GOLD BEACH – Curry County Commissioner George Rhodes summarized the past year, then shared some of what he sees as challenges ahead for the new year as he stepped down as chair of the county commission on Wednesday.

“This past year was challenging for largely financial reasons,” Rhodes said in a written statement.

“In anticipation of extremely challenging times ahead, the county made numerous cost saving changes and reductions. We reduced our work force from 213 employees on Jan. 1, 2011, to 169 on Jan. 1, 2012, for a net reduction of 44 employees,” he said. 

“Much of the reduction was the result of the July 1 move of Home, Health, and Hospice to a private nonprofit organization – Coastal Home, Health, and Hospice,” Rhodes said. 

“This move was the result of much work on many different levels with minimum impact on the services that are provided and had little or no impact to the local economy or the county unemployment fund,” Rhodes said. “This example should serve as a model for the future as we search for ways that current county departments can move outside the county structure and continue to provide much needed services to the citizens of Curry County.”

Rhodes noted that also on July 1, the Board merged Economic and Community Development with the Commissioners Office, and reorganized the Maintenance Department. 

“It transferred tax collection from the Treasurers Office to the Assessors Office for more efficiency,” he said. “The net result of this reorganization was estimated to be over $175,000. More reductions and changes are on the horizon, while at the same time, we will continue to search for additional revenue sources.”

Rhodes gave a sampling of other department accomplishments during the past year.

He said RSVP – Retired and Senior Volunteer Program – helps people 55 or older to find fulfilling service opportunities in their communities.

“Curry County RSVP volunteers contributed over 27,000 volunteer hours this past year, services worth over $571,000 to the County,” Rhodes said.

He said the County Road Department is responsible for the maintenance of the County road system including design and engineering of road improvements, road surface maintenance, striping, signing, and vegetation and drainage control.

“The Road department has begun utilizing a recently purchased deicing unit, which has been particularly successful in addressing icy road conditions, especially on the South Bank Chetco River Road,” Rhodes said. “It has contracted out work to repair four slides on the North Chetco River Road. It also has been involved in paving and chip seal projects in the Gold Beach area.”

He said that recently, the Road Department found the Brookings Shop to be surplus to its needs and sold it to the City of Brookings for market value. 

“As part of the transaction, the county transferred jurisdiction of a portion of Parkview Drive to the city,” he said.

Rhodes said Information Technology, the IT Department, is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the county’s computer software, personal computers, and countywide computer network. And it is also responsible for purchasing all computer equipment for all county departments.

“It recycled nearly 200 computers and servers this past year,” Rhodes said. “It has saved Curry County $30,000 in server replacement costs to date. Regarding the VoIP (voice over IP) Phone system, IT: 1) worked out programming efficiencies, 2) created over $50,000 in savings over prior year on the analog system, and 3) transitioned to a new service provider saving an additional $15,000 per year. Finally, IT implemented paperless meetings using reclaimed laptops.”

He said Health and Human Services have had a number of accomplishments this past year. 

“The Healthy Communities Team was created without use of the County General Fund, and it has leveraged new grants of over $130,000,” Rhodes said. “The Curry County Addictions program had the third highest percentage of meeting the goals for serving intensive treatment and recovery services clients in the State.”

Rhodes said Mental Health lowered the psychiatric hospitalization rate by 39.7 percent from the 2010 rate. 

“It also decreased the length of time to access services from four-to-six weeks to two weeks,” Rhodes said.

He said the WIC program continued to increase its caseload in excess of the state average. 

“It provided nutrition benefits to over 950 women, infants and children, and provided food vouchers worth over $330,000 – money that was spent in local grocery stores,” Rhodes said.

“I am happy to also announce that this department, in partnership with the Circuit Court, District Attorney, and Sheriff’s Office, helped establish a Mental Health Court,” he said.

Rhodes said the County Clerk’s Office held one countywide and two district elections over the year. 

“It applied for and received a total of $27,897 in replacement equipment from the State of Oregon through a Help America Vote Act grant,” he said. 

Rhodes said the clerk’s office recorded 5,461 documents and made the Commissioners’ Journal documents available free of charge to the public on the County web site.

He said that according to court records, there were 201 felony fillings and 588 misdemeanor filings by the District Attorney’s office in 2011. 

“The Office prosecuted a broad range of cases including drug possession and delivery, burglary, theft, assault and DUII cases. They also handled a number of major felony cases including child sexual abuse,” Rhodes said.

He noted the Sheriff’s Office provides a number of services including dispatch, 911, patrol, service of civil papers, search and rescue, jail, animal control, emergency services, parole and probation and marine patrol. 

“The central mission of this department is to provide safety services to the residents and visitors of this county,” Rhodes said. “This department relies on General Fund dollars, so it is a department completely at-risk in this time of financial crisis.”

Rhodes said that last March, the Sheriff’s Office took the lead in responding to the threats of the earthquake /tsunami generated off Japan. 

“Wave surges on our coast created major damage, especially to the Port of Brookings-Harbor,” Rhodes said. 

He said that sheriff’s personnel were on the scene to lead the effort in public safety and no lives were lost because of the wave surges.

“The value of the Sheriff Offices leadership was manifested when citizens, after the initial wave action, wanted re-entry into the part of the port that had been evacuated,” Rhodes said. “The Sheriff’s Office held firm in refusing re-entry. A short while later, significant and very large waves began to swamp the port area at the precise location where some citizens had demanded access.”

Rhodes said that in 2011, homes throughout the county were targeted by burglars, thieves, and home invaders. 

“Through the diligent work of staff, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office managed to solve several major burglary cases, involving numerous victims, and recovered a great deal of stolen guns and other property,” he said.

Rhodes congratulated Sheriff John Bishop for being honored by his peers. 

“The Oregon State Sheriffs Association recognized Sheriff Bishop as Sheriff of the year for 2011,” Rhodes said. “The Sheriff was also awarded the Association’s Presidential Citation and a Life Saving award for his action in the rescue of a potential drowning victim at Blossom Bar.”

The commissioner said that in the past year Curry County has provided excellent services under very trying economic conditions. 

“Despite all of the formidable challenges they have faced, the various departments of the county have performed remarkably well this past year,” Rhodes said. “They have found ways of reducing expenditures, finding new revenue, and becoming more efficient, while still serving the public at a high-level.”

Rhodes said the county received its last scheduled reduced Federal Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payment in the fall of 2011, and is now faced with a $3,000,000 budget shortfall for fiscal year 2012-2013. 

“This shortfall does not address the outstanding liability for PERS and potential unemployment liability,” he said.

Rhodes said that in November, the commissioners, with the administrative help of Oregon Consensus, formed the Curry County Citizens’ Committee to serve as a fact finding group and an advisory body to the commissioners. 

“The purpose of this committee is to identify and to explore all viable revenue and expenditure opportunities to achieve fiscal solvency and stability for Curry County government now and in the future,” Rhodes said. “This group of 23 individuals has been regularly meeting and will be presenting recommendations to the board in the near future. Following the recommendations, the board will implement a plan of action to address the financial crisis.”

He said that even greater challenges lie ahead in the future. 

“Curry County will need to resolve the upcoming projected budget shortfall,” Rhodes said. “This will require great dedication and effort not only from elected officials, department heads and employees, but from the public as well.”

Following his remarks, the commissioners elected David Itzen as commission chair for 2012.