Proposal Cuts Coverage By 38%

WAITSBURG - The most recent contract proposal the Waitsburg City Council took a look at last Wednesday reduces the amount the city is paying the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office cur- rently by 36 percent and reduces services by 38 percent.

Councilman KC Kuyken- dall told Sheriff John Turner last Wednesday that if the city of Waitsburg is already being patrolled in the deputies' daily beat, "I can't figure out for the life of me why we couldn't cut the contract."

Kuykendall said for $125,000 a year, the city isn't getting an active DARE pro- gram, only a deputy in a car.

The city and sheriff's of- fice are working to get a new contract on the books by then end of the year.

Currently, the city is pay- ing $125,000 a year, for 47.25 patrol hours in city limits each week, or 6.75 hours a day.

The proposal in front of the council last Wednesday for 2013 would pay the sher- iff's office $80,000 for the year and the city would get 29.36 patrol hours per week, or 4.19 hours a day. The pro- posalalsoincludeda3per- cent cost of living increase for the deputies, Turner said.

Turner said his deputies will always be required to patrol the Waitsburg area outside of city limits, which does help Waitsburg by re- ducing the amount of drugs in the area and taking im- paired drivers off the roads.

The biggest downfall of cutting the contracted amount of coverage for Waitsburg would be less police pres- ence, Turner said.

"Police presence has a deterrent effect on crime," Turner said.

When the deputies are in Waitsburg patrolling and meeting their contracted hours they are under the watch of their supervisors to do so, he said. If an area deputy is patrolling the area on the regular beat, not con- tracted hours, that deputy chooses how to spend his time and doesn't mean he or she won't leave the area for other reasons.

"It would allow deputies and sergeants discretion to work on other areas," Turner said.

More presence in the city could be a crime deterrent for Waitsburg and could improve emergency response times, he added.

Mayor Walt Gobel said the council will still need time to get together and review the proposals and options for law enforcement coverage.

"We need time to absorb what we have now," Gobel said.