Bedford
Tribune
IICTION D MEDFORD. OREGON, SUNDAY, JUNE 30. 1963 PAGES 1 to 8
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f STILL WORKS This old manual machine speed electric successors, now in use, have
in the tax department of the Jackson county made it possible for lour employees to carry
.i sheriff's offices, still operates, Mrs. Marjorie on the ever increasing load of work in the
Brooks recently demonstrated. But its high tax division.
Mrs. Brooks Resigns
Chief Tax Deputy
i Rv FVA HAMILTON
i Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Automation must be the
answer to a situation which
has continued for over 38
years in the tax department of
. the Jackson county sheriff's
office, from which Mrs. Mar
jorie Brooks is retiring, ef
fective July 1.
There were four employees
In the department when Mrs.
Brooks, Phoenix High school
graduate, went to work in the
old courthouse at Jackson
ville. There are still four em
ployees today in the depart
ment where Mrs. Brooks has
been chief tax deputy since
1936.
But there has been a "tre
mendous"' change in the vol
ume of business hndlcd and
in the equipment :ii,n which
the employees turn out the
work. Mrs. Brooks emphasized
this as she displayed some of
the manual machines, pre
served but relegated to the
back room.
How four employees have
managed to care for the tax
business of Jackson county,
which has multiplied (no one
was prepared to say how
many times) with the passing
of the years, is a natural ques
tion to ask. The answer is to
some extent an obvious one in
this machine ace.
Next Question Obvious
But the next question is ob
vious, too. Why can't other de
partments install machines
which will accomplish this
same result?
This question wasn t an
swered by the woman, who
says she is going to go home
(where she doesn't have a cal
culator or a typewriter) and
just enjoy life with her fam
ily for a while, her husband.
Ira Brooks, 1180 Spring st.,
Medford; her daughter, Mrs.
Norman Vance and children,
Medford; and her son, Ger
ald Brooks, and children of
Mt. Shasta.
The Jackson county govern
ment has actually made three
moves since Mrs. Brooks start
ed working for the tax depart
ment in 1925.
Through election in 1926,
the county seat was changed
f.om Jacksonville to Medford.
The new courthouse was to be
Medford's present city hall at
the corner of North Central
ave. and Fiftn st. But the
building was not ready for the
county's occupancy on the
scheduled date so the Medford
Armory was seat of govern
ment until the fall of 1927
when the move was made to
the city hall.
Land Acquired
In 1931, land was acquired
for the present county court
house. The old Washington
school, which occupied the
corner of West Main st. and
Oakdale ave., was razed, and
the courthouse construction
began with J. G. Link, archi
tect, and H. L. Hoffman, con
tractor. Official dedication of the
new building was held Sept. 1,
1932. C. B. Lamkin of Ash
land was then county judge.
The planning had started un
der the leadership of County
Judge Alex Sparrow, whose
name also appeared on the
programs with those of Coun
ty Commissioners Victor Bur
sell and John Barneburg.
Judge Sparrow lost his life in
a fall while inspecting build
ings in Klamath county.
Thinking back to the Jack
sonville courthouse, Mrs.
Brooks recalled the D'Autre-
Hearing Set on Proposed District
The Jackson county court
Friday set a public hearing
on proposed formation of the
West Side Water district in
the Medford area for 2 pm.
Aug. 7 in the county court
room.
County Judge Earl M. Mil
ler noted that petitions with
128 signatures were submitted
to the county court May 17.
The county elections depart
ment verified that 103 signa
tures were those of legal
property owners and 109 of
registered voters. State law
requires such petitions must
bear signatures of 25 per cent
of the leizal voters of the
area or 100 signatures.
A water district to Insure
pure drinking water for the
West Side area was deemed
necessary following discov
ery by the Jackson county
public health department that
a number of wells in the
Westwood subdivision were
polluted by septic tanks.
It was decided during sub
sequent public meeting. of
area residents to form the
district so the district's board
of directors could seek fed
eral funds for an engineer
ing study for a possible wa
ter system for the area.
After the public hearing,
any person affected may ask
to b excluded or included,
according to Ervln Hogan,
Medford lawyer and commit
tee member for the proposed
West Side district. The pro
posed district would include
400 homes and possibly one
farm.
mont trial, last history-making
event in the pioneer court
room. It is more clearly re
membered, of course, by mem
bers of the criminal division
of the sheriff's- department,
she commented, but other em
ployees did slip into the trial
whenever the opportunity oc
curred. Aware of Unfolding
Everyone connected with
county government in those
days was aware of the un
folding of the drama growing
out of the train robbery and
death-dealing explosion in the
Siskiyou tunnel, to which the
D'Autremont brothers event
ually confessed.
The theft of ballots cast in
the 1932 election caused the
greatest excitement during
Mrs. Brooks' years in the pres
ent courthouse, she said.
Again, the criminal division
of the sheriff's office was more
aware than the tax depart
ment of the robbery, the ar
rests and the trials which fol
lowed, all closely interwoven
with the tragic shooting of
Constable George Prcscott,
Mrs. Brooks' division has al
ways been "strictly tax mind
ed." Have Open House
Friday afternoon the per
sonnel of the sheriff's depart
ment entertained with an
open house in the tax depart
ment, honoring Mrs. Brooks
from 3 to 5 p.m. All court
house employees were invited.
The business of Jackson
county has grown tax wise as
well as every other way since
Mrs. Brooks started work
with the office in Jackson
ville. Ralph Jennings was then
sheriff and George L. Howard,
best known as former oper
ator of the Diamond Lake re
sort, was chief tax deputy.
The old hand operated ma
chines were slower than their
electric successors, which to
day do the work with just an
assist from human hands. The
accuracy was the important
thing then, however, just as it
is now, Mrs. Brooks empha
sized. The results were the
same, at least to this cxtenl
neithcr machine could reduce
taxes.
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