Page 4
(Continued from page 3)
they became responsible to
someone for how they
lived, how they treated
other people, how they
treated animals, and how
they treated the environ-
ment.
As our culture has de-
teriorated many people
have asked, “Why?” The
answer is simple. Fewer
and fewer people feel ac-
countable to a supreme
being. They are not God-
fearing anymore.
Oregon has a chance to
reverse this slide down
into the slime, where peo-
ple feel accountable only
to the single-cell life forms
from which they have
come to believe that they
evolved.
A petition is being cir-
culated to reinforce the
original arrangement and
to restore our roots as a
state. There will be signa-
ture-gathers present at
Selma Post Office on Sat-
urday, Aug. 23, and at the
Josephine County Bldg. in
Cave Junction on Sunday,
Aug. 24. For more infor-
mation, phone Carl Pope at
597-4648, or phone Jack
Brown, at (541) 474-9343.
‘Personal attacks’
From
J o s e p hi n e
County Sheriff Dave
Daniel
I was disappointed to
read the personal attacks
made against me by Cave
Junction Mayor Ed
Faircloth in last week’s
‘I.V. News.’ I suppose it’s
his business if he feels the
need to attack me, but a
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 20, 2003
number of remarks he
made are simply not true
and require a response.
His statement, “I don’t
think we’re getting the ser-
vice we deserve and pay
for” is inaccurate. The city
pays for one full-time (40
hour a week) deputy plus
the costs associated with
that officer, such as a vehi-
cle and equipment. It’s
obvious that the deputy
cannot be everywhere and
subject to the mayor’s
“beck and call” when you
realize there are 168 hours
in a week.
Several months ago I
assigned one of my sec-
ond-in-command officers,
Lt. Lee Harman, to oversee
the day-to-day operations
of the Illinois Valley Sub-
station.
It doesn’t cost the city
of Cave Junction a dime
for the 40 hours a week
Harman works in Down-
town Cave Junction, which
includes responding to
many calls in the city.
An additional presence
in the city comes from the
deputies assigned to the
valley who write their re-
ports and perform their
investigations at the sub-
station. The city of Cave
Junction gets far more ser-
vice than it pays for.
The mayor does a dis-
service to the people of
Cave Junction by stating,
“…I say cancel the con-
tract and pay for private
security.” As everyone
knows, our resources are
lacking. On an average
day, I’m able to field three
deputies per shift to cover
the 1,640 sq. miles of Jose-
phine County. These depu-
ties are answering calls for
service from Wolf Creek
to the California border
and serving all of the citi-
zens of Josephine County.
When a city chooses to
incorporate, I believe the
governing body and mayor
assume a responsibility for
providing basic services to
that city.
The city of Cave Junc-
tion contracts for 40 hours
a week which, while a
move in the right direction,
is far short of what is
needed. Our responsibili-
ties are to provide the best
available service to all of
the residents of the county,
which we will continue to
do.
For the mayor to sug-
gest doing away with the
only law enforcement in
the city, and replace it with
private security, is irre-
sponsible.
Regardless
of
Faircloth’s personal at-
tacks against me and the
Josephine County Sheriff’s
Office, I promise to con-
tinue to provide the best
available protection and
service to all county resi-
dents.
I’m as concerned as
everyone else about the
recent break-ins and van-
dalism in the city. Two
weeks ago, I asked Con-
cerned Fathers Against
Crime to start routine pa-
trols of the city, which are
currently taking place. I
have also directed Harman
and Deputy John Auborn
(Continued on page 5)
County tech
investigated;
on paid leave
Josephine County an-
nounced that Lisa A.
Steele, an accounting tech-
nician, has been placed on
paid administrative leave
pending a personnel inves-
tigation.
The reason for this
action is it appears that
county money has been
converted to personal use.
In addition, the Oregon
Dept. of Justice has begun
an investigation of this
matter for possible crimi-
nal charges.
At this point, the
monetary loss to the
county appears to be ap-
proximately $31,000 with
additional transactions be-
ing investigated.
Due to continuing in-
vestigation by the county
additional information can-
not be provided.
ARTISTIC EYES - Eleven Illinois Valley youths recently
participated in a unique and unforgettable project to
photograph the rebirth of the land burned during last
summer’s Biscuit Fire. The budding photographers
pictured above are (back row, from left) Patrick Lindhe,
Alyssa Person, Catherine Sullivan, Rebecca Spitler,
Erin Kelley, Sean Person and Ian Spitler, (front row,
from left) Megan Spitler, Raina Kelley, Jessica Lindhe
and Destiny Lee Viles. A ‘Letter to the Editor’ from
Erin Kelley describing her experience is on page 5).
(Photo contributed by Michael Kelley)