August 12, 2020
North Bend Citizens:
Now that NBCFGFG, with your support, has been successful in placing Propositions 176, and 177on the ballot, and getting those measures passed by overwhelming margins of 16% and 50%, it’s time for us to close this chapter in the short history of this citizen group and bring you up to date.
Many of you are aware that members of this group with Oregon Accounting Certifications past and present fully examined and dissected the City of North Bend’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2020-21, and found many opportunities for savings within the budget that would have allowed the City to avoid cuts to the NBPD for this budget cycle. This would have bought some time and allowed the City to better understand their actual need for police staffing, and how to compare themselves more accurately with similar Oregon cities. It was always NBCFGFG’s contention that the PD was overstaffed with a ratio of 2.14 officers per 1000 residents, while the state average was around 1.35 per thousand. And we felt the city needed at least one more fireman.
The City proceeded to ignore the budget work of NBCFGFG and proceeded with their promised (or threatened) cuts. But they immediately ran into problems, since their Payment In Lieu of Taxes Agreement with the Coquille Indian Tribe required them to provide police protection 24/7/365. Since City Administrator Terrence O’Connor negotiated that contract, we can assume he was aware of the conditions to which he agreed, even when he threatened to cut police after 11 p.m. and additional cuts to fire at the start of the petition campaigns. Since the City was required to provide those services, they then proposed spending $72,000 for three months of contracted police services from the Coos Bay PD to fill the gap in staffing caused by their unnecessary cuts, not an intelligent use of taxpayer funds when the fully benefit loaded annual cost of hiring a NB police officer is around $100,000. Additionally, because their contract with the Coquilles didn’t contain an assignment clause, they were required to provide those services directly, not outsource by contract. By the final adoption of the City budget, the city had officially released seven, net five officers, (two were unfilled positions and represented only a cut on paper) and then hired four of them back. The net loss to the NB Police Department was one telecommunicator position but no police officer or fire positions. This indicates that NBCFGFG’s analysis was correct all along, and that the threatened cuts during the election were just that – threats.
With that history update, it’s time to go forward. We would like to share with you how NBCFGFG wants to work with you and serve you as we move towards the election. We have been communicating informally with several citizens to understand who may be interested in running for City Council in the upcoming election. On the ballot in November there will be four ‘open’ positions on the Council, including mayor, and it is NBCFGFG’s position that this represents a huge opportunity for North Bend voters to set a new direction with new Council members, thereby creating more transparency, trust, ethical behavior and increased respect for the voters and real opportunities for citizens to exercise their voice in our city.
We have a few activities planned to help you better understand the issues our city faces, challenges being dealt with, and challenges that are currently receiving no attention. Our hope is to encourage more of you to vote, and to do so in an informed way as you grow to understand the reality of the issues we face in our beautiful little city.
First, NBCFGFG will submit a questionnaire to all candidates so you can see how each candidate answers those questions. This will help you to understand how well candidates understand key issues, how they understand solutions, their preparation for the job, and their capacity for fresh, innovative solutions to old issues. At the end of this process, we will make the results known to you here and in other media in a way that summarizes the information. At that time we will recommend candidates that we think are aligned with a new vision and direction for our city.
In September, we will begin to speak to various topics as candidates lay forth their platforms, and we’ll try and give you an honest, factual, unbiased assessment of how the city has performed in these areas over the past several years.
Finally, we want to hear from you directly to our website or email about what you would like to know and how we might help better you to be an informed voter.
We look forward to new directions, new ideas, better communication between the city and its citizens, and more transparency and trust for a functional public entity.
Thank you for all your support and assistance on this journey. We do really need some financial assistance to help with printing flyers, and direct mail, as well as some of the marketing materials we have to pay to have designed. If you can help with a few dollars or if you have a little time to volunteer, we would surely like to meet you!
Respectfully,
Greg Aldridge
Chairman