4
community
june5
2014
What Happens Now that the Levy Has Passed?
By Sheriff Jeff Dickerson
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Dr. Ken Cox
Jeff Dickerson
Steven Leskin
Stacey Lynn
Gayle Rich-Boxman
Ernie Smith
Michal Smith
Grant Williams
All the plans we were making to
close the jail came to an immediate halt
last month after the voters passed the
$7 million levy to keep our jail going
for the next three years. Our effort and
energy leading up to the vote had been
devoted to getting everything in place
for what would have been a very quick
closure if the levy had been defeated.
Once the levy revenue is figured
into the equation, we will begin in earnest
to reverse direction. This will take some
doing, initially, as the jail remains on
life support due to low staffing. There
is a long process that must be initiated
Photography
Gayle Rich- Boxman
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Vernonia’s Voice is published
on the 1st and 3rd Thursday
of each month.
before we can begin
hiring staff, but we
have
contingency
plans in place to fill
gaps until we can begin
the hiring process.
We
also
have several vendor
contracts that need
to be renegotiated, as
we had let them lapse
pending the vote,
continuing on a month-
to-month basis. Now
that we know we will be in business, we
need to start afresh with new contracts
for food, inmate telephones, and inmate
medical.
We need to
upgrade our software
for jail inspections and
jail management, and
it will be better to do
that now, than while
we are in the hiring
process. The Board
of
Commissioners
also will empanel
the citizen review
committee that the
commissioners were
talking about during the election
campaign. I am hoping for a good cross-
section of individuals to sit on the panel,
and I also hope those who voted against
the levy will be well-represented.
The fact is that this county is
pretty much divided on using additional
tax money to support the jail. We need
to develop a long-term strategy to fund
the jail, and we need to build consensus
around a solution that will work for
longer than three years. Let us work
together to build consensus for a safer,
more secure community for our future.
Columbia
County Passes
Jail Funding
Vernonia’s Voice, LLC
PO Box 55
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-367-0098
Columbia County citizens
voted in favor of a tax levy to support
funding their county jail.
In a close vote, Measure
5-238 won by just 296 votes or 1.26%.
A total of 11,768 votes were cast.
In other local election
news, County Commissioner Henry
Heimuller and Wayne Mayo ended
their race in a virtual deadlock, with
Heimuller outpacing Mayo 5,341
votes to 5,278. There were 92 write in
votes meaning neither Heimuller nor
Mayo received the necessary 50% of
the vote to secure election. A run off
will take place in November.
In the two contested judges
races, incumbent for Judge of the Cir-
cuit Court, Pos. 3 Jenefer Grant easily
handled a write-in challenge by Ag-
nus Petersen, winning almost 80% of
the vote. In the race for Judge of the
Circuit Court, Pos. 1, Jean Martwick
received 37.67% of the vote while
Cathleen Callahan received 36.39%
of the vote. Jason Heym finished
third with 24.72 of the vote. A run off
will be held in November.
www.VernoniasVoice.com
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