Walla Walla County Sheriff reacts to proposed budget cuts by calling for businesses to reopen

WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County Sheriff Mark Crider released a letter on April 23 stating that “the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office is primarily funded from sales tax, so is imperative that we get Walla Walla County businesses back up and running.”

Crider stated that the five percent budget cuts his department are being asked to make by Walla Walla County Commissioners would slice $232,595 out of a $4,651905 total budget.

Crider asserts that these budget cuts “can only mean one thing, we are going to have to cut manpower by reducing (patrol) hours or cut positions. We have been operating with three deputies per shift, for most of the last twelve months, to cover our county of 1300 square miles. The Walla Walla Sheriff’s Office currently serves our citizens 24 hours a day but, with a 5% cut we will be forced to look at cutting back to 16-20 hours of coverage a day. That would be a clear step back in the service we strive to provide to the citizens of Walla Walla County.”

In a response to The Times, Meghan DeBolt, Director of the Walla Walla County Health Department, noted that Sheriff Crider has been part of the Unified Command, and that this statement “goes against what the UC stands for.” And, that his statement “does not take into account the community’s best interest. It is mostly about reopening so we can generate sales tax to help fund his operations.”

When the Times reached out to Walla Walla County Commissioners their office replied: “ The Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners were not consulted on the content or had any prior knowledge of what was being released by the Walla Walla County Sheriff.  At this time, we have no comment.”

Walla Walla County Commissioner District 3 Greg Tompkins offered the following statement on his personal Facebook page, “...please know that we have sent countless letters to the governor’s office and are on the phone with his office at least twice weekly, trying to get less restrictive options for our small business owners.”

Crider mentions joining “Benton and Franklin counties in opening our county” likely in response to Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond’s letter of Monday, April 21. YakTriNews.com reported Raymond saying Inslee “has overstepped his constitutional powers and is trying to control us under the guise of protecting us.” Raymond’s letter continues, saying, “the stay home order is unconstitutional and Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher agrees.”

Franklin County Commissioners voted on Monday, April 19 to “end recognition” of Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order. However, in a special meeting on Thursday, April 23, the three-member commission rolled back their resolution.

DeBolt further responded “We are at a critical point here in Walla Walla. Although we have been able to keep our numbers down - this is not the case moving forward and reopening without a solid plan and prevention efforts in place, and without ensuring our public health response is at full capacity, will only lead to more cases and deaths that is unacceptable.”

Case counts of COVID-19 as of April 23 in Walla Walla County totaled 51, with nine cases tied to Tyson Fresh Meats in Wallula and an additional five cases linked to FirstFruits, Inc. in Prescott.

On Friday, April 25, The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported that Crider said “his statement did not match his intentions.” County emergency management director Liz Jessee continues to urge citizens to follow the governor’s order and practice health guidelines by washing their hands, isolating at home when sick, and practicing physical distancing.