Document text
Juvenile center's still possible Bond to be on Nov. 7, 2000, ballot By PETER WONG Voters in next year's general election will see a third bond measure request for a new Jackson County center for detention and treatment of juvenile offenders. Commissioners said Monday the next bond issue will propose the same-size building in downtown Medford as the bond issue that won a 60 percent majority of votes cast three weeks ago. Measure 15-2 failed because only 41 percent of all voters cast ballots in the election, less than the 50 percent participation required for tax increases. "I think we did everything to get it to the right size," Commissioner Sue Kupillas said. A bond issue in the Nov. 7, 2000, general election is not subject to Oregon's so-called double-majority requirement for approval of tax increases. The bond issue Nov. 2 was $16.5 million, down from $22.5 million in a November 1998 bond issue that failed by 500 votes of more than 50,000 cast. The number of detention beds was cut from 60 to 40. But space for treatment programs was expanded, and shelter beds remained at 16. The building was reduced from 67,000 to 50,400 square feet, still more than the 15,200 square feet available at the 42-year-old center in Medford's South Gateway shopping area. The current center has 20 detention beds. The building is proposed near Oakdale Avenue and 10th Street, next to the Justice Building. The county has bought land across 10th Street for replacement parking. Bill Thorndike Jr., of Medford, chairman of the pro-bond Citizens for Kids campaign, said the sizable majority of votes cast for it this time confirmed to him that the commissioners should offer the same proposal again. "I think you are well-positioned for next November's election," Thorndike, president of Medford Fabrication, told the commissioners Monday. "As a single issue on the Nov. 2 ballot, it brought a clarity to the issue that was missing when it was coupled with the adult criminal justice proposal. "I think we have a reasonable proposal." Voters last year also defeated a bond issue for expansion of the jail, courtrooms and offices for the sheriff, district attorney and community corrections. Alan Young, director of juvenile services, said the amount of a 2000 bond issue may be adjusted slightly after architects are consulted. Measure 15-2 would have cost 25 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, about $25 for the owner of a $100,000 house. Commissioner Jack Walker said one point that should be emphasized in a future campaign is the possibility of the county's loss of $4.1 million from a federal grant if voters fail to approve a bond issue for a juvenile center next year. "That fact would not have gotten more voters out this time," Walker said. But he said it might be important in persuading some voters to favor it in next year's general election, which may have several competing tax measures. The grant would reimburse the county for about half the $8 million cost of detention beds, but the beds must be completed by 2003 for the county to get the money. Commissioners say they would use that reimbursement to reduce the amount owed by property taxpayers for a bond. The bond's ultimate cost also will be reduced when the site of the current center is sold. The county has spent some of the proceeds from other property sales in the South Gateway area for preliminary estimates on the new center. The campaign for this year's measure was low-key countywide, but it concentrated on direct-mail postcards to households and advertising, doorstep reminders and telephone banks aimed at voters in selected precincts. Jim Wright, of Medford, president of LTM Inc., said the campaign for this year's bond issue was better than last year's because it had a single focus, and it shifted the spotlight from the building to youths and from punishment to prevention. "We learned a little bit about how to do it," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA