community
from the editor
july7
2016

The Vernonia community lost
one of its young members last week.

Ariel Masog took her own life on
June 29 and her family, the community
and especially her schoolmates are left
with many questions.

It’s always sad when a small
community loses someone, and
especially tragic when it’s a young
person – even more so when it is by
suicide.

I didn’t know Ariel, and in
a small town where almost everyone
knows everyone else, I don’t know the
rest of the Masog family either, but I
think all of us feel a little bit closer to
each other when something like this
happens, even if we don’t directly know
those involved.

While I haven’t found out any
of the details of her passing, what I
have learned about Ariel is that she was
a studious girl who loved to read, who
cared about learning, and constantly
kept a journal. She was shy and kept to
herself but loved her family. She would
have been a junior at Vernonia High
School this upcoming school year.

Our thoughts are with her
family and friends as they go through
this extremely difficult time of grieving
and loss.

In today’s world we know
so much about each other, especially
about our differences and the things that
divide us like politics, religion, race,
and wealth. There is so much discord,
anger, and frustration in our country,
but my hope is that this terribly sad
situation can be an opportunity for us
to examine how we treat one another.
Maybe we can try help each other and
try to be more kind and caring towards
one another. Maybe we can try to treat
each other with more compassion,
kindness, and understanding and reach
out to those we disagree with. Maybe
we can try to be more respectful, and to
look past our differences.

We are all human and we all
just want to be loved and accepted for
who we are. A smile, a kind word, or
a nod of understanding can go a long
way, especially towards someone who
is struggling.

I know when there is a loss
through suicide there can be a lot of guilt
for the family, friends and acquaintances

In May 2014, the citizens of
Columbia County approved a levy to
provide funds to operate the Columbia
County Jail for three years. One
provision of this levy was the creation
of the Jail Operations Citizens Advisory
Committee consisting of 10 members
representing a diverse cross-section
of the County including members that
voted for and members that voted against
the levy.

Although the Committee’s
only charge is to advise the Sheriff and
the Board of County Commissioners
“concerning the proper appropriation of
jail levy funds,” the Committee believes
that the knowledge they have gained
over the past 20 months on jail financing
and operations should be shared with
the citizens of Columbia County. The
complete report, listed as JOCAC
Report, can be found in the General Link
section of the Columbia County website
(co.columbia.or.us) and on some local
city websites. Hard copies of the report
are available at all city halls and libraries
in Columbia County.

The Committee has received
thorough briefings on the budget,
jail operations, personnel hires, and
equipment upgrades and replacement in
order to verify that all funds raised by
the levy were spent on jail operations.
In examining County quarterly and year-
end financial reports the Committee
has verified that all funds raised by the
levy, and all other funds raised for jail
operations, have either been spent on jail
operations or are in an account reserved
for jail operations.

The goal of the levy was to
support a jail to house offenders in
Columbia County and with sufficient
capability to eliminate early releases.
This goal was fully met on March 12,
2015, with the cessation of early releases.
The local jail population was 81 inmates
on March 6, 2016.

Several years of underfunded
operations necessitated capital projects
to maintain safe, efficient, and cost-
effective operation of the jail. Two of
those projects, a new jail management
system, and a new transport vehicle, are
summarized in the complete report.

The uncertainty of continued
operation of the jail prior to passage of the
levy lead to the loss of several deputies.
The rigorous and time-consuming
process for a person to become a certified
deputy is described in the report.

Addressing the question of the
cost of housing U.S. Marshal Inmates
the Committee believes that the relevant
left behind. I know, I’ve been through
it in the past. It’s so hard to know what
someone needs when they are struggling
and often we are unaware they have
reached a crisis point in their lives.
While it is often our tendency to think
“what if” in these situations and think
maybe we could have, or should have,
done more to help, often the sorrowful
reality is they made a decision for
themselves.

Unfortunately the impact of that
decision is heartbreaking for those left
behind. There really isn’t much we can
do once this kind of decision has been
made, except to embrace the family with
love and caring and try to help them deal
with their grief and mend in whatever
way they need.

While there is no way to turn
back the clock, we can try to learn from
this and think about how we choose to
treat each other in the future. Can we be
more accepting, more compassionate,
more inclusive, more understanding?

That would be my hope in this
saddest of circumstances.
Scott Laird
Editor and Publisher
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
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Vernonia’s Voice is published
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Jail Operating Citizens Advisory Committee
Releases Report on Columbia County Jail Operations
question is, how do the costs of housing
U.S. Marshal Inmates, over and above
the cost of housing local inmates
compare with the $80 per day per inmate
that the County receives from the U.S.
Marshal Service. Because many of the
costs to house 80 to 100 local inmates
are fixed, the cost to house 60 U.S.
Marshal Inmates is $201,000 per year or
$9 per day per inmate. Since the County
receives $1,752,000 from the U.S.
Marshal Service, this leaves $1,551,000
to be used to reduce the cost to house
Columbia County inmates. See the report
for the detailed evaluation.

The Committee believes the
Columbia County Jail is extremely well
run. The Sheriff, Jail Commander, and
deputies are professional and are mindful
of the community’s welfare; they treat
inmates with an understanding that they
will eventually return to the community.
On the last biennial Oregon State
Sheriff’s Association comprehensive
inspection in January 2015, they were
found in compliance with 306 of 308
standards and are now in compliance
with the remaining two.
This article was provided by the Columbia
County Jail Operating Citizens Advisory
Committee.
3
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The Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Board
of Directors will meet Tuesday,
July 19, 2016 at 7:00 pm at the
Main Station, 12525 HWY 202,
Mist, OR. Agenda items include
but are not limited to usual order
of business, citizen input, Fire
Chief’s report, financial reports
and any other business needing
to be discussed.
William DeJager
-Board President
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