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Vote yes for more rural patrols

Residents of rural Jackson County will be asked to fund a permanent property tax levy to beef up inadequate police services in outlying areas of the county May 19.

Measure 15-66 is sorely needed. Now, things are pretty iffy for rural residents -- or anyone else -- who report emergencies or crimes.

The proposal facing voters in Tuesday's primary would finance a law enforcement district that covers all of the county except for incorporated cities and White City, all of which have their own law enforcement. It's the follow-up to the 1994 county levy that financed jail, D.A., juvenile and other law-enforcement services, but no rural patrols. The Mail Tribune editorial board recommends a yes vote.

Crime in unincorporated areas is on the rise, response times are lengthy, and there are few deputies available to actually patrol.

Sheriff Bob Kennedy notes that in 1997, crime in rural areas of Jackson County increased by 16 percent; aggravated assault increased by more than 30 percent.

The Sheriff's Department of today has half as many deputies it had patrolling the county in 1979, Kennedy says, while population and crime have grown. The average patrol shift consists of only two to four deputies, meaning the department is unable to respond to more than one emergency at a time.

THIS SITUATION IS appalling. It means that you could be trapped in a demolished vehicle or be the victim of an armed robbery or theft in a campground and wait a long time before professional help arrived.

If voters approve, the Jackson County enhanced law enforcement district initially will hire 20 deputies, two sergeants and two clerks. The budget includes funding for training and equipment for the new positions.

The price? A permanent tax rate of 90 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. By law, the tax bill could not go up by more than 3 percent a year, despite increases in assessed value.

This is money well spent. And that goes not only for under-served rural residents, but also city folks who travel in or through the back country on the way to work or to the hundreds of recreation opportunities in Southern Oregon.

But city residents don't vote on this one. Rural residents do, and they should say "yes" on 15-66.

Measure 15-67, if approved Tuesday, would annex the city of Eagle Point to the Bear Creek Valley Sanitary Authority, basically codifying a deal worked out several years ago. In that agreement, the two entities recognize that the BCVSA could do a better job, more cheaply, than could Eagle Point. Since then, the BCVSA has put in a new sewer, a state-of-the-art pump station and hooked up to the regional treatment plant and done away with the city's inadequate lagoon system and frequent spills.

APPROVAL OF MEASURE 15-67 would formalize the relationship and allow the BCVSA to share costs of maintaining and improving the system. The city won't have to worry about where its sewage is going. Rates won't increase.