Lane Country Facing Hard Choices For Safety Services
In Lane County, a conversation is percolating about a long-running problem budgeting for the county jail. Lane County is one of several in Oregon forced to make hard decisions about safety services, in the face of a dwindling tax base. You might think you were in a high school or community center, walking through the cement-block corridors and primary color-fixtures at the Lane County jail.“So if you want we’ll just go down, and we’ll go straight to the north annex," said Lt. Greg Fox. The sense of place changes approaching one of the remote-control doors that will not open, unless Lt Greg Fox gives the security camera a high-sign. “Now we’ll get on the elevator. We’re being watched everywhere we go," he said. We’re peering through reverse-tinted windows into a common area with bunk beds, steel tables, and lots of inmates. Some of these men and women are being held in advance of their trials. Others are serving short sentences for property crimes or low-level felonies. This part of the jail was re-opened last summer, following budget problems and a closure that started in 2008. Fox said re-opening this area made a real difference.“Primarily, it provided some extra safety to community because it reduced our capacity-based releases by over a thousand. Prior to the 84 beds opening we were forced to release some pretty dangerous offenders," he said.Looking at the period that more or less corresponds to those bed closures, about 4,500 inmates had to be released, for space reasons. While things have improved, the Sheriff’s office still thinks it’ll have to release another 3,500 this fiscal year. That’s what’s keeping Jean Tate busy this spring. Tate is co-chair of a group called Citizen Advocates for Public Safety, or CAPS. The panel was convened by county leaders with an unappetizing mandate: find money. Lane County voters have turned down public safety levies 12 times in recent history, Tate is trying not to pave the way for #13. “I know there are people who hope we’ll spearhead a new tax levy. We’re not at all sure that’s possible," she said.Tate, Former U of O President Dave Frohnmayer, and other members of the group have held lengthy discussions about the factors that led to the problem. Now they’re after public feedback. Tuesday afternoon, CAPS held a meeting in the coastal town of Florence. The group found a lot of people who feel like Bill Hagen, a retiree who lives north of Florence. “I would like to see the priorities shifted in such a manner which refuses jail beds and provides more prevention in the front end, because this national already spends too much," he said.Hagen said he recognizes the argument CAPS and local officials are making – that the county’s jail beds are not the same as the prison cels used for long-term incarceration. He said he gets that the jail bed problem has caused a breakdown in basic safety, since arrestees can’t even be held pre-trial in many cases. But Hagan is not willing to concede the spending point – or his vote - yet. Another Florence resident, Karen Lyn, works at a local food pantry. She said there’s no lack of people in town who care about the conditions that contribute to crime. But Lyn’s thinks any vote on public safety or support services will have this to deal with: the geography of who gets what in Lane County. “The perception by many of my colleagues is that a great deal of the money stops in Eugene. Although we are smaller and we understand that," she said.Florence is an hour away from Eugene over the coast range. Lyn says,- it’s hard for people to see the county-wide picture – especially when they’re continually told that solutions have to be concentrated in the big population centers. If CAPS is going to rally the community around any kind of solution, there’s one other constituency that will be important: the business community. Two weeks ago, CAPS made a presentation to the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. Jared Mason-Gere, the Chamber’s Director of Business Advocacy was in the audience. “I don’t think it was news to any of them," he said.Mason-Gere said no one has to tell the business community that money is tight. And he says most people who do business in Lane County also live here, and are painfully aware of how the criminal justice system has broken down. “I don’t think anyone’s going to be excited about digging into their pockets at this point in time. But at this point I think people are looking for some way out of this pickle we’re in right now. It’s going to be dependant on - is it something that’s fair and balanced across the board, and are we making the most of whatever we bring in," he said.CAPS will hold a second and final public feedback meeting at Lane County’s fairgrounds next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Lane County’s Commissioners are working on drafting a poll for public safety issues – the language should be finalized within the next few weeks.
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