Cheers and jeers

Prison crews have been working alongside Alachua County roads without pay — which one former inmate referred to a “slave labor” in asking county commissioners to end the practice. Commissioners made the right move in doing just that.

Cheer: County commissioners, for voting unanimously last month to end contracts for unpaid inmates to perform manual labor.

The county paid nearly $497,000 last year to the state Department of Corrections for crews of inmates to do work such as moving grass, picking up litter and filling potholes. The inmates themselves aren’t paid but can earn time off their sentences for the work.

The city of Gainesville and University of Florida still have contracts with DOC for prison labor, although the city is considering ending the practice. Alachua County was the first county in Florida to make such a move, according to local labor organizers.

As they point out, the work should go to local residents for a living wage. Inmates shouldn’t necessarily be sitting around their cells idle, but should be taught skills that give them some chance at a decent job after being released.

Cheer: Meridian Behavioral Healthcare and the Gainesville Police Department, for a program that diverts people experiencing mental health issues from jail.

The program pairs GPD Officer Shelley Postle and Meridian clinician MaKenzie Boyer to respond to calls from people experiencing a mental health crisis. They have made contact on 402 calls since starting in April through November, according to GPD figures released Wednesday. They have diverted about 92 percent of these individuals from jail, saving an estimated $220,270.

Their success suggests that expanding the program would be worthwhile, as would establishing a central receiving facility where people needing mental health care can be brought by police. People in need of such care deserve adequate treatment, which they don’t get behind bars.

Jeer: The Trump administration, for a plan that would leave millions of acres of wetlands in Florida and the country without protections.

The new definition of federally protected wetlands was unveiled last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed rule is now going through a public comment period. The rollback of the Obama-era regulations would leave 51 percent of the nation’s wetlands vulnerable to development, including about 6 million acres in Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Allowing wetlands to be developed for housing, golf courses and other purposes degrades the environment as well as our water supply. Wetlands filter polluted storm runoff before it enters the aquifer, which provides drinking water for Gainesville and most of Florida.

Cheer: Gainesville city commissioners, for moving to ban the Styrofoam containers used at restaurants and plastic bags used at retail stores as part of efforts to reduce waste.

Commissioners voted Thursday to approve the ban, the first of two votes required before it would go into effect Aug. 1. The ban is a good first step in the wider efforts needed to make progress on a goal of Gainesville being zero waste by 2040. Education efforts are key in getting residents to help reduce waste.