The SpokeSman • WedneSday, SepTember 29, 2021 P3
Redmond’s police chief reflects on a 35-year career
BY NICOLE BALES • The bulletin
W
hen Dave Tarbet joined the Red-
mond Police Department in 2008
as a captain, he had already retired
from the Logan Police Department in Utah
after 22 years in law enforcement. He was ex-
cited to resume police work, a profession he
has known he has wanted to join since he was
9 years old.
Tarbet was appointed to interim chief in
2011 when Chief Ronnie Roberts moved
to lead the Olympia Police Department in
Washington state, and was named the police
chief later that year.
Now, after what he calls the best years of
his career, Tarbet plans to retire as Redmond’s
chief. In June, he announced his plans to re-
tire at the end of December. Devin Lewis,
who has been the department’s captain since
2019, is the only finalist to replace Tarbet.
“Working at Redmond has been one of the
most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had,” Tarbet
said. “The 14 years here have been the best of
my law enforcement career. I hired some out-
standing people and leave it in good hands,
that’s for sure.”
During his tenure, Tarbet worked to im-
prove outreach, improving partnerships with
schools, businesses and mental health part-
ners.
He created the Street Crimes Unit, which
is deployed to address property and drug
crimes, launched an online crime
reporting tool, initiated and became
the first department in the region to
use body cameras and worked to get
the department properly staffed.
Tarbet created a forensic computer
position, a role similar-sized depart-
ments often do not have, to handle
Tarbet
an increase in digital evidence. In
the last two years, the department
also added a training sergeant to oversee the
in-service training in the department and en-
hance the quality of the training, an idea initi-
ated by Lewis, Tarbet said.
He was proud to promote the first female
sergeant in the department’s history a couple
of years ago. Tarbet said the department has
continued to expand its diversity at all levels,
becoming the most diverse in Central Ore-
gon.
He also put in place a succession planning
strategy that led to his replacement being in-
house and built his current command staff.
In his time at the department, calls to help
people in crisis have grown enormously.
When he started, there were about 120 to 240
calls per year. Now, police are responding to
more than 700 crisis calls per year.
Tarbet said most of the staff has
crisis intervention training, which
has become a critical skill for law en-
forcement officers.
He also initiated the planning for
the relocation and expansion of the
police station. The facility is expected
to include a mental health triage cen-
ter and the city plans to ask voters
to approve a general obligation bond to help
fund the project in May 2022.
Tarbet said working with his team and pro-
viding mentorship and advice when needed
has been his greatest satisfaction. Tarbet is
proud to be leaving the department better
than he found it, and he credits his team for
building and moving the department for-
ward.
Lt. Jesse Petersen, a spokesman for the de-
partment, said Tarbet “has been a founda-
tional leader, instrumental in steering the ship
A TOUR OF FOOD TRUCKS
BY BILL BARTLETT
For the Spokesman
R
EDMOND — There is
a good possibility that
Redmond’s food truck
share of the city’s total din-
ing market exceeds that of the
national market on average.
Redmond has no fewer than
20 food trucks offering broad
menus with diverse cuisines
— BBQ, Asian, tacos, pizza,
seafood, Italian being the most
prevalent.
In Redmond, 11 are clustered
— seven at General Duffy’s
Waterhole and four at Wild
Ride Brewing. The others are
scattered about, such as Hock
& Jowl who are parked outside
Rimrock Taphouse on SW 17th
and Highland Avenue.
Seems that food trucks and
beer are married at the hip.
When asked, all the food trucks
we visited said that during
lunch, food is ordered first fol-
lowed by beer. It’s the reverse
for dinner.
The lunch market is heavy
on construction and blue collar
workers while dinner patrons
run the gamut of workers and
families. That’s not to say that
Redmond mom groups with
little ones in strollers don’t take
in the scene for mid-day meals.
There are as many food
trucks in Redmond as national
and regional franchised chains
like McDonald’s, Burger King,
and Pizza Hut. Google “burg-
ers” in Redmond and you’ll
get about the same number as
the number of food trucks. In
other words, street food is a big
deal in Redmond.
Nationwide there were
24,602 food trucks in the U.S.
as of January according to
market analysists IBIS World.
The number of food trucks are
growing annually at 7.5% but
bill bartlett photo
Noon time celebrants at General Duffy’s cheering to the sunny weather as they await their food truck orders.
took a huge hit in 2020 — the
cations, The Spokesman ob-
year of Covid-19 — dropping
served that Redmond street
from $1.4 billion in volume in
food followed national charac-
2019 to $1.24 billion. But that
teristics. IBIS reports that 18- to
is a much smaller percentage
34-year-olds make up 47% of
loss than all restaurants taken
customers followed by the 35-
as a whole whose sales declined 44 age group.
22% last year. Food
The Redmond
trucks are more
Food Truck Scene
Seems that food
resilient and with
is influenced by
trucks and beer
their small, mobile
Portland which is
operations, they
are married at the considered the best
are by definition
place in the coun-
hip. When asked,
nimbler and more
try to own a food
flexible.
all the food trucks truck according to
Mask man-
Truck Na-
we visited said that Food
dates and other
tion. Unlike Port-
Covid-19 abate-
during lunch, food is land, getting a food
ment measures
up and op-
ordered first followed truck
have hit indoor
erational in Red-
dining establish-
mond is compar-
by beer. It’s the
ments hard. As
atively easy with
reverse for dinner. fewer regulatory
every food truck
diner eats either
barriers to entry.
outside or takes the food home,
It’s primarily millennials who
government restrictions have
are at the helm of Redmond
not been so painful to their
food trucks. Chris and Emma
bottom line.
Leyden typify the young entre-
When watching a stream of
preneurs. Both worked at 900
diners last Friday at three lo-
Wall, a popular Bend eatery.
Chris, who hails from Charles-
ton, South Carolina, works
12 hours a day, 6 days a week
making Feast Food Company
a success.
Their menu can best be
summed as eclectic, from
snacking to vegan to full
throated protein dishes. Sure,
you can get a cheeseburger, but
the line this day is more inter-
ested in pork belly and veggies
or a charred veggie salad or
corn ribs.
“Redmond might be thought
of as a burger town,” Chris says,
noting its Western roots. “Our
customers not only expect but
return in large part because we
local source. That gets around.”
“Besides, fresh, organic is just
plain better,” said Emma Ley-
den. They update their chalk
board daily to show which area
farms are supplying that day’s
eats.
Feast Foods is in the Gen-
eral Duffy Waterhole campus.
Comprising 1.4 acres bound by
SW Canal, SW Forest Avenue
of progress at our agency.
“His steadfast leadership and mentoring
has been invaluable,” Peterson said. “We are
grateful for his commitment to this depart-
ment and our community. We wish him the
very best in his well-earned retirement.”
City Manager Keith Witcosky said he was
fortunate to work with Tarbet for most of his
time as chief.
“As he heads into retirement, he has left his
indelible traits within the department: integ-
rity, honesty, and compassion,” Witcosky said.
“You can walk anywhere in the community
and his reputation is legendary.”
Mayor George Endicott praised Tabet’s tu-
telage at the department.
“We have maintained a professional work-
force and seen our officers and staff keep
their morale, even in the face of national
upheavals in policing, and the impact of the
pandemic,” Endicott said in an email. “Chief
Tarbet is quite the fisherman, especially for
steelhead on the Deschutes River. I have
gone fishing with him a couple of occasions.
He is just as gracious out of work as he is at
work.”
e
Reporter; 541-617-7854, nbales@bendbulletin.com
and SW 4th Street, the property
is home to seven food trucks,
the “Angle”, a live music stage, a
tap house and a soon-to-open
“Annex” that will serve as a sec-
ond taphouse with indoor seat-
ing and two patios.
The section of 4th Street that
runs through the campus is ac-
tually owned by Duffy’s and is
closed to traffic. Likewise, the
proprietors also own their half
of Canal Street under an ease-
ment agreement with Central
Oregon Irrigation District.
What do you get when you
combine a stockbroker, a reg-
istered nurse of 34 years at St.
Charles and a Redmond High
School alum who graduated
from West Point? General
Duffy’s Waterhole. Dick and
Susan Robertson and their son
Tanner are the trio who are
turning the multi-use venue
into Redmond’s destination
music and dining experience.
The Waterhole has live mu-
sic about three times a week.
Earlier this summer they fea-
tured the band Everclear with
special guests Floater and Dive
Bar Theology. Robertson said
the 1,500 tickets sold-report
showed that 80% of the attend-
ees were from Portland, illus-
trating the potential for Red-
mond to draw distant visitors.
General Duffy’s with 20 taps
also has weekly bingo and line
dancing and occasional corn-
hole tournaments. “Bands
bring crowds and the food
trucks share in the rewards,”
Dick said. Indeed, every one of
the food truck operators spoke
highly of the symbiotic rela-
tionship with the Waterhole.
It’s a similar bond at Wild
Ride Brew where food truck
vendors Food Fellas, Red Pizza,
Shred Town and Wild Catch
sing the praises of their land-
lord. With outdoor heating
technology and hearty Red-
monders as your market, the
food truck scene can please
your appetite year round.