Minutes of January 20, 2011
Access Benton County
Present: Pat Shermer, Tony Albert, Ronald Naasko, Judy Heath, Mike
Mullett, Todd Allen, Dana Marie, Edith Yang, Hugh White, Marlene
Massey, Jim Smith. Special Guest, Benton County Undersheriff Scott
Jackson.
ABC Minutes are intended to describe the discussions, decisions, and
actions that occur during ABC’s monthly meeting. The minutes are to
be considered only a draft until they are approved at the following
monthly meeting. Persons who receive the draft of the minutes and
see inaccuracies or omissions in them are asked to please inform
ABC.
A. Special Guest presentation:
Mr. Jackson gave ABC a terrific overview of Benton County Sheriff's
Department (BDSD) responsibilities and many specifics of this
agency's contributions to our welfare each day of the year. Some of
the things we learned are:
-Benton County has the smallest jail per capita of any county in
Oregon. Our jail has 40 beds and another 40 beds are "rented" from
other facilities! 1500 inmates were released last year due to
crowding.
-The Department provides Court House security and almost 4,000
restricted items (potential weapons) were denied access to the
building last year.
-The Department wants to educated the public about its duties and
budget needs. The Citizen Academy is one way BCSD can do this. 20
persons did the Academy in 2009 and 29 participated in 2010!
-BCSD is required by the State to serve eviction notices and
subpoenas. and issues concealed handgun permits (275 new permits and
299 renewed in 2010!
-The K-9 unit (police dogs) is a valuable resource for our safety.
BCSD has a dog that is dual certified for narcotic detection and
patrol. Cost of a certified dog ranges from 15 to 20 thousand
dollars to purchase.
-BCSD provides marine patrol with 80 percent of funding coming from
the Oregon Marine Board.
-One hundred volunteers are involved in Emergency Management/Search
Rescue. This provides services that the county budget could not
cover!
-Our Parole and Probation department has a lower recidivism rate (4%
lower) than the State average! This division also manages the work
crews that began in 1984. Last year there were 1,442 shifts of
participants that had a value of saving the County $216,300 for this
work!
-Other programs that are managed by BCSD include Transitional
Housing for offenders, Drug-take back (disposal of old medications),
Mental Health Transitional Program.
-What improvements are priorities for BCSD in the future? They are:
Improved Radio Communications
Sheriff's Foundation contributions
Organizational Structure Review
School Resource Deputy
New Jail
We thank Officer Jackson for his time and we value the information
he gave us! Our question and answer sharing during the presentation
was especially appreciated! ABCers are assured that the ADA
requirements for law enforcement are well understood and followed by
BCSD. The primary access concerns appear to be caused by aging
buildings that were designed before access codes became the law. It
appears that BCSD has made ADA accommodations and structural
improvements as needed.
To contact Undersheriff Jackson: Phone (541.766.6055)
scott.jackson@co.benton.or.us
B. Minutes of November 18, 2010 approved as submitted.
C. Treasurer: Holiday Luncheon cost was $130.00. Donations received
for luncheon was $110.00. Feedback from ABCers is that the quality
of the catered food was excellent and the cost was very, very
reasonable! We thank the China Delight Restaurant for their
wonderful service! We thank Todd and Esmeralda Allen for making
these arrangements. We thank the twenty guests who participated in
our special luncheon!
The annual Post Office Box fee of $44.00 was paid. Cash Balance is
$264.00.
D. Correspondence: Membership Renewal Invoice from Corvallis
Downtown Association.
E. Continuing Business: A volunteer committee was formed to do the
research on Keith's Award Nominations.
F. New Business:
1. Judy Heath informed ABC about the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This "convention" really
parallels our Americans With Disabilities Act! The UN partner
nations a few years ago started the ball rolling for disabilities
rights on a global scale. To learn more, visit this link:
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=212
2. We have scheduled Corvallis Mayor, Julie Manning, as special
guest for our June 16, 2011 ABC meeting! We hope to arrange guests
in future meetings from Corvallis Downtown Association, Corvallis
Parks and Recreation Department, and Dial-a-Bus.
3. Annual Review of ABC Goals and Objectives. Reviewed our Goals and
Objectives. Only change is to delete Goal One, Objective Three. ABC
had not worked on this objective for several years.
Adjourn 1 p.m.. Next ABC Meeting, Thursday, February 17, 2011, Noon
to 1 p.m., Benton Plaza, Commissioner's Meeting Room.
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