new jail would allow the county to eliminate between 90 and 100 positions, saving more than $4 million annually. Before the vote was taken, nearly 100 people assembled outside on Market Street in Poughkeepsie, in front of the Dutchess County Administrative Building, in protest of the construction of a new jail. Read the full story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.