County board’s CJ town hall spurs lively participation
From our weekly issue dated April 29, 2009
Approximately 16 residents turned out for a lively town hall meeting on the evening of Monday, April 27, when the Josephine County Board of Commissioners came to the county building in Downtown Cave Junction.
Commission Chairman Dwight Ellis was absent, but Commissioner Sandi Cassanelli and Vice Chairman Dave Toler were present to discuss issues.
Before members of the public began arriving, Cassanelli and Toler met as planned with Mayor Don Moore and City Councilor Carl Jacobson.
Moore asked if any efforts are being made at the county level to draw businesses to Cave Junction. He said that the city’s unemployment rate probably is 5 percent higher than in the rest of the county.
“We need to be treated fairly out here,” Moore said.
Toler replied that Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. (SOREDI) will soon hire a staffer assigned to the county. The application deadline for that position was Friday, April 24, and 20 applications were received, Toler said.
The commissioners have approved six economic development tasks for that staffer to work on once he or she starts that position, Toler said. One task includes formulating an economic development plan for the county’s airports in Illinois Valley and Merlin.
Moore briefed the two commissioners on recent city happenings. He said that the 3.5-acre piece of property next to Illinois Valley Golf Course recently was purchased for development of deep holding ponds, in case the city needs to discharge into the river.
The city currently sends its treated discharge to the golf course for watering, Moore said, but that enterprise is on “pretty shaky ground” financially, and is being operated by volunteers.
Moore said that four holes recently were dug around the city-owned swimming pool on E. River Street to determine if there is water under its foundation. Some underground water was discovered, he said.
Instead of fixing the pool, Moore said the city could possibly use the site as a water park, complete with benches and a barbecue area.
“I think that gives better utilization to the community,” he said. “It’s within our financial means to do this.”
Moore estimated that it would cost around $80,000 to install a water park.
He added that the city is looking at possible state grants to help fund it. He said that the pool is “useless the way it is right now,” and has been shut down for three years.
He called it an “eyesore.”
Toler announced that the commissioners will be given a presentation within the next week regarding the county building in Cave Junction. A budget gap for its operating expenses is growing because the sheriff’s office substation has moved to the basement of city hall, he said.
The gathering grew more contentious when Kerby resident John Bowler asked the commissioners if there is a long-term plan for rural law enforcement in the county.
Cassanelli stated that she voted against a three-year staffing plan for the sheriff’s office and wanted to stretch that agency’s budget out for four years.
“I tried to be as prudent as possible” with the county’s funds, she said, but couldn’t get a second vote on the board for her proposal.
Toler stated that the county receives some $3 million per year in property taxes, but that it costs $4 million per year just to run the jail. Cassanelli disagreed on the need for more taxes.
“Right now, we’re ramping up instead of ramping down,” she said. She added that if officials don’t prove to the public that they’re spending tax dollars wisely, citizens won’t vote for tax increases.
Toler said there has been a 40 percent reduction in the number of county employees during the past few years. However, Cassanelli stated that the full-time equivalent employee figure has risen since Toler took office 2007.
Commissioners have laid off dozens of employees and closed the libraries since then, Toler said.
The town hall meeting took a less-formal feel after a while, as audience members discussed a variety of issues, including funding plans, forestry policy and ownership of the thousands of acres of federal land that surrounds the county.
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