CRR voting on tax for deputies: Is it the best path?

Some residents of in Crooked River Ranch are wondering if it would be better to operate the way the cities of Culver and Metolius do for Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office patrols, instead of a higher property tax, as proposed on a Nov. 7 special election ballot.

Both cities pay a flat rate for patrols. Culver pays $36,000 and the city of Metolius pays $18,000, with some money coming in from the federal Bureau of Reclamation that funds a full-time deputy for the area, according to Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins.

Adkins said Thursday the deputies are not patrolling those cities full-time, but it gives them enhanced law enforcement services.

Adkins said some people discussed a similar idea, but county officials ultimately decided on letting the voters decide what they want.

“The people who are the voters out there would have to talk to and get the ranch board to give us money,” he said. “They can give us $50,000 and we’ll provide them with $50,000 in service, I will assign a deputy part-time.”

Measure 16-88 would form a law enforcement district, for which residents would pay $ 0.95 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value.

More than 3,300 ballots were sent out on Wednesday to CRR voters to see if they want to hire two new sheriff’s deputies who would patrol the rural subdivision that straddles the Jefferson-Deschutes County line 80 hours per week.

Jefferson County Clerk Kathy Marston said this special election for the ranch will be costing taxpayers $4,500.

Marston said county commissioners voted to have officials create the measure that would create the law enforcement district

She said no petition signatures were needed because ORS 198.835 gives the county commission the authority to initiate the formation of a special district.

Some opponents tell NewsChannel 21 some people can’t afford a new tax because they’re on a tight budget and CRR doesn’t have the same amount of crime than other parts of the county.

This measure is personal for CRR Neighbors For Public Safety Chairman Mike Kuykendall and his wife, Alisa Schneider

Two years ago, while walking around their neighborhood, a driver came racing down the street, and Schneider was struck by the vehicle’s mirror. His wife suffered serious injuries that put her out of work for a few months.

“If we had police out here, people would slow down and pay attention,” Kuykendall said.

He said the Ranch is growing in population, and the number of calls have increased throughout the years.

According to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, in September, there were 1,597 calls countywide, and 145 of those calls came from CRR.

Kuykendall said if the measure is passed, it would bring community policing that would cyt response times from a 30-40 minute wait to five minutes.

He said people living on the Ranch would pay a $15 a month for the service and it would help reduce the crime the community is seeing.

CRR Association President David Palmer told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday by phone that the board was neutral on this issue. But NewsChannel 21 learned Palmer used his full-page president’s message in the Telegraph, a paper operated by association, to show his support for Measure 16-88.

He stated in the message, “As one of your neighbors, I support this enhanced patrol.”

Carol Orr, a member of the board, said she doesn’t think it was right for Palmer to voice his opinion, if others cannot.

“You know, he can say whatever he wants out to his friends and stuff, but I don’t think he should have used the newsletter to state what he wanted,” Orr said.

John Stevens, an opponent of the measure, said he was told by Palmer they were not allowed to publish a message or advertise against the measure in the Telegraph.

In an email chat with Stevens and Palmer, the president said in the email, “it has been the policy of the Ranch since the start of the Telegraph to not use this medium as a form a discourse amongst residents. It is simply a newsletter for the association to provide information we desire to disseminate. I see no reason to change this policy and yes, the rest of the Board is fully aware of it.”

Palmer goes on to say the board has given Stevens several opportunities to voice his opinion in public meetings.

Kuykendall said his PAC has not spent any money on an ad in the Telegraph and those ads were paid for by private residents living on the Ranch.

Voters will need to drop or mail in their ballots by 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.