A6
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Outdated equipment adds to John Day police costs
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Keeping the John Day Police Depart-
ment will be costly.
John Day Police Chief Mike Durr and
Sgt. Scott Moore talked to the city council
on April 13 to detail the various costs and
replacements to be addressed if operations
continue at the department. The council is
debating whether to ask voter approval for
a local levy to fund the department, or tran-
sitioning the department over to the sher-
iff’s office.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but
the John Day Police Department is under-
funded,” Durr said. “Our equipment is
worn out, obsolete or about to be obsolete.
We need to modernize, and each one of us
right now buy our own handguns.”
Durr listed several items such as Tasers,
radios, cameras and worn down vehicles
that would need to be updated or replaced
moving forward in the coming years. Durr
added that bills going through the state leg-
islature also present many uncertain, addi-
tional costs to law enforcement in general.
“In the future, with the way the legis-
lature is coming down, I can’t even proj-
ect what all of this is going to mean,” Durr
said. “I’m not going to say that it’s neces-
sarily for the bad or for the good, but it’s
going to change (law enforcement), and
we’re going to have to adapt.”
In terms of vehicles, they have a Silver-
ado Pickup with less than 10,000 miles and
a Chevy Tahoe with 36,000 miles that are
good for a while. However, Durr said they
have two cars, one with 120,000 miles and
the other with around 90,000, that are start-
ing to have problems and will need to be
looked at for maintenance soon.
Durr said some proposed bills would
add costs to the department by covering
the overtime expenses associated with
additional training certification that would
be needed.
“We have fallen behind the times,”
Durr said. “We are trained in CPR and first
aid, but it remains on how that is going to
be seen. They’re saying that it’s going to
be DPSST training from my understand-
ing, which means we’re going to have to
send our guys to Salem for that training, or
hopefully they have somebody regionally
come out. Anyway you cut it, it’s going to
cost us overtime.”
Durr said another bill that would
cause problems is Senate Bill 612, which
requires police officers, corrections offi-
cers and parole and probation officers to
complete post-secondary education. He
said this could heavily impact the recruit-
ment process.
“What it’s costing us today, I’m gonna
tell you, it’s going to be a lot more expen-
sive in five years,” Durr said.
Moore said the department needs a
minimum of at least four people to keep
up with the 24/7 job. He added, sooner or
later, the union is going to push for on-call
time since right now they do it because
they’re dedicated.
“It’s not a bright and rosy future to be a
policeman right now, but if we’re still here,
we’ll adapt to it and make it work because
we’re totally dedicated to this job,” Durr
said. “I don’t want to paint a picture of
doom and gloom, but I’m just telling you
what you need to do, and it could mean a
lot more money and a lot of time.”
Councilor Gregg Haberly said the
Move Oregon’s Border
heading to a vote next month
Measure would only require commissioners
to hold meetings about joining Idaho
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
John Day Police Chief Mike Durr and Sgt. Scott Moore talk about the equipment that
needs to be updated on April 13.
LAKEVIEW RECENTLY TRANSITIONED
ITS POLICE TO THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE
In 2019, the town of Lakeview, population 2,638, merged its police department with
the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Lakeview Assistant Town Manager Dawn Lepori said, prior to the merger, many com-
munity members were very skeptical and concerned about the coverage.
However, Lepori said Lake County Sheriff Michael Taylor did a great job in the merger
and continues to do so by keeping Lakeview Town Manager Michele Parry up to date
on anything she needs to know.
The increasing cost of keeping a police department and the growing difficulty in
finding people to work at the department resulted in the merger.
“We needed the merge because it was a necessity,” Lepori said. “The one officer that
we had left took some time off, and then he came back and got hired with the sheriff’s
department, and he has been phenomenal.”
There were several difficulties in keeping the department running, such as finding
a police force, chief and keeping people on the team, according to Lepori. The city
was down to one officer before the merger happened because many of their officers
moved on to other counties to work.
Lepori said the agreement developed between the town council and the sheriff’s
department helped in making the smooth transition.
“We were able to come to an agreement, and Taylor worked really well with our coun-
cil and town manager,” Lepori said. “He keeps the town manager and council very
well informed, and if there are any issue the town has, he is on top of it.”
There were community members that doubted the transition would be great because
they thought the sheriff’s office would rarely be in Lakeview. However, Lepori said
Taylor did a great job in managing his deputies’ time to make sure somebody is in or
near the town.
“When they realized how much the sheriff’s department has been cracking down on
crime and put a kibosh on it, the complaining about law enforcement went down
since we transitioned from the police department,” Lepori said.
Parry said the merger relieved stress from the city financially now that they don’t
need to worry about liability or insurance for vehicles and health insurance and other
coverage for officers.
“It just takes away from all the extra accounting, and it takes that stress off of us and
places it back into the sheriff,” Parry said. “Having the department go over to the coun-
ty and letting them handle it because they’re able to with their bigger budget and they
can spread out easier has been fine and groovy.”
finances are not there to keep the depart-
ment going with the growing costs.
“The writing’s on the wall,” he said.
“It’s financially not there, and he’s telling
us they have run down equipment. If one
of the guys gets killed, that’s not good.”
Councilor Shannon Adair said it’s
important for the community to be aware
of the financial problems Durr mentioned
for funding a police department. She
added that it’s vital that a possible levy to
fund the department can provide the offi-
cers with the equipment they need to be
safe.
City Manager Nick Green said he
talked with Grant County Sheriff Todd
McKinley, and the transition plan would
be to send three officers along with the
equipment if the county wants it.
The cost to consolidate with the county
would be $450,000 next fiscal year, but the
city would be saving $86,000, according to
Green. He said McKinley would figure out
the shifts once the transition is made.
Green said he has a draft agreement
with the county. If the budget committee
agrees to refer the tax to the voters, Green
said he would start working on the transi-
tion agreement in parallel so it would be
ready to execute if the levy does not pass.
Green said the city will need to make
a decision no later than the April 27 city
council meeting. The council planned to
continue the conversation during the April
20 city budget committee meeting past
press time.
“At the end of that (budget) meeting,
we’re going left or right,” Green said.
“I’ll try to make the choices and ramifi-
cations as clear as possible, but I’m not
the decision maker. There’s going to be
14 people at the table that are the decision
makers. We’ve got to leave Tuesday night
next week with a decision.”
A measure related to flipping Eastern Oregon’s counties to
Idaho will be on the ballot next month.
The measure on the May 18 ballot would require Grant
County commissioners to hold meetings to discuss the county
joining Idaho.
“Move Oregon’s Border,” also known as “Citizens for
Greater Idaho,” is a political action committee that advocates
adjusting the current state boundaries of Idaho, California and
Oregon, thereby increasing Idaho’s size to encompass sev-
eral rural counties in California and Oregon.
Grant County is one of the 19 Oregon coun-
ties the group seeks to have moved into Ida-
ho’s jurisdiction.
On April 12, organizers from Move Ore-
gon’s Border and Citizens for Greater Idaho
laid out the idea at a joint meeting of Ida-
ho’s House Environment, Energy & Technol-
Mike
ogy
Committee, and the Senate Resources &
McCarter
Environment Committee.
“There’s a longtime cultural divide as big
as the Grand Canyon between Northwest
Oregon and rural Oregon, and it’s getting
large,” Mike McCarter of Move Oregon’s
Border told the Idaho lawmakers.
Idaho’s Legislature, who would have to
approve the plan that would expand Idaho’s
Sandie
southwestern border to the Pacific Ocean,
Gilson
seemed empathetic but skeptical about the
“functionality” of such a plan.
State Sen. Michelle Stennett said the minimum wage in
Oregon is $11.25, but in Idaho it is $7.25.
“I’m sure Oregonians don’t want to be receiving $7.25 dol-
lars an hour,” she said. Stennett asked both McCarter and for-
mer Republican Speaker of the Oregon House Mark Simmons
of Elgin about Oregon’s tax base, which, she guessed, was
from retail pot sales.
“I mean, there’s just a lot that isn’t being talked about that
would need to be fleshed out for this to be considered,” Sten-
nett said.
Conservative lawmaker Ben Adams, who seemed support-
ive, questioned why Oregon’s Legislature would allow the
plan to happen.
“Most states don’t like to lose their resources to their neigh-
bors,” Adams said.
McCarter and Simmons both agreed that many issues
would need to be worked out.
McCarter said there would be a “give and take.” He told
the Idaho lawmakers about a man who approached him at a
Harney County rally whom he said told him he would give up
his medicinal marijuana for Harney County to become a part
of Oregon.
The Move Oregon’s Border and Citizens for Greater Idaho
met with supporters on April 9 in Mt Vernon at the city’s com-
munity center.
McCarter and Grant County Move Oregon’s Border rep-
resentative Sandie Gilson answered questions and handed out
yard signs to roughly 10 attendees.
At the April 9 rally, McCarter evoked both the Civil and
Revolutionary wars.
“If you stop and think about what it was like before our
country became the United States before the revolution,” he
said, “we have a situation of taxes without representation and
unjust laws.”
He said Eastern Oregon is in a “non-violent” civil war with
Western Oregon.
“I would hate to see a physical thing get started,” he said.
“That bothers me a lot, but would I partake of it? I’m not going
to answer that question. I’m going to be a politician.”
He said he does not want to see a civil war, but it is head-
ing that way.
In a Thursday phone interview, McCarter clarified that the
only time he would ever resort to violence was if his family
were threatened or if the government were to ever to attempt
to confiscate his guns.
START BY BELIEVING
What to Say:
”I believe you.”
“I’m sorry this happened.”
“I am here for you.”
BE SUPPORTIVE
What to Say:
“You can tell me as much, or as
little as you want.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I’m glad you told me. I’m so
proud of you.”
ASK HOW YOU CAN HELP
What to Say:
“What can I do to support you?”
“I can stay with you tonight. Would
that help?”
“Do you want me to go with you
to the hospital or police station?”
AVOID “WHY QUESTIONS
What to Say:
Even with the best of
intentions “why” questions can
sound accusatory and make
survivors blame themselves.
Help is available for victims of sexual assault in Grant County. If you or someone
you know has been a victim of sexual assault, please call:
Heart of Grant County
541-620-1342
Grant County Victim
Assistance Program
541-575-4026
This project was supported by Grant No. 2019-WR-AX-0027 awarded by the Office on Violence Against
Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations
expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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