our leaders need to prioritize funding to law enforcement departments FIRST so that they receive financial support necessary to fully open the jail and hire enough deputy district attorneys to effectively prosecute all of the crime in the county.

When talking about the ever increasing homeless problem, I am often asked “Okay, but what are you going to do about it?” This would be my approach.

Sex offenders and criminals with active warrants should not be living in the woods anywhere near our schools. These encampments behind Blossom Gulch Elementary in Coos Bay have been ignored by our local leaders for years.

Handing out money, clothes, and food without any accountability does nothing but enable drug addiction, mental health, and crime. How can the county help build strong families/communities? It is only with strong families and strong communities that we can have any hope of a long term solution. But there are a few things we can do in the short term.

The current county leadership has the money available to fully fund the jail and District Attorney's office, but they choose to spend it on other projects and departments that are lower priority.

I filled out a questionnaire the other day, and while I don't feel like these are high priority issues affecting Coos County, but they are issues nonetheless. I hope this helps people understand how I view these topics.

With the proposed cuts I mentioned in my last post, this would bring the grand total to 30.5 full time positions cut if they fail to raise taxes this year.

Treasurer Megan Simms explained that each General Fund department was asked to prepare a budget with a 15% cut. The county is facing a roughly $5 million shortfall which they hope to patch by raising taxes through a "Public Safety" levy that is only supposed to be used for the jail and district attorney.

Based on an analysis published by the Oregon Department of Revenue in 2021, Coos County property owners pay an average actual tax rate of $13.23 per $1k of assessed value which places us 10th from the lowest out of 36 counties in Oregon.

We need strong leaders of strong character to stand up for the freedoms and values that our country was founded on. I am running for County Commissioner to stand up for you and your rights. I am not running to be the "nice guy" who gets along with everyone because guess what... we've all tried that and it's not working.

The Commissioners received a 10% raise last year while at the same time claiming the county is out of cash.

There is simply no legitimate reason to keep the jail closed and continue the daily release of criminals which endangers the public and holds no one accountable for their actions. Here are seven solutions to fix this crisis.

If we seek to remain in a civilized society, it is the responsibility of the government to arrest and jail all persons who break the peace, and threaten life and property. Failing to act now will lead us further into a state of lawlessness and I will not stand idly by while criminals take over our neighborhoods.