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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018
Jail bond: ‘There’s only so much you can ask the voters to carry’
Currently, the behavioral
health agency provides telep-
sychiatry services to inmates.
The agency has not spoken
with the county about its role
in a potential new jail, Baker
said.
Overall, society needs to
give more funding to men-
tal health services rather than
punitive measures, Baker said.
But she supports the idea of
having a safer jail space.
“I think the current jail
space is inhumane to any of
the folks going in there, but
particularly to those with men-
tal health issues,” Baker said.
She conceded that, because
some are reluctant to seek
long-term treatment, keeping
more inmates in jail could also
provide an opportunity.
“It is an opportunity to try
to intervene with these folks,
and the current space, the way
it is, is just not conducive to
that,” Baker said.
Continued from Page 1A
The jail bond has to com-
pete with other bond measures
on the November ballot. In
Astoria, voters will be asked
to approve a $70 million bond
for school improvements. In
Warrenton, voters will weigh
a $38.5 million bond for a new
master campus out of the tsu-
nami inundation zone and a
new middle school. In South
County, voters will decide a
$20 million bond for the Sun-
set Empire Park and Recre-
ation District.
“The problem is govern-
ments, local governments, are
always competing for reve-
nue,” Marquis said.
The Warrenton City Com-
mission, for example, has
endorsed the city’s school
bond but has taken no position
on the jail measure.
“While I recognize the
need for a new jail, I believe
there’s only so much you can
ask the voters to carry as far
as a tax burden,” Warrenton
Mayor Henry Balensifer said.
The main talking point in
favor of the Warrenton school
bond is the need to move the
middle school out of tsunami
danger. The new jail would
also be situated outside the
inundation zone.
“I have high doubts any-
body would want to run to a
jail full of inmates in a natural
disaster,” Balensifer said.
Clatsop County Sheriff
Tom Bergin, one of the lead-
ers of the jail bond campaign,
said the bond cluster has been
the measure’s main detriment.
“The only thing that I tell
them is that people have to
make that decision as to what
they want to support,” Bergin
said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s
one or two.”
Lodging tax
The county is also facing
some blowback over its plan
to offset potentially higher jail
operating costs.
County
commissioners
passed a new lodging tax that
will take effect in January.
Under state law, 70 percent
must be funneled into tourism
promotion. But the rest — an
estimated $420,000 a year —
would go toward the jail.
‘Very optimistic’
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Sheriff Tom Bergin checks on the progress of a disruptive inmate at the jail last November.
The higher tax didn’t fly
with some local hoteliers and
tourism industry leaders.
“I know there was some
consternation in communities
because of that,” said Sheriff’s
Office Chief Deputy Paul Wil-
liams at a Gearhart City Coun-
cil meeting last week. “At that
point in time, we thought it
was critical before we send
this out to the voters, that we
have a solution in hand in
regards to the operating side
of the game.”
In addition to the tax, local
hospitality leaders were also
upset over the lack of dis-
cussion of how the revenue
would benefit tourism, said
Jason Brandt, CEO of the
Oregon Restaurant & Lodging
Association.
“That process has been
incredibly frustrating to the
hospitality industry in Clat-
sop County,” Brandt said.
“They’re ready to vote aggres-
sively against the jail bond as
a result.”
Employers such as hotels
and motels account for
roughly 7 percent of the coun-
ty’s workforce, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nonetheless, Bergin down-
played the tax’s chances of
sinking the bond.
“A couple of those folks
have actually been pretty nice
about it,” the sheriff said.
“They haven’t said ‘yes,’ and
they haven’t said ‘no,’ but
they said they’d take a look
and consider it.”
‘Chicken or fish’
The bond measure comes
at a time when mental health
and substance abuse issues are
top-of-mind across the coun-
try. Some have proposed that,
instead of creating a new jail,
the former youth correctional
facility could become a treat-
ment center.
Amy Baker, the executive
director of Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, said the
organization has not consid-
ered whether the facility could
feasibly become a treatment
center. While capacity is an
issue for residential programs
locally, long-term treatment
is more successful when peo-
ple seek help as they go about
their daily lives, she said.
“I think integration into
the community is probably
more important than send-
ing them away and bring-
ing them back,” Baker said.
“The behavioral health sys-
tem is never going to just fix
people.”
Marquis said such ideas
present a false “chicken or
fish” choice.
“Wow, if we had an extra
$40 million, I think that would
be a great idea,” Marquis said.
“If someone is charged with
murder, do you really think
that what you need to do is
give them a bracelet and tell
them that they need to go see
a counselor? No. What about
someone accused of rape or
their fourth domestic assault?”
The new jail would allow
for two additional nurses,
including one psychiatric
nurse, and safer, bigger spaces
to isolate inmates experienc-
ing a mental health crisis or
detoxing.
“Our intent, then, is to get
services in the jail to get them
down the path of recovery,”
Williams said. “Right now,
they’re in and out so quick, we
don’t even get the chance of
getting the counselor in front
of them before they’re out the
door.”
Balensifer said half the
people he’s spoken to in War-
renton support the jail bond,
while half raised concerns.
Some are predictable —
opposition to a tax increase
— while others are more spe-
cific — not wanting inmates
released nearby or in a devel-
oping area that has already
experienced growing pains.
“There seems to be kind of
a split within the community
about whether they want it or
not,” Balensifer said. “There’s
probably 15 reasons people
can come up with as far as
their reticence to jump on the
bandwagon.”
In the previous two jail
bonds, 56 percent and 57 per-
cent of voters rejected the idea.
The vast majority of the coun-
ty’s voting precincts opposed
the bonds each time, save
most of Seaside and Gearhart.
This year’s proposal will
need a wider swath of support,
and Bergin said he has largely
had positive interactions with
people about the jail.
“I see it going in an
extremely positive direction,”
the sheriff said. “I’m very
optimistic.”
2018-19 | 29TH SEASON
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