News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sheriff Greg Brown will dip into $150,000 in unbudgeted savings to keep deputies on the road for an extra four weeks.
The move will keep as many as 26 deputies in action who were scheduled to be laid off at the end of this month. The layoff was triggered by the failure of the sheriff's levy in the May primary election. A new levy vote is set for September 15.
Sheriff's services will still be only 80 percent of normal, but the Sisters substation will remain open and fully staffed with a sergeant, three deputies and an admistrative assistant.
The City of Sisters has a contract with the sheriff's office through the year 2002 to provide police services. That contract will not be affected by the fate of the September 15 levy vote.
According to Brown, the sheriff's beginning net capital was greater than budgeted at the beginning of the fiscal year, mainly due to salary savings from leaving staff positions unfilled. There are currently 22 unfilled vacancies on the force.
The sheriff's office is finalizing an agreement with the Oregon Corrections Department to lease 45 beds in the county jail, which will minimize layoffs and prisoner releases due to staff shortages.
Brown acknowledged that critics will to see this move as proof that predictions of a layoff and release of prisoners were empty "scare tactics."
"If we were going to use that as a scare tactic, we'd go ahead and release those prisoners," Brown said. "I understand politically that people are going to say there was hidden money. The political thing to do would be to keep the layoffs going. But that's not the right thing to do."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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