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."