Polk County News
6A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 30, 2015
County fair begins search for new theme
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer file
The Polk County Fair had the theme “Blue Jeans and Country Dreams” in 2015. The idea was submitted via a contest.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
RICKREALL — The Polk
County Fair had fun with the
2015 theme “Blue Jeans and
Country Dreams,” an idea
submitted through a con-
test.
The fair is looking for an-
other gem for the 2016 fair,
scheduled for Aug. 11-13.
Theme ideas can focus
on any part of the fair (agri-
culture, food, commercial,
etc.) and should be “cre-
ative and fun” in eight
words or less.
If you have what you
think is a good idea, you
have through 4 p.m. on
Jan. 29, 2016, to enter your
idea for the next fair
theme.
Rhyming isn’t necessary,
but those that come with
easy decoration ideas are
certainly welcome.
Polk County Fair Board
members will select the win-
ning theme at its Feb. 18,
2016, meeting.
The winner will receive a
“family fair package” of two
adult season passes, two
junior season passes, four
burgers, four fries, and four
medium drinks.
Idea submission forms
can be found on the fair’s
website at www.co.polk.
or.us/fair/annual/polk-
county-annual-fair.
Entries can be emailed to
andersen.tina@co.polk.or.us;
mailed to the Polk County
Fairgrounds & Event Center,
P.O. Box 29 Rickreall, OR
97371; faxed to 503-623-
6157; or hand delivered to
520 S. Pacific Highway
(99W), Rickreall.
For more information:
503-623-3048.
Gomberg to research police officer funding
If successful, legislation could provide full-time law enforcement, code enforcement to Falls City in a long time
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — A police
officer for every town?
It may have been just the
product of spur-of-the-mo-
ment brainstorming, but the
Falls City City Council and
M a y o r
Terry Un-
gricht are
taking it
seriously.
During a
r e c e n t
town hall
meeting in
Ungricht
t h e c i t y,
State Rep. David Gomberg
polled the audience about
its top concerns in the city’s
government.
The response? Code en-
forcement and law enforce-
ment.
That those two should be
mentioned first isn’t a sur-
prise. Falls City hasn’t been
able to afford a police offi-
cer, either its own or
through a contract with the
Polk County Sheriff’s Office,
Government
for 15 years.
More recently, the city re-
vived its code enforcement
program, only to see its offi-
cer move on to a different
job. Falls City has not been
able to fill the part-time po-
sition and hasn’t found a
suitable interim solution
until it can get a professional
to take the role.
At the town hall, Gomberg
offered a solution: introduc-
ing legislation that would
provide $100,000 for every
city to hire a police officer.
“One of the thoughts that
come up is, ‘Mayberry had
two police officers. Why
can’t Falls City have one?’”
s a i d Ky l e L i n h a re s ,
Gomberg’s chief of staff.
Voters in Falls City have re-
jected tax levies to pay for
police in the past, but the de-
feats certainly don’t speak for
everyone’s attitude in town,
as the response to Gomberg’s
question illustrates.
“As the discussion high-
lighted, small cities are hav-
ing a hard time in providing
the basic governmental serv-
ices that are ex-
pected by our
c i t i z e n s ,”
Ungr icht
wrote in an
email en-
couraging
Gomberg to
follow up
on the idea.
“The idea of legisla-
tion to add one police officer
to each city in Oregon would
greatly help small cities that
are struggling to control en-
forcement issues.”
The potential bill is just a
concept and Gomberg still is
researching the idea. Lin-
hares said Gomberg has
heard similar concerns in
other areas he represents.
“It comes up in quality of
life conversations,” Linhares
said.
He added questions such
as whether funding should
be limited to cities under
a certain population or
include unincor-
porat-
e d ,
but
densely populated areas still
need to be worked out.
With the deadline to sub-
mit bills for consideration in
the 2016 legislative session
already past, there will be
plenty of time to answer
those questions before the
2017 session.
“We are definitely going
to pursue this,” Linhares
said. “Obvi-
ously,
t h e
question will be
who is paying for it and
how.”
When Ungricht gave his
“mayor’s report” at the De-
cember council meeting, he
said he wasn’t going to let the
idea die either.
“I think that is something
we should try to get legs
under,” Ungricht said.
Falls City has voted on
serveral levies for police.
Here are the votes:
• 2000: Four-year levy not
to exceed $88,000 annually.
Failed 165 to 159.
• 2001:Four-year levy for
$84,229 per year to con-
tract with sheriff's of-
fice for 56 hours of pa-
trol each week. Failed
169 to 106.
• 2002: Five-year
levy for $72,000 per year
to hire police officer.
Failed 216 to 102.
• 2007: Five-year levy for
$96,974 per year represent-
ing a 3 percent hike in prop-
erty tax rates. Failed 157-89.
Levies for a contract with
the Polk County Sheriff's Of-
fice were approved for 1995-
96, 1996-97, 1998-99 and
1999-2000. The contract with
the ended in June 2001.
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