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Section C
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Pages 10A, 12A
Volume 140, Issue 12
www.Polkio.com
March 25, 2015
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY LEVY DEBATE
75¢
IN YOUR TOWN
DALLAS NEWS
Monica Foster, the former owner of more than
90 malnourished animals seized last month off a
Dallas farm, has been indicted on 61 animal neg-
lect charges.
Foster, 41, a Dallas resident, appeared in Polk
County Circuit Court Thursday morning for arraign-
ment on 10 counts of first-degree animal neglect
and 51 counts of second-degree animal neglect,
both felony charges.
Foster pleaded not guilty to all charges Thurs-
day. She was originally cited on animal neglect on
Feb. 18.
»Page 2A
FALLS CITY NEWS
PHOTO COURTESY POLK COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT NO. 1
Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Polk No. 1 and Salem Fire, and OSP clear an accident on Highway 51 near Independence.
HELP NEEDED
»Page 5A
County’s 24-hour public safety team missing key player
Editor’s Note: This is the
third in a series of stories look-
ing at issues and topics that
surround the Polk County
public safety levy, Measure 27-
117, that will appear on the
May 19 vote-by-mail ballot.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — Fire-
fighters and EMTs from Polk
County Fire District No. 1 re-
sponded to a car accident
late at night a few weeks ago
on Highway 51 outside Inde-
pendence.
They arrived to find the
driver of the truck involved in
the accident asleep in the cab,
intoxicated, but not injured.
It was after Polk County
Sheriff’s Office patrols ended
for the night, so the emer-
gency responders had a de-
Learn More
Two community gather-
ings have been scheduled
where Polk County officials
will present information
about the current budget
situation and its effects on
the sheriff, district attorney,
jail and community correc-
tions departments.
• Tuesday, April 7, 7 p.m.,
Salem Electric Building, 633
Seventh St. NW, West Salem.
• Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m.,
Grand Ronde Community
Center, 9615 Grand Ronde
Road, Grand Ronde.
Additional meeting dates
and locations will be an-
nounced in the future.
cision on their hands.
“What do we do with
him?” asked Polk County
Fire District No. 1 deputy
chief Neal Olson. “We can’t
transport him if he’s not in-
jured. We can’t just transport
him home.”
Non-law enforcement first
responders can’t prohibit an
intoxicated driver from get-
ting behind the wheel, but
they may also be liable if he
does drive after they leave
and hurts himself or others.
That is just one example
of the sticky situations fire
and ambulance crews face
the 14 hours per day that
sheriff’s deputies are un-
available to respond to calls.
The county has placed a
five-year, 45 cents per $1,000
of assessed value property
tax levy on the May ballot to
restore full patrols, add more
staff to the Polk County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office and
Polk County Jail, and add
more juvenile detention beds
and staffing for Polk County
Community Corrections’
community service program.
Local firefighters say there
haven’t been too many calls
where the lack of response
has been an issue, but when
they do happen it puts more
stress on ambulance crews
and staff from mostly volun-
teer fire agencies.
Dallas Fire Training Offi-
cer Sean Hoxie said firefight-
er/EMTs — including him-
self — have had to conduct
traffic control on accident
scenes, something that had
not been done before.
“We are taking on roles tra-
ditionally performed by law
enforcement,” he said, adding
his crews can’t investigate ac-
cidents. “That is obviously de-
layed or doesn’t happen.”
See HELP, Page 14A
Hospital’s new boss is on the job
Jim Sapienza takes over at West
Valley for retired Bob Brannigan
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Health has al-
ways been a fascination for
Jim Sapienza, West Valley
Hospital’s new administrator.
“As a young person I was
very interested in the fact that
people had the opportunity
to eat well, get enough sleep,
get daily exercise and they
could be healthier,” Sapienza
said. “We all have the oppor-
tunity to be healthy. I always
thought that was important,
not just at an individual level,
but for families and commu-
nities to be healthy.”
That led to him pursuing a
career in health care, at first
THE NEXT
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DAYS
PLANNING
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considering health research
or becoming a doctor.
“It just ended up becom-
ing a health care administra-
tor was more in line with my
skills and my interests,”
Sapienza said.
Much like in his youth,
Sapienza will be focused on
the health — and the health
care — of the Dallas-area
community.
Sapienza started work at
West Valley a little more than
a month ago, taking over for
Bob Brannigan, who retired
at the end of last year.
Sapienza moved to Dallas
from Washington’s Puget
Sound area.
See BOSS, Page 14A
The city of Falls City will soon begin searching
for a permanent city manager, but that person may
be working part time.
Falls City Interim City Manager Jon Hanken was
asked Thursday to prepare a request for proposals
(RFP) for the job that would consist of a 20- to 24-
hour work week and pay an estimated $25,000 to
$30,000 annually. The Falls City City Council will ap-
prove a final RFP at a future meeting.
“To me this seems the only way we can go,” said
Councilor Tony Meier. “We can’t afford a full-time
administrator.”
INDEPENDENCE NEWS
In honor of Capt. Tom Kistler, a Polk County Fire
District No. 1 firefighter who died on duty, a stretch
of road in Independence has been “adopted.”
Once Lori Albert, who used to work for Polk
County Fire, decided to adopt the road in his honor
and keep it clean, she said it took a while to get
things sorted.
The city of Independence didn’t have an estab-
lished program for Adopt-a-Road, so Albert had to
make a lot of calls to different agencies — includ-
ing the Oregon Department of Transportation and
Polk County — before a new program was adopted
in Independence in August 2014.
»Page 3A
MONMOUTH NEWS
Students in the Community and Family Health Or-
ganization club at Western Oregon University are
asking: Should WOU be smoke- or tobacco-free?
Right now, smoking is allowed in designated
areas on campus, but, according to polls conduct-
ed by students, 80 percent of students, staff and
faculty are in favor of eliminating smoking, or of
getting rid of tobacco use on campus altogether,
said Matthew Stevens, Polk County’s tobacco pre-
vention and education program coordinator.
Stevens said it is exciting to see students, rather
than administrators, shaping future smoking policies.
»Page 15A
POLK COUNTY NEWS
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Looking at the numbers in the 2015-16 Polk
County budget that will be proposed Monday dur-
ing the first meeting of the county’s budget com-
mittee, it seems like the budget is growing at a
healthy rate.
In some places — namely behavioral health,
which receives most of its money from the state —
it is growing, and fast.
But in the general fund, the figures proposed
may or may not be real — depending on the out-
come of the county’s public safety levy on the May
19 ballot.
»Page 2A
Jim Sapienza started work as West Valley Hospital’s new
administrator a little more than a month ago.
wed
thu
fri
sat
sun
mon
tue
It’s the final Wednes-
day of the month,
and that means
yoga in the hopyard
at Rogue Ales Farm
near Buena Vista.
6 p.m. Free.
“Spring has Sprung”
is the theme for this
month’s Dallas Area
Seniors Community
Music Jam at the
Dallas Senior Center.
6:30 p.m. Free.
Bring an instrument
or just sit back and
listen to the tunes
during the Guthrie
Park Acoustic Music
Jam Session.
7-10 p.m. Free.
Dolls of all kinds can
be found during the
Wagon Wheel Doller’s
Spring Doll Show and
Sale at the Polk
County Fairgrounds.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. $4.
Sample wines, spirits,
brews and food dur-
ing the Spirit Moun-
tain Spring Wine &
Spirits Fair at the
casino events center.
Noon to 5 p.m. Free.
The Willamette Val-
ley New Horizons
Orchestra welcomes
new musicians to its
weekly sessions at
Central High School.
6:30 p.m. $25/month.
The Dallas High
girls softball team
opens Mid-
Willamette Confer-
ence play by
hosting Woodburn.
4:30 p.m. $5.
Morning Showers
Hi: 63
Lo: 45
Mostly Sunny
Hi: 71
Lo: 46
Mostly Sunny
Hi: 68
Lo: 46
Partly Sunny
Hi: 64
Lo: 43
Partly Sunny
Hi: 63
Lo: 43
Showers
Hi: 62
Lo: 44
Mostly Cloudy
Hi: 60
Lo: 40