That county invoice again.
It would be laughable -- if it weren't our money being spent.
It is time to re-examine Jackson County's reputation for fiscal rigor and prudence.
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| Courthouse sign to the locked door |
If Danny Jordan is a stickler, maybe that’s why Jackson County is often cited for being fiscally in the best shape of any county in the state.
The presumption of many is that the commissioners are figureheads at best, that Danny Jordon runs everything, and that he is great at his job.
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| Danny Jordan, County Administrator |
The proof of that pudding is that the county commissioners made a generous renegotiation of his contract, and that the county is sitting on something like $200 million in unspent cash.
I have a different take about Jackson County being thought successful because it banks money like a hedge fund. My sense is that money raised from taxes, fees, and grants trickled down from the state and federal government has a purpose. It is to solve problems, not to bank. We need a new jail because our current one is so small that we are releasing people we should be holding. Related to the jail-release problem, we have a population with unmet mental health problems, and that exacerbates the homelessness problem. And we have an animal shelter problem. And a rural crime problem.
So we see the trade-off. The county has money in the bank. But we also have a Greenway that formerly was enjoyed by joggers, dog walkers, and intercity bicycle travel, but now is dangerous to use due to the homeless population burrowed away in the vegetation. My own view is that the safety and convenience of a polity's citizens is a better measure of success than is its banked reserves.
Yesterday's post looked at the county's decision to make public information hard to get. It reveals a secretive, uncooperative attitude toward the public. They dangle public information in front of the public and then parcel it out in the order they choose. I was critical of them.
It is manipulative. It is also expensive for the county. That was the second revelation in yesterday's post, one that belies the county's reputation for efficiency. Just look at that invoice and marvel. What an over-produced, cumbersome, and wasteful process the county reveals by its invoice to collect $13.25. Consider the relationship between the billed amount and the staff time it took to produce this. Recognize that the whole process was unnecessary in the first place.
In fact, the invoice is only half of it.
Denise Krause, the leader of the Jackson County For All group, made the public records request in plain English, asking to see the information Jordan presented. That left opportunity for ambiguity that the county used to initiate an email string questioning exactly which documents --the ones she obviously wanted or maybe something else. I am redacting the assistant's name. This isn't her fault. I presume she is following established policy to make the process slow, bureaucratic, and expensive.
And:
But that invoice. A document is a document is a document.
A document isn't opinion. It isn't commentary. It is what it is. We can look at it and decide for ourselves whether it makes sense. Some may think it appropriate to the circumstances. I don't. I think it tells a story of flagrant waste of resources, allocating staff time to create detailed bills for $1.50 items, for a records request that should not have been necessary.
It is a reflection on the management of the county.
15 comments:
"I have a different take about Jackson County being thought successful because it banks money like a hedge fund. My sense is that money raised from taxes, fees, and grants trickled down from the state and federal government has a purpose is to solve problems, not to bank. We need a new jail because our current one is so small that we are releasing people we should be holding. Related to the jail-release problem, we have a population with unmet mental health problems and that exacerbates the homelessness problem. And we have an animal shelter problem. And a rural crime problem".
This pretty much says it all. The County uses the large amount of money that they have in the bank as a metric for success, at the same time that the County experiences a lot of problems, as identified above.
Quite simply, most of the County's budget consists of pass-through money received from the Feds and State, and the money that the County has in the bank is unspent money intended for vital services. It's nice to have some money in the bank, but it's also criminal to not spend some of that money when Jackson County is struggling with crime, drug abuse, homelessness, and mental health issues.
Further, the County currently wants to spend $60 million on an unneeded Pandemic Center/Central Point Community Center at the County Fairgrounds. This is an absolutely wasteful expenditure at a time that we desperately need more jail space. More jail space is the #1 most important issue in the County.
Curt Ankerberg
Medford, OR
Thanks, Sally. Please tell me if that invoice looks like a good use of county resources. And please tell me if it makes sense for you for the county to have information on a matter of public interest on the table in front of them but refuse to share it with citizens until they have filed requests.
This is a very different GOP from the party of Reagan, the GOP that thought governments were wasteful and inefficient and overly bureaucratic, and they were critical of that. Possibly this new GOP wants to use the power of government to confound citizens based on their perceived political orientation. This is the new right-populist government. They are a big government party now IF it takes arms against political opposition.
By far the largest group of voters in the county now are nonaffiliated voters. Combined with members of the Independent Party they constitute almost twice as many voters as either Democrats or Republicans. I think that if either party fails to understand that, then it will be disappointed on election night. I will write about this soon.
Peter
I am sorry I thought "Sally," is a Republican. I did not consider it an insult. Only a descriptor. She advanced a point of view about Danny Jordan that is commonplace among Republicans. It is that the commissioners are fools who are spoon-fed and bullied by the administrator, but that it all works out pretty well because Jordan is very competent. Many Democrats feel the same way.
Jordan is very forceful. Very alpha-male. He interrupts. He is decisive. I have witnessed this on my own.
Many people seem to think he is exactly what the county needs.
As Of September, 2021.....
There were 45,515 registered Democrats, 49,285 registered Republicans, 54,121 registered Non-Affiliated voters, 8,363 registered Independent Party voters, and 1,237 registered Libertarians in Jackson County, Oregon.
https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Documents/registration/2021-September.pdf
One thing to consider is that Oregon has a "motor voter" law, whereby voters are registered to vote when they get a drivers license. Most of those voters don't state a political preference, and they are automatically grouped with the unaffiliated voters, which is the default.
Curt Ankerberg
Medford, OR
The county has money in the bank while it fails to provide its customers with needed services.
Isn't most money governments recieved earmarked for specific projects or services?
Are the state and federal government aware they are subsidizing Jackson County's surplus?
How can I donate to Jackson County For All?
We need commissioners who are responsive and a county administrator who understands that he works for the citizens, not for the BOS.
Peter has good points; “Sally,” not so much. A recent poll done by the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors found that the highest priority issue to residents in Jackson County is homelessness, but Colleen Roberts and Dave Dotterrer refused to respond to the poll or comment on what they're doing about the problem. Perhaps the questions weren’t submitted on the proper public information request form, or maybe Danny Jordan hadn’t told them what to say.
The governor is trying to address the issue but what, if anything, are Jordan and the commissioners doing?
Mc: "How can I donate to Jacksoncountyforall.org"
Today, a few minutes after one PM, approximately 11,700 signatures on the Petitions to restructure the Board of Commissioners were turned into Chris Walker at the Elections office on West Main Street. Despite the Commissioners efforts to delay the submission by cutting in half the normal time frame for gathering signatures for a Ballot Measure from 2 years to One year, some 200 Volunteers gathered these thousand of signatures in 5 months and one week.
We do need help raising funds for an ongoing education program between now and the May Election.
You can donate at the website
jacksoncountyforall.org and volunteer, some time as well, if you happen to be so inclined. Whatever you do will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Ed. Will see what I can do.
It amazes me that people who cry about their "liberty" may see nothing wrong with the current commissioners' very sweet gig, which causes eah citizen to have less representation.
I think the campaign organizers need to "show the math" and how this will make the BOS more responsive.
Or maybe I should just say "responsive" since more than nothing isn't much of an accomplishment.
Curt, I agree with most of what you said.
I can't speak to the specifics but the county needs to beef up its emergency response and preparedness to help people during disasters.
I also agree jail expansion is needed.
One problem is the anti-government sentiment, which I think the current BOS encourages.
Google "bleed the beast".
Mc; It didn't get brought out until the end, but Dr. Dave Gilmour, who served two terms as a County Commissioner did his own take on the numbers, and what will accomplish what needs to be done to increase the facilities for a 5 Member Board is a tiny as ine miniscule amount, compared the lies Danny Jordan put together and which still have not been made Public.
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