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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2017)
8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 On the job for a year, CGPD Chief Shepherd refl ects S cott Shepherd marked his fi rst year as Cottage Grove’s po- lice chief on September 14. He’d been in the position for six months after being named to the spot following former chief Mike Grover. As he closed out the fi rst year on the job, he sat with The Sentinel to answer a few questions about challenges, changes and the future. Q Q: You were quoted a year ago saying sayin that you were concerned about bout the weight of responsibility that c comes with being police chief. hief. How do you feel about it now, a y yea year later? A : I don’t think the weight of it has di diminished. I take this po- sition tion seriously and it’s a complicated position p pos sometimes. I don’t want ant to say that after a year I’m relaxed. relaxe You still have to pay at- tention ention ntion and be diligent. After a year, there’s the there’ still a lot to learn as we go o through the budgeting process and as employees leave and are hired. ired. ed. These things aren’t unique but I take them seriously. Q: What has been the biggest change chan under your command at the he CGPD? A: I’d say some of the biggest gest changes chang are the offi cers who have left eft employment here and go to other agenc agencies. We have people who have left for Lane County and one who went to Eugene. There’s a sergeant in process now for Springfi eld. That comes with the chal- lenge of fi lling those positions. Q: After a year, what has been the biggest challenge? A: Being responsible to the community and those community needs while maintaining the safety and operations of the police de- partment in a way that works. We’ve been blessed to be supported by the community in Cottage Grove. Q: What has been easier than you thought it would be? A: Not to sound trite but being the police chief in a small town and being recognized as such. I think I had good connections with groups and people around town before but when you put chief of police on that, it is a little heavier but I enjoy being the lead guy and it’s easy to advocate for what we do here because I’m proud of our organization. A & A: What do you hope is easier a year from now? Q: I would hope to have a full staff and that we have leadership in place to take us into future years. We’re still working through some growing pains. I completed a yearly personnel process, one- on-one that I will report on and talk about expectations and goals for the future. It’s also about being fi scally responsible so that we don’t have as many overtime hours. CGPD Chief Scott Shepherd A: Oddest call you’ve had in the last year? Q: I’m trying to think and I’m drawing a blank. Odd things hap- pen all the time but it’s hard to pinpoint something. We have some characters in this community. Community Sharing is experiencing a shortage of food right now. Th is is the time of year when our inventory would normally be low but this year we are experiencing an extreme shortage of food. Organizations come together for good Untangling the alphabet soup of development in the city We would like to thank the Cottage Grove community for all of the assistance we receive – we couldn’t do the work we do without you! CDC Funded through existing funds from timber companies and other organizations. Becoming a nonprofi t. Works in all of South Lane. THE CITY Funded through tax dollars, aids other organizations in development. Employees the Main St. Coordinator under city planner Amanda Ferguson. By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com In the beginning, there was the Economic and Business Im- provement District (EBID). Decades later, there are a slew of organizations (and ac- ronyms) to address the city's desire to develop and draw in business and tourists. And while these groups admit it can be confusing at times, they main- tain that the structure ultimately leads to collaboration and more opportunity for the city. "It's nice to have these organi- zations with their own missions and they can come together and work together," Cottage Grove City Manager Richard Meyers said. Meyers is also on the Cot- tage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce roster and reguarly meets with chamber executive director Travis Palmer. It's part THE CHAMBER Funded through membership and tourism dollars. Answers to its members and is focused on business and promoting the city. of the coolaborative nature of the beast which has several limbs that all move in the same direction; toward the future. EBID was formed fi rst by cre- ating a special tax district. EBID is funded through the taxes it collects from the district and its projects are mandated to the boundaries of that same district. The Cottage Grove Commu- nity Development Corporation (CDC) was also interested in furthering development and soon, its goals were greater than the goals of EBID and so, it be- came a stand-alone organiza- tion funded by money from the Woodard foundation and other organizations. Currently, accor- dig to Palmer, it is working on transitioning to a non-profi t. Palmer, as head of the cham- ber (which is also funded in part by room tax dollars that are doled out by the city)works with We are requesting assistance from the community to help fi ll our shelves to meet the current demand at our agency. Any help is greatly appreciated – from one can to large donations or cash donations. 1440 Birch Ave, Cottage Grove EBID Funded by tax district. Pays the Main St. Coordinator. Is responsible for projects within its boundaries. Mostly focused on beautifi cation. both organizations and is cur- rently the head of CDC as well. The city is also in on the de- velopment push. It employs the Main St. Coordinator--a position that falls under the state Main St. program which is part of the national Main St. program--who answers to city planner Amanda Ferguson. Ex- cept the city doesn't pay the co- ordinator's salary. EBID does. "They weren't set up for a part-time employee so they were looking for someone who was," Meyers said. The Main St. Coordinator, Carlene Giroud, works with downtown businesses as a lia- son between them and the city. She also interacts with EBID and the chamber. The confusion, both Meyers and Palmer said, comes from the many organizations but it's also a positive for the commu- nity. "It's nice because a business owner can call me and I'll im- mediately set up a meeting with CDC and the city," Palmer said. "They just have to get a hold of one of us and they're in the right place." WANTED! 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