Pfred:''Public safety'' is a big, fat lie. Three times the number of police and jails we have today still won't keep your children ''safe'' from the pedophile next door, still won't stop a drunk driver from crippling you or your family member as you drive to work, still won't keep low-lifes from stealing everything you own to buy their next ...

Another one! Another idiot pointed a gun at our cops and got shot! I think that makes NINE officer-involved shootings in Lane County since January.

Mike T:Spanky, if you get a chance, please refer me back to where I made the quotes in the box.  I need to go back and see what I was thinking at the time. As to paying average taxes, maybe we do and just don't know it.  Have you looked at the burden we have put on property lately.  With the bonded debt we are collecting over $20 a ...

horsey: According to the DA and the local judges, the Douglas County jail has more than three times the capacity of our jail, but their county is more rural and has less than one third of our population. From where I sit I can't see any reason to expect why this area should be able to function properly with less than 1/9th of the jail space per ...

Mike T:...Besides, the people of Lane County have already TWICE voted against a County personal income tax. Yet you want to try to go that route again? Do you actually think that any of the commissioners would seriously consider doing that at this point in time? NO OTHER County in Oregon has a personal income tax. What is so special about ...

Mike, I can't disagree with a single thing you just said. Here's the problem: We can't afford the current compensation, even with staffing levels below half of what would be required to do the job properly, so we sure as heck can't afford a market-based public sector salary structure. That would mean at LEAST a 20% raise for every public health ...

Mike, what do you mean when you say we need to restructure the government? If by ''restructure'' you mean simply ''pay the employees less'', citizens would support you, but why would employees continue to work for Lane County? Police officers appear to be in demand, as Lane County's laid-off deputies get snapped up quickly. The sheriff has trouble ...

Wow, lots of activity here! Danielle, you make some great points. I have heard the Sheriff speak several times, and he always takes heat for the traffic team deputies. It seems like nobody like that program. The Sheriff said he'd prefer not to have enforcement hooked to revenue production, but he believes he HAS to keep the traffic program because

Anybody keeping score? Yep, we've had another FOUR homicides, FIVE police-involved shootings and a boat-load of bank robberies and home invasions in just the last two months. Thank goodness we don't have a crime problem... That would be scary.

Moorefam, you're right that trust is earned, but our citizens are not responsive to good decisions and trustworthy behavior. They're still basing their judgments on twelve and fifteen year old urban folklore... They think county government is ''fat'', but it is the leanest government in Oregon -- in many cases having less than half of the staff of ...