1991-28185-Minutes for Meeting September 03,1991 Recorded 9/17/199191-28185
// PUBLIC HEARING MINUTES
fr a PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED BOND ELECTION
September 3, 1991
tar�nin�ssioner Tom Throop called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
Board members in attendance were Tom Throop and Nancy Pope
Schlangen. Also present were Darrell Davidson, Sheriff, Rick
Isham, Legal Counsel, and Dennis Maloney, Community Corrections
Director.
Before the Board was a public hearing on Resolution No. 91-080
which would place on an upcoming ballot the question of Deschutes
County general obligation jail bonds. This measure authorizes
Deschutes County to issue up to $9,500,000 of bonds to finance
construction of a jail and related facilities and to cover related
costs. Deschutes County proposes to build a jail with a minimum of
100 beds. The bonds would be general obligations of Deschutes
County and would mature over a period of not more than 20 years.
Darrell Davidson presented the staff report. He said a committee
had been working for approximately 1-1/2 years on this issue and
the consensus of that committee was that more j ailbed space was
needed. The current facility went from 76 beds down to 54 beds and
there is approximately a 40 percent failure -to -appear in district
court. In order to have a safer community, it is important to
obtain a new facility.
Commissioner Throop announced that this measure would be placed on
the ballot November 5, 1991, in the amount of $9,500,000 to acquire
an additional 100 jail beds in Deschutes County and that this
public hearing was required by Oregon Revised Statute 287.055. The
meeting was then opened to the public.
David T. Haynes, City of Sisters Chief of Police, 150 N. Fir
Street, Sisters, Oregon, stated that he was not speaking
specifically for the City Council or the City of Sisters but as a
private individual who has been in the criminal justice system in
the state of Oregon for 20 years. He said that there are striking
similarities between what is occurring in Deschutes County now and
what occurred in the Marion County area in the early 1970's.
During that time in Salem, there was a fairly low incidence of
burglaries and low ratio of violent crimes against person and
property such as armed robberies. That was the same type of
pattern he had observed when first coming into the Bend area in
1985. However, that is no longer the pattern. In the six-year
period since 1985, the amount of serious crimes against person and
property has grown. Deschutes County is seeing the same types of
sustained growth that was occuring in the Willamette Valley area
during the early 1970's. Law enforcement deals with the same
people on the street on a repetitive basis. These people need to
be responsible for their acts, and a County facility with enough
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1991
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capacity is necessary in order get the dangerous people off the
street and have them held until they go to trial or prison for the
crimes they commit. He said that he supports the jail issue and
that it is sorely needed within this community.
Dean Kaethke of Redmond testified that the prison would cost
$70,000 per bed and that people try to take a free ride on any fear
that they can generate in the public. He stated that a 1400 -
square -foot, three-bedroom house in Deschutes County costs $70,000
and asked why a 5x8 prison cell should cost the same amount. In
1984, Seattle built a new city prison which cost $100,000 per bed
and the facility was unable to open until two years after their
projected occupation of the building. He stated that his
occupation is social work and that in mental health a person must
feel that he has found himself a friend before he can get well. He
said that a good society does not come out of shamed children,
mothers, and fathers, but from proud people and community. He
stated that the current justice system does not help people improve
themselves and that it operates on fear.
Dennis Maloney stated that cost -efficiency was an often -discussed
topic regarding this facility. In the $9,500,000, $1.5 million of
that is predicted for land acquisition which brings the cost down
to $8 million. He said that there would be some "front costs" that
it would be wise to pay in the beginning so that it does not become
undersized. He said that cost -efficiency and cost economics are
going to be very great concerns. Dennis stated there was a
misperception that a jail by itself was going to change behavior.
In actuality, the offender's accountability will start when they
reach the jail and this will be a very assertive jail program with
a heavy emphasis on work, literacy development, and high
expectations of their behavior. He also stated that the facility
would not be a warehouse where someone was checked in for 90 days
and checked out --no more able to make it in society than when
admitted. When the inmates leave, they will be better able to
read, better able to be employed, and with internal discipline, to
be chemical -free. It would be a very aggressive, assertive program
and very unique in the state of Oregon.
Being no further testimony, Commissioner Throop closed the public
hearing.
Commissioner Throop announced that consideration for formal
adoption of this measure would be held at the Board of County
Commissioners meeting on September 4, 1991, at 10 a.m.
Meeting adjourned at 10:22 a.m.
PAGE 2 MINUTES 9-3-91
0107 1 478
Sincerely,
DESCr
COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
omp, Commissioner
V�
Na y Pope 1 ngen, Commiss'oner
�-v &&d d--'�
Dick Maudlin, Chairman
BOCC /mmh
PAGE 3 MINUTES 9-3-91