Opinion
A4
Thursday, June 9, 2022
OUR VIEW
Governor will
play key role
in state wildfi re
response
F
rom 1992-2001, about 199,000 acres in
Oregon burned annually in wildfi res.
From 2002-2011, about 314,000 acres in
Oregon burned annually in wildfi res.
From 2012-2021, about 720,000 acres in
Oregon burned annually in wildfi res.
You could pick diff erent breakpoints for the
years. The story would not be much diff erent.
Wildfi re has been an increasing threat. It cost
lives, homes, wildlife habitat, damage from
smoke limiting outdoor activities and the costs of
suppression.
The biggest recent response from the Oregon
Legislature was the passage of Senate Bill 762 in
2021.
“We have done something remarkable,” state
Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, said at the time,
quoted by OPB. “By we, I mean scores of people
who’ve been working collaboratively for years,
up to and including last night, to create a wildfi re
program for Oregon that rises to the scale of this
crisis.”
The bill was an accomplishment. But the more
cautious comment on the bill at the time from
state Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, was dead-on.
“This is not a one-and-done project. This is
absolutely the furthest thing from a one-and-
done,” Findley said. “If we don’t stay intimately
involved, we’re going to spend $190 million,
and we’re not going to have any results when the
smoke clears, if it clears.”
(Please note he says $190 million in that quote
but the spending in the bill is more like $220
million.)
So has Senate Bill 762 worked? It’s still too
early to tell.
It’s really going to be up to Oregon’s next gov-
ernor to follow through on the plans. That could
be interesting. The part of the bill that was argu-
ably the most contentious was wildfi re mapping.
But it’s one thing to rank areas in Oregon by
wildfi re risk. It is another thing to take that map-
ping and start telling people what to do on their
land. And the state is considering rules for what
people might be required to do on their land.
It could mean orders to clear brush and other
vegetation. It could mean stricter rules for how
homes can be built and what materials are used.
Those may be sensible things to do. Some people
will not appreciate it. One person’s excessive
undergrowth can be another’s prized landscaping.
Farmers are also worried what any new rules
might mean for them.
There’s much more than mapping and regula-
tions to the spending from the bill: wildfi re detec-
tion cameras, working with utilities to reduce risk
from power lines, suppression capacity, better
smoke monitoring, grants for residential smoke
fi ltration and the list goes on.
The good thing is baked into the bill are
requirements for reports to the Legislature about
the performance of the legislation and there are
plans to recommend improvements.
All three candidates for Oregon governor
— Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican Chris-
tine Drazan and probable independent candidate
Betsy Johnson — voted for SB 762. We will be
asking them how they will follow through on the
legislation and what else Oregon might do.
Sheriff ’s contract with Elgin ends July 1
CODY
BOWEN
OTHER VIEWS
I
would like to take a moment and
answer some questions that have
been presented lately in regards
to the Union County Law Enforce-
ment/City of Elgin contract.
The original contract to pro-
vide law enforcement services was
reached with former Elgin council
members and the former Elgin
mayor approximately 10 years ago.
This contract came about as a result
of the dissolution of the former
Elgin City Police Department.
As some of you may remember,
the city faced many struggles with
maintaining its own police depart-
ment. Problems such as personnel,
proper training, up-to-date equip-
ment and funding plagued the
department. Some of you may
recall when the offi cers were tasked
with enforcing city ordinances, the
divide and frustration that arose.
I mention these things because I
believe when we forget our history
or choose to ignore our history, we
are bound to repeat it.
Recently, Mayor Risa Halgarth
and some council members have
chosen to end the contract with
Union County Sheriff ’s Offi ce
to pursue resurrecting their own
police department. The idea of an
Elgin Police Department was fi rst
brought to my attention over a year
ago. At the end of the contract year
2020-21, the council told me they
could not aff ord the annual increase
to the contract that had been in
place. I told the mayor and council
I would freeze the contract price
for the 2021 year with the idea this
would give them another year to
plan ahead and budget accordingly
for the renewal in 2022.
In February 2022, I attended a
council meeting with the intention
of bringing to the table the renewal
of the Elgin contract. Upon pre-
sentation of the new contract, the
council advised me they still could
not aff ord the price tag for the
law enforcement services. I then
adjusted the proposed contract con-
siderably, removing any costs that I
could in order to continue the ser-
vices that Elgin is accustomed to.
When I say services, I’m referring
to the 420 hours of monthly cov-
erage provided by three full-time
deputies.
After the council had con-
cluded all budget meetings, without
including me on any of them, I
returned to the council with the
revised, less expensive proposal. At
that time I was met with complaints
“Patrol services are an extra service that rely solely on
available funding. When those services are deemed not
necessary and funding is cut by council members and
mayors, the only people to suff er are the citizens.”
— Cody Bowen, Union County Sheriff
about the service Elgin had been
receiving. Complaints from Mayor
Halgarth about illegal ATV use
within the city and truck drivers
violating a truck route. I advised
that my offi ce had received only
two ATV complaints in the last two
years and very few, if any, com-
plaints about trucks.
Mayor Halgarth also stated that
over the last few years they were
not seeing an adequate amount
of tickets being written for viola-
tions. I explained that we prefer to
correct poor driving behaviors by
education or verbal warnings and
citations as a last result, if needed.
Mayor Halgarth stated she would
prefer citations to be issued as it is
a good source of revenue and helps
fund the budget. I told her I would
not require mandatory ticket quotas
and I would leave it up to my depu-
ties’ discretion. Mayor Halgarth did
not like that answer.
Mayor Halgarth expressed dis-
satisfaction when she learned that
my deputies could not enforce city
ordinances. I suggested they drop
the city ordinances that they were
concerned with and such violations
would fall back on county ordi-
nances that we could enforce. That
idea was rejected because it would
cut into alleged revenue.
After I presented a budget that
was more than aff ordable, it was still
countered by dissatisfaction from
some council members and Mayor
Halgarth. Which told me it was
never about the money in the fi rst
place. I soon realized the excuse of
“we can’t aff ord it” was possibly a
hiding place for personal agendas.
What I have since discov-
ered in recent weeks that I would
like to bring to everyone’s atten-
tion: No matter how inexpen-
sive the contract is, Mayor Hal-
garth and some council members
will say they cannot aff ord it. Yet
they are willing to spend twice
as much to bring back their own
police, that are under the direct
control of the council and mayor.
They have stated they have applied
for grants to subsidize some of
the costs. Assuming these grants
are approved and received by the
closing date of June 30, what hap-
pens when they expire? Will you —
the taxpayer — be responsible for
these additional costs?
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Cody Bowen is the sheriff of Union County.
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I would like to apologize to the
citizens of Elgin for the upcoming
frustration you will most cer-
tainly encounter with the decision
made by the Elgin City Council
and Mayor Halgarth. As of July
1, 2022, the city of Elgin will no
longer have dedicated patrol in the
city limits from my deputies. What
this means is that any call for help
will fall on the shoulders and be
the sole responsibility of the newly
formed Elgin Police Department
and its staff .
If Elgin would like to develop
a memorandum of understanding
for cover units or assistance, they
have yet to reach out to me. Please
understand that by them canceling
the Elgin contract, I have been
forced to terminate three full-time
patrol positions that were dedicated
to Elgin. With limited staffi ng I
have directed my deputies to focus
on areas that do not have municipal
policing available. Towns such as
Cove, Imbler, North Powder, Sum-
merville, Starkey, Perry, Medical
Springs and the surrounding areas
within Union County. We will still
provide the same amount of cov-
erage to cities such as Island City
and Union who have chosen to con-
tract for additional services.
Please understand by Oregon
law my responsibilities as sheriff
are to provide jail services, civil
services and search and rescue.
Patrol services are an extra ser-
vice that rely solely on available
funding. When those services are
deemed not necessary and funding
is cut by council members and
mayors, the only people to suff er
are the citizens.
No matter what misinformation
has been circulated by the Elgin
City Council, understand that the
Union County Sheriff ’s Offi ce will
no longer provide a law enforce-
ment presence and will no longer
respond to calls for service within
the city limits of Elgin as of July 1.
When this attempt at local gov-
ernmental control fails like it did in
the past, I will be ready and willing
to establish another contract to give
you, the citizens of Elgin, the pro-
fessional, transparent service you
have been accustomed to for the
last several years.
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