Page 9
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Fear of job loss casts pall over courthouse
(Continued from page 1)
a volunteer coordinator have
also been lost, Daniel said.
However, those resigna-
tions were anticipated, and
not necessarily related to
pressing funding issues.
Still, Daniel admits that
many deputies are preparing
for the proverbial pink slip.
“All of a sudden, every-
body is down about the pos-
sibility of layoffs,” said the
lame duck top county offi-
cer. “There’s big uncertainty
in Josephine County.”
Daniel said that even
though he isn’t expecting
any “mass resignations,”
potential cuts “may end
county government as we
know it today.” Sheriff’s
patrol, detective and record
clerk positions would be
lost, making it extremely
difficult to perform even the
most basic law enforcement.
“We’re looking at losing
three-fourths of the depart-
ment,” Daniel said. “It would
be an absolute disaster.”
The Josephine County
Community Justice Dept. is
currently processing more
than 1,000 felony cases, said
Deputy Director Abe Hunt-
ley. It handles parole, proba-
tion, community service and
work crews involving adult
and juvenile offenders.
Huntley said that al-
though the adult programs
are funded “almost entirely”
by the state, countywide cuts
would cause a “ripple effect
across the entire system.”
“We lose the ability to
do our job effectively if our
partner agencies lose fund-
ing,” Huntley said.
“It is a system,” he said.
“If the D.A.’s office is af-
fected, we will be, and if the
jail is affected, we will be.”
Like many departments,
the district attorney’s office
relies heavily on the
county’s general fund. But
fewer prosecutions would
eventually mean bad news
for Community Justice,
which receives state funding
according to the number of
cases it handles.
“If the courts shut down
today, we would be fine for
a while,” Huntley said. “But
we would eventually lose
our referral source.”
Huntley said the depart-
ment has one vacancy right
now, but that filling it may
be somewhat difficult under
existing circumstances.
“It’s hard to recruit
good, quality people with
the state of flux the county
is in,” Huntley said. “It takes
a long time to recruit good
people, hire, train and get
them on the job.”
The county’s work crew
program would be immedi-
ately affected by budget
cuts, Huntley said, along
with other crucial supervi-
sory functions.
“It affects our ability to
sanction people to work
crew and community ser-
vice,” Huntley said. “The
people we supervise realize
that if we arrest them for
failing their terms, we will
have to release them.”
Planning sessions have
been scheduled among
county agencies and offi-
cials to try and prepare for
the worst. Josephine County
commissioner-elect Dave
Toler, an Illinois Valley
resident, said that he will
begin attending those ses-
sions in an attempt to work
out some sort of a solution.
“We have to come up
with better ways to do
things and come up with the
resources to deliver services
Honesty
to the people of the county,”
Toler said.
The commissioner-elect
said that he is “cautiously
optimistic” that Congress
may renew the O&C fund-
ing for one more year. He
plans to help lobby mem-
bers of Oregon’s delegation.
However, Toler said
that the county ultimately
will have to become more
self-reliant and stop depend-
ing on the federal govern-
ment to pay its bills.
“Beyond any doubt,
we’re looking at having to
rely more on ourselves to
provide resources to some
of the services the county
delivers,” he said. “I don’t
necessarily think that’s all
bad,” Toler said.
“I really believe in self-
reliance, and I believe in
local control. If there’s
money coming in from
D.C., we really do lose local
control.” he said.
Commissioner Jim Raf-
fenburg said that there is
“zero chance” that the fed-
eral government will turn
the O&C lands over to local
counties. But he said there
may be room for some sort
of compromise.
“From a practical stand-
point, we have a much bet-
ter chance to persuade the
BLM to let us manage the
land in a trust,” Raffenburg
said. “There may be some
serious interest in that in
Washington.”
However, until a solu-
tion can be found, county
employees will continue
trying to do their jobs as
best they can -- although
that may prove difficult.
“It’s hard to do your
best work when you’re plan-
ning for a worst-case sce-
nario,” Huntley said.
- Story and photo by
Scott Jorgensen
In the letter, Reedy re-
quested that the city allow
the developer to bond for
the project’s sidewalks be-
cause “sidewalks installed
before construction begins
get broken up and need to
be replaced anyway.”
The estimated cost of
the sidewalks is $19,906,
and the driveway ap-
proaches will cost $20,400,
Reedy wrote. As such,
Reedy suggested a bond in
the amount of $41,000.
In a Nov. 9 response
letter to Reedy, Polk wrote
that the city would require a
bond of $60,459 “to allow
for the additional costs that
may be incurred by the city
in the event the bond must
be utilized.”
During Monday’s meet-
ing, Polk said that the city
has received the bond.
Councilor Tom Green
moved to approve the plat,
on the condition that Cope-
land could prove that the
property’s two abandoned
wells have been filled.
Councilor Dan Fiske sec-
onded the motion, which
was then approved.
The council also voted
5-0 to accept the project’s
infrastructure, as well as a
sanitary sewer lift station.
In a Nov. 27 letter to the
Steve Lyons
As Grants Pass rural
neighborhoods are annexed,
residents who had previ-
ously subscribed to fire pro-
tection services cancel them.
Once they are in city limits,
citizens pay city taxes and
receive city services, includ-
ing police and fire protec-
tion from the Grants Pass
Dept. of Public Safety.
Two of the proposals
involve establishing a fire
district without taxation.
Committee member Brett
Fillis, of the Applegate Val-
ley Fire District, said that
any annexation would re-
duce service subscriber num-
bers under those options.
Haugen pointed out that
the county has many parcels
zoned for forest use. As such,
the Oregon Dept. of Forestry
(ODF) provides fire protection
for neighbors of those areas.
“There’s no reason for
those people to participate in
the district,” Haugen said.
Another option would
be to establish a fire district
with taxation, but allow the
district to operate independ-
ently. Fillis said that such an
option would solve the prob-
lem of some neighbors not
participating in the district.
However, concerns
were raised that establishing
a fire district would be a
lengthy process.
The Fire Protection
Committee will meet again
on Thursday, Dec. 21 at
4:30 p.m. in Room 157 of
the county courthouse. The
public can attend.
Dependability
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city, James Armstrong of
The Forks development
company requested that the
city take over ownership of
the lift station “effective
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recommended accepting the
infrastructure, which Polk
said will serve 200 lots.
Polk added that the ap-
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Fire protection for rural areas under study
(Continued on page 9)
Integrity
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Belleau Woods subdivision plat OK’d by CJ
By SCOTT JORGENSEN
IVN Staff Writer
During its Dec. 11
meeting in city hall, the
Cave Junction City Council
voted 5-0 to approve a final
plat request for the Belleau
Woods Subdivision.
The 12-unit develop-
ment will be located off
Burgundy Lane.
According to a Nov. 1
letter from Copeland Pav-
ing’s Jerry Reed to City Re-
corder Jim Polk, all work on
the project is complete
“except for sidewalks and a
final punch list from (public
works supervisor) Gary
Biggs.”
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