Curry County Defeats Law Enforcement Levy

Curry County may go down in history as the first bankrupt county in Oregon, possibly by next June.  The citizens defeated a law-enforcement levy, one of 4 levies on the ballot yesterday.  They did approve a hospital bond levy and a Port Orford police levy, but shot down the law enforcement and a levy. to fund a new fire truck in Gold Beach.  The county landed a $1 million Federal Funds windfall thanks to Ron Wyden, but even with that their projected deficit is at $2 million.
The county commissioners had this to say.

Curry County Commissioner chair David Brock Smith plans to open conversations with Gov. John Kitzhaber regarding the economic status of the county after the failure of Measure 8-73 at the ballot boxes yesterday.

“The whole thing went down in flames,” he said, after a long pause. “I understand the hard economic times we’re in, that it’s difficult for citizens to look at their pocketbook and have to write out that extra check. …”

The county has enough money to fund its existing services — already basically cut in half this past year — until June 30.

Of note is that the county is down to four sheriff’s deputies, leaving most of the county without coverage during some parts of the day.

“As unfortunate as it is, we must begin conversations with the governor’s office on what those minimum adequate levels of public safety are, Smith said. “We must keep some level of civility in terms of public safety. We must keep the jail open, we must be able to keep the DA’s office whole so we can prosecute crimes other than just Measure 11 crimes.

“We must keep the juvenile department solid so we can give them the resources to preempt youth from becoming adult criminals. That’s a core service within the county, if not the core service.”

Commissioner David Itzen said he understands why voters rejected the measure, especially with three other tax questions on the ballot.

“They just couldn’t find it within their budget to make the necessary changes,” he said. “I guess we’ll need to do something again.”

That “something,” Itzen said, will likely be another question on the May ballot.