JAIL, DRUG TREATMENT TOP ISSUES IN RACE FOR DOUGLAS BOARD Carole Woods Harris hopes to be re-elected to the Douglas County Board so she can bring to light a tough issue she says the board hasn't fully addressed. Her opponent, Jay Woods, says he should represent District 3 on the County Board because he has the scientific knowledge to tackle problems most commissioners don't even realize they will have to face. Harris, a Democrat, is seeking her third term representing District 3, which covers a northeast portion of Omaha. If re-elected, Harris said, her top priority would be taking a stronger leadership role in getting the board to address problems at the county jail. "My greatest disappointment is that the board has not been open in trying to really understand what's going on at corrections," she said. "My guess is that I may be the only one who continually receives complaints about working conditions for the employees, as well as conditions for the inmates." Harris said she believes the county should hire an outside agency to evaluate the jail's operations. "In a facility where safety is one of the primary concerns, employee morale and conflict among key employees can be detrimental to safety," said Harris. Harris, 60, a retired US West employee, ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1989. "I didn't win, but it laid the groundwork for something else in the future," she said. She served as chairwoman of the County Board in 1998. She currently serves as chairwoman of the board's administrative services committee and as a member of Ak-Sar-Ben Future Trust. Harris said she enjoys being a county commissioner because it allows her to help make decisions that help the most vulnerable residents. "I try to continually remind myself that I'm here because of the responsibility the county has to the citizens," she said. Harris said she is most proud of the leadership she has provided concerning health and human services, especially through her involvement with the Eastern Nebraska Human Services Agency. She said she wants to make sure the Douglas County Health Department continues to provide services to the community. "From time to time, people talk of privatizing the Health Department," she said, "but a county this size should have a public health department." Woods, a Libertarian, said as a county commissioner he would urge the board to address the county's drug problem. "The war on drugs is insane," said Woods, 57. Instead of sending people who have been convicted of nonviolent drug offenses to jail, Woods said, they should be sent to drug treatment centers. However, in order to do this, he said the county needs to invest in more drug treatment centers. "It's 10 times as effective to use drug treatment, instead of housing people in jail," he said. Harris agreed, saying that "the drug court has proven to be an excellent example of how much we can do to divert people who don't need to be in jail away from being inmates in corrections." The drug court is where nonviolent drug offenders receive treatment instead of jail time. Woods, who graduated from Stanford University in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in physical science, has worked for the U.S. Strategic Command and other federal and private agencies. He also has education in the fields of computer science, chemistry, molecular biology and statistics. He currently works as a computer consultant for area businesses. Woods said he is concerned about the depletion of the world's natural resources. In the future, he said, the board will have to take a stand on whether electrical power that serves the county's residents comes from nuclear or coal plants. "The board doesn't have the expertise to judge the difference," he said. "In terms of these kinds of problems, the board is less served by Carole Woods Harris. I think we are switching from a time when her skills were needed on the board to a time when someone like myself is needed."
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