I need your help.
It’s obvious that we have a crime crisis in Coos County.
And our county leaders are about to make it catastrophically worse.
But you can help stop them.
Just yesterday they started the process of closing the jail and will be defunding the Sheriff’s Office to the point where there will be little to no deputies on patrol. Crazy!
If this is concerning to you, then I need you to pitch in and help put a stop to it. Please read all the way to the end.
Our county leaders believe the recent failure of the “jail levy” proves that the citizens do not care about law enforcement. This is wrong, we do care.
People voted against the levy for 3 main reasons:
They cannot afford for their property taxes to increase or they do not believe in property taxes at all.
They feel the government already has enough money and needs to budget better.
They believe the county needs to spend money on law enforcement first and all other services second – not the other way around.
Not a single person I have talked to in the past year has expressed anything other than full support for our law enforcement personnel and departments. They just don’t believe that a property tax increase is a proper solution to Coos County’s financial situation. Two totally separate issues.
The citizens voted 2 to 1 that property tax increases are not a solution to skyrocketing government spending. There was no ballot measure gauging the citizen’s views on how to prioritize the county’s spending, and I believe if asked they would respond 9 out of 10 in favor of funding law enforcement departments FIRST before any other county department. Don’t believe me? Go knocking door to door and business to business like I have and then report back to me what you’ve concluded.
So where do we go from here? I’m looking for a group of people interested in being a part of a citizen driven task force to show the county leadership that there is another path forward, and that we do indeed want a law enforcement presence in Coos County. I’ve tried convincing them and unfortunately they won’t listen if I’m the only one standing up to speak. This is your opportunity to get involved at a very basic level and have the chance to make a real difference.
I have a path forward that does not raise property taxes and I believe I can make it happen if even just a small handful of people pitch in and help me build some momentum. For those who are interested, send me a private message and I will give you further details. It should only take a few hours of your time each month and your participation can either be public or private.
I look forward to hearing from you.