2018 election
october18
2018
Meet the Candidates : Vernonia Mayor,
City Council, and Columbia County Sheriff
useful.
Hobart said he looks for some-
one who has done the job before or has
experience.
When asked about empty build-
ings in town and what they would do to
recruit new business, Hobart said small
businesses come and go in this com-
munity and the town is still in recovery
mode following the floods of 1996 and
2007 and the economic crash. He said
he is encouraged with the current busi-
nesses and said a lot of good things are
happening. He’s optimistic about Verno-
nia’s future.
Hult said she’s involved in
county tourism and economic develop-
ment because it’s important for Vernonia
to be strong in those areas. She said that
takes strong, collaborative relationships.
She said it’s important to understand
what new businesses want and need and
then be welcoming, help educate them,
and provide resources when they ex-
press interest in locating here.
Allen said he has seen Vernonia
in worse shape and is optimistic about the
future. He said there are plans for reno-
vations at several empty properties. He
said Vernonia does not have big industry
but relies on small cottage industries and
businesses, along with being a bedroom
community for Portland and Hillsboro.
He said bike trails have helped the com-
munity and brought in tourism. He said
attracting people to community events
like the Salmon Festival can help busi-
nesses grow and thrive. “We want Port-
landers to come out, spend their money,
and then go back to Portland.”
Seager said he did not believe
it was the direct responsibility of the
Council to work on filling empty build-
ings, but he agreed that the City should
have a positive image at City Hall and
work with people as they go through the
Planning Commission or getting licens-
es to get new businesses started.
Webb said he also did not think
it is the role of the City to promote busi-
ness growth, but they should be accom-
modating, provide rules and regulations,
and make it as easy as possible if some-
one is interested.
Columbia County Sheriff
Current Columbia County Patrol
Lieutenant Brian Pixley of Scappoose
has 21 years of public safety experience,
with 15 years working in Columbia
County where he has worked as a
jail deputy and a marine deputy for
the Sheriff’s Office, and as a City of
Scappoose Patrol Officer. He says as
a current member of the department
he has a unique insight, understands
what changes are needed, and what
needs to be done to implement those
changes. He said it’s important for the
Sheriff’s Office to regain the commu-
nity’s trust.
Dave Brown is a former
Criminal Investigator with the U.S.
Treasury Department, former Super-
visory Deputy with the U.S. Mar-
shals office with experience han-
dling housed prisoners and manag-
ing detention funds, and is a former
Columbia County Deputy. He has
34 years of law enforcement experi-
ence and a Bachelors Degree in Busi-
ness Administration from Oregon
State University. Brown says he was
asked to run for Sheriff by a number of
people in the county who felt it was time
for a change, and time to repair relation-
ships with the community and “get past
the chaos that has ensued during the last
few years.”
James Gibson of Clatskanie is
a lifelong resident of Columbia County
who is a former Columbia County jail
Commander who also ran for Columbia
County Commissioner in 2012. He cur-
rently operates his own private inves-
tigation firm. He has been a volunteer
with the American Red Cross and was
most recently deployed to help with re-
covery efforts from Hurricane Florence.
Gibson says it’s important for the Sher-
iff’s Office to rebuild relationships.
When asked what specific
changes they would try to implement
to current policies and practices at the
Sheriff’s Office, Pixley said the office
needs more accountability. He said he
would ensure that deputies spend a cer-
tain number of hours patrolling rural
areas, with a liaison officer assigned to
each community. He said he would im-
plement a citizen review board for ethics
and policy violations by staff. He said
it was important for the Sheriff’s Office
to have a clear mission and goals and
important to ensure that deputies were
working towards those goals. He said it
was important to raise hiring standards.
Pixley said a resident deputy program,
where deputies live in rural communi-
ties they serve, would be too costly and
wouldn’t work. He said a service agree-
ment with the City of Vernonia to pro-
vide coverage when no police officers
are on duty has worked well, and he
would like to consider expanding that.
He said supervisors need to be out in the
field and not in the office. He said trans-
parency needs to be improved, as does
accountability for deputies. “I want to
open our doors and show the people the
great things we’re doing.”
Gibson said he would institute a
citizen’s committee to assist in the hiring
process for personnel. He said he would
like to see deputies assigned to specific
areas and communities, especially in the
rural areas of the County, so they get
to know the people in the community,
and the community gets to know their
deputy. He said all patrol cars should be
labeled so citizens know a deputy is in
FOR TOWING EMERGENCIES
IN AND AROUND THE
VERNONIA AREA
Police and County personnel are required
to use a rotation of available providers,
UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK
for a service by name.
REQUEST TOWING SERVICE FROM
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their community. “If people see a sher-
iff there is less chance for crime,” said
Gibson. He said he would like to see a
limited timeline for paid administrative
leave and get any ethics violations in-
vestigations that are handled by outside
agencies completed as quickly as pos-
sible. He said personnel in management
positions that are under investigation
should not be allowed to take a demotion
to a union position, but should be termi-
nated. He said it was important to work
with service agencies in the County for
issues like addiction, mental health, and
homelessness. Gibson said he would
spend time with each and every deputy
in the field. He said supervisors need
to be in the field and reviewing reports,
because reporting has been inadequate.
He said the Sheriff needs to be a leader
and the department needs a strong sec-
ond-in-command. “If elected, I will be
a working Sheriff, not one sitting in an
office.”
Brown said the Sheriff’s Of-
fice has some good policies and proce-
dures, the problem is they aren’t being
followed. He said he would make sure
the jail is not holding anyone longer than
they should be. He agreed that citizens
should be involved in the hiring process
and that patrol cars should be marked.
He also said deputy reports need to be
monitored, completed as quickly as pos-
sible, and available for the people in-
volved in the complaint. Brown said he
would like to see resident deputies who
live in the rural communities and thinks
he could find money in the budget to
make it work. He said the reserve officer
program needs to be rebuilt and could
help provide coverage in rural areas and
communities. He said he would look for
a second-in-command from outside the
agency that has no previous ties to Co-
lumbia County, which would lend trans-
parency. Brown said change starts with
the Sheriff himself and said Columbia
County’s Sheriff needs to more visible
and active in the Oregon Sheriff’s As-
sociation. He said relationships need to
be repaired, specifically with the County
Commissioners and with the Columbia
County Humane Society. “Mostly it’s
mending fences and not bumping heads.
We need to work with the Commission-
ers. My approach would be to treat
them as partners and the same thing with
our police chiefs and all our citizen’s
groups.”
When asked how they thought
the Sheriff’s Office agreement with the
City of Clatskanie to provide law en-
forcement services was working and if it
might work in other areas of the County,
Gibson said half the citizens in Clats-
kanie don’t like it and don’t feel they
get adequate coverage. Gibson said he
thinks it costs the community more.
Brown said he didn’t think the
Clatskanie model is working well and
that it might work in other communities
like Vernonia, but would probably pro-
vide less coverage than the community
currently receives from their own police
department.
Pixley said the City of Clats-
kanie just asked for another half-time
position, so that shows the program is
working. He said the Sheriff’s Office is
talking with the Clatskanie and Rainier
School Districts to find funding for a
School Resource Officer to work in the
schools.
The candidates were asked how
they proposed to provide adequate and
stable funding for the jail and for patrol
deputies. Brown said the jail expendi-
tures and revenue reports need to be
analyzed and verified. He said right now
jail operations depend on general fund
money from the County budget, fund-
ing from the U.S. Marshal for housing
prisoners, and levy money approved by
tax payers – he said it might be possi-
ble to keep the jail operating with gen-
eral funds and just one of those external
sources. Brown said in order to fund
more patrol officers the Sheriff’s Office
will need either additional funding in the
County budget or funding from grants or
other outside sources. He said Columbia
County wages are not competitive for
deputies.
Gibson said duel certified patrol
deputies are being pulled from the road
to fill shifts at the jail. “With that jail
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