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| Online news for Grants Pass, Oregon | |
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In a meeting lasting over five hours, Gilbertson and 17 citizens discussed prioritization of their concerns and budgetary issues including a levy that has been proposed by Josephine County Commissioners. The meeting was held at the request of Gilbertson and most in attendance were members of I Love Grants Pass.com, a community forum web site. Gilbertson described the current situation in Josephine County as "lawless" and said that the purpose of the meeting was to find out what prioritization of services was most important based on budgetary constraints. Gilbertson said there are a maximum of three deputies on duty during any given shift responsible for patrolling Josephine County which is 1,624 square miles in size. Under one budgetary proposal, Gilbertson said he would like to expand patrol to include 24-hour coverage with two deputies per substation with the county divided into three coverage areas: Cave Junction, Merlin and Grants Pass. Josephine County is facing the loss of O&C funds, a timber subsidy program that expired in September. County Commissioners are bringing a levy to the voters in May, the specifics of which have not been finalized at this time. At 55 cents per thousand of assessed value, Josephine County has one of the lowest permanent tax rates in the state of Oregon. State law puts a five-year limit on special levies. Gilbertson said one possibility was to separate the levy request into two parts to address concerns that city residents would end up paying for patrols outside of city limits. Under this scenario, a $9.2 million levy could be separated into $6.7 million for "jail/other" and $2.5 million for "patrol only." "The levy was not by my request," Gilbertson said. "I will take whatever you put on my plate." Gilbertson laid out scenarios based on three possible budgets. Under the worst case scenario, he said, the department would be staffed with 37 positions and none would be allocated to patrol. Under this scenario jail capacity would be 20 to 30 beds, he said. Under the same budget with O&C funding, Gilbertson said the status quo coverage of up to three deputies on any shift patrolling the entire county would be maintained. Department personnel strength under this budget would be 88 positions. Under this scenario jail capacity would be 140 beds, he said. The third scenario is based on project revenue of $9.2 million yearly if a levy is approved by the voters. Under this scenario, 24/7 patrol coverage would be increased to two deputies at three substations throughout the county. Gilbertson said it would also allow the jail to operate at 80% of capacity, or 210 beds or more. This scenario would put department personnel strength at 122 positions. Gilbertson said this would basically restore the department to year 2000 levels when personnel strength was 118.4 positions. Gilbertson said that increasing the jail cap would help reduce failure to appear violations, as currently there is no incentive to post a bond since inmates know they will be released soon due to jail cap levels. Gilbertson said that at $800 each, with 3,000 failure to appear violations in 2006, this could potentially save taxpayers up to $1 million yearly. During the meeting Gilbertson also presented his goals for the department: - Promote public safety by providing basic services through partnerships between law enforcement and citizen involvement. - Promote sustainable funding through all resources available. - Evolve into a full service agency. - Stability through a succession plan and training. Gilbertson said that he will focus on "excellence in service," a phrase that he said he plans to have painted on patrol cars. During the brainstorming session that followed, participants identified these concerns, in order of importance: funding, jail system, patrol/enforcement, community action, public relations and information technology. On the net: Josephine County Sheriff's Department http://www.co.josephine.or.us/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=12 I Love Grants Pass.com http://www.ilovegrantspass.com Disclosure Statement: I Love Grants Pass.com is owned by Rogue Valley Group which also owns and operates the Grants Pass Climate web site. Reach reporter Tim Burleson at 761-0195 or tim@grantspassclimate.com Copyright © 2007 Grants Pass Climate Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums.
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