G.P. councilors seek to use general fund to fund jail beds
#1
From KAJO news:

The Grants Pass City Council today gave city staff approval to draft a plan to reduce the general fund ending balance from last fiscal year and increase the general fund contingency balance as another step toward purchasing city funded jail beds.

City Finance Director Jay Meredith demonstrated three possible options for the jail beds which would cost an estimated $100 per day per bed and juvenile justice beds which would be roughly $145 per day per bed. For approximately $599,000 the city could rent 10 jail beds and three Jackson County Juvenile Justice beds, for $964,000 20 jail beds and three juvenile justice beds and for $2 million 30 jail beds and the reopening of the Josephine County Juvenile Justice Center at a cost of $800,000.

Public Safety Chief Joe Henner expressed during his presentation that what is needed most for the city is jail beds and often overlooked juvenile justice beds because it is easier to change a juvenile offender’s behavior.

Councilors had varying opinions including Lily Morgan who vehemently opposed placing inmates in any jail but the Josephine County Jail, Dan DeYoung who felt citizens needed to push the D.A.’s Office and Judges to prosecute cases quicker, Rick Riker who felt a three-month lease should be drafted to test the proposal and Dennis Webber who felt the city’s control over the beds needed to be assured.

Councilors will vote on moving the ending balance funds to the contingency balance during their budget meeting Wednesday night.
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#2
The city is intelligent enough to know that they can't continue to cite and release criminals without either a conviction and/or jail time. The whole area is going down the tubes thanks to county voters who could care less---Rush Limbaugh calls them "low information voters"-----I call them stupid! This includes the republican party who would rather rise up in arms over the right to turn their property into a junkyard rather than protect the lives and property of the most vulnerable folks!
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#3
the city is fast realizing unless they protect their own residents by renting beds they will lose a tax levy in november.The city has been criminal and certainly unethical by doing absolutely nothing the last 12 months to protect citizens from crime.What is the point of having so many cops if they cant arrest, i urge all city residents to support Lily Morgen and vote no on future city tax levies.
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#4
(06-17-2013, 08:29 PM)minuteman Wrote: The city is intelligent enough to know that they can't continue to cite and release criminals without either a conviction and/or jail time. The whole area is going down the tubes thanks to county voters who could care less---Rush Limbaugh calls them "low information voters"-----I call them stupid! This includes the republican party who would rather rise up in arms over the right to turn their property into a junkyard rather than protect the lives and property of the most vulnerable folks!

why do you not criticize the city for letting these vulnerable in the city go unprotected for 12 months
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#5
Kids that live in cities, probably need jails more than country kids.
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#6
(06-17-2013, 08:29 PM)minuteman Wrote: The city is intelligent enough to know that they can't continue to cite and release criminals without either a conviction and/or jail time. The whole area is going down the tubes thanks to county voters who could care less---Rush Limbaugh calls them "low information voters"-----I call them stupid! This includes the republican party who would rather rise up in arms over the right to turn their property into a junkyard rather than protect the lives and property of the most vulnerable folks!

You might want to look at a couple of the points on why people have issue with the 4 ordinances, not about people having junkyards

1. County stated they had a backlog of 300 complaints but failed to produced them. SORA and county are now in litigation over FOIA

2. Of the 300 cases, only 14 had substance

3. Voters had already passed an ordinance by vote and the commissioners shouldn't have have ignored the democratic process, put it to a vote

4. The previous complaint system was neighbor driven, now anyone, including non-citizens can file a complaint

5. Four ordinances gives any government employee the power to be the complainant, enforcer, judge, jury, and executioner.

Remember the reason the county gave for passing the ordinances was because there was a logjam of 300 complaints, the legal process was tied up, and it took years to resolve.

So far, the first two reasons appear incorrect, there aren't 300 complaints, the legal process isn't tied up, and the years to resolve has actually been the fault of the county and the court.

One individual they gave time to clean up his property which he did. They forgot about him, did no follow up, and he just pick another location on his place and started again within weeks.

The county has a poor record as far as code enforcement because it never had a properly trained people to handle the codes.

They have been trying for years to codify their ordinances and still haven't done so. No one can easily look up any ordinance to see if they are in compliance or not!

Heck, they just realized they legally wrote themselves in a corner when they passed an ordinance that doesn't allow discharging any projectile or firearm on county parks. They just realized they needed to waive Sportsman Park for legal and liability reasons. (Legal dept review?)

No one wants junky neighbors but make sure the process is legal and democratic. There are already to many unenforced laws and some are there just for a matter of access convenience, or stacking charges.
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#7
I would think most would go about asking these two questions?

1. Why did the city wait almost a year to make this decision? Last August they had a meeting with the interim commissioners and Hare about this same idea because the councilors were being pressured by business

2. Is the city council that concern about the voter mood affecting the November levy outcome?
Remember they are looking at what happen to District 7 outcome and the city district voter turnout for the last election.

The media has been taunting the "crime wave" in the city and this might have a impact on the voters one way or another.

Sometimes "boasting about fiscal restraint" can work against you since both Jay Meredith and Chief Landis made comments about the current levy budget standings. Then there is this lingering "rumor" that the city really wants to build a separate Public Safety building and move out of the courthouse.
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#8
the city has been criminal by doing nothing and still collecting money from citizenz
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#9
The voters in the city have approved the recent levies. They have now given up on the county as being a hopeless bunch of losers and are deciding to go it alone.

I did not say I was against the repeal of the recent ordinances. What i said was the local republican party, most of whom are in the county, obviously place a higher priority on garbage pits and junkyards than they do public safety. Of course no one has said these folks are very bright!
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#10
dems like Cheryl Walker are against civil liberties are are pro tax.
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