Friday, April 26, 2024
BRIDGEPORT – Citizen response from the March 25 public meeting held to discuss the steep cost increase for a 2024 law enforcement contract with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) kicked off the regular monthly meeting of the city council last Wednesday, March 20.
“In my opinion the city should not agree to the currently proposed interlocal agreement for law enforcement services,” said resident Leslie Robb. “It felt like the county is pressuring a small proportion of county residents to pay for an increase in countywide law enforcement costs. The increases need to be paid for by all the county residents.”
Robb’s comments mirrored an earlier one by council member Mike Bjornstad that drew the most applause from the audience at the public meeting.
“I said we needed a countywide tax to fund the sheriff's department,” Bjornstad told the Quad, “The commissioner stated that the county would be subsidizing the small towns for law enforcement. I stated that the small towns are subsidizing the county because of the extra fee they are paying over and above their property taxes.”
“I was excited to see the amount of people we had from the community,” said Mayor Sergio Orozco. “The feedback we got was very helpful and I’d like to see if we can more.”
Douglas County Commissioner Mark Straub, who attended the public meeting, told Orozco he learned new information about the issue from citizen input and heard several key points that he wants to take back to the other commissioners to help resolve the differences between the DCSO and the cities.
Council member Matt Schuh observed that East Wenatchee’s urban growth area has a population of approximately 13,000, which is also covered by the DCSO contract. He wondered aloud if those residents were paying more toward their law coverage than just property taxes.
“It would be very interesting to see what percentage of call volume is coming from that area - which is more than the four towns (Bridgeport, Mansfield, Waterville, Rock Island) combined – that their crime statistics are probably a lot higher than ours.”
Council member Zeke Martinez asked if the public knew that, as Commissioner Straub pointed out, the contract has not changed in 25 years, but the amount the city pays does change every year with a three percent increase.
Orozco learned from Straub that Douglas County officers are well-paid compared to other officers across the state.
“They are actually even higher paid than in King County,” said Orozco. “They cover a big area but for the size if the Sheriff’s department they are pretty well paid.”
Orozco said he will attend future commissioner meetings to discuss Bridgeport’s contracts further.
“You might ask them: ‘Would you sign this?’” Martinez suggested.
Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media
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