Some History and some facts....
Some History:
When I moved here 15 years ago, the Surfside patrol deputy was a man named Harrison, (not exact name or spelling ,but close) As we were unloading the moving truck the deputy stopped and talked with us. He was a little concerned because the association had not notified him that we would be moving in. He was friendly and respectful. My first positive impression was that this HOA is watching out for the members.
Not long after I moved here that deputy was replaced by Larry Clark, who was also a member resident and remains so to this day. In fact, he lives in my neighborhood. He remains active in the association at the fishing derby. He was the guy measuring the fish. When he fully retired, he was replaced by Travis a little over 9 years ago.
The only cost for Larry, was his wages because he was retired with his own health benefits. Larry was a real people person. If he saw you walking along the street, he would stop and visit with you. This was a way he had a pulse of the community. I think he knew everyone in the community. At the clams digs, you would always find him at I Street and Oysterville Road, directing traffic for a smooth flow to and from the beach.
When we started the neighborhood watch program, he was right there with advice for me and the neighborhood captains. He played a big part in getting the neighborhood watch signs and I have a picture of him posing with the first watch sign at 322nd and K Place. When I first moved here and was driving I Place, a little to fast, as he was driving the other way, he turned his flashing lights on briefly, as a warning to slow down. That simple lesson worked for me. In short, he was everything an HOA would want in a deputy. Don't get me wrong, he was no pushover.
What we have today:
(or have until the end of the month)
A cost of 71,864.31 in wages and benefits. Of that around 16,000 is in benefits. These are totals for 2019.
The current deputy sets his own work schedule that is mostly during the day time, but some is done into the evening hours. Before I was the Patrol Trustee, his schedule was made by the Business Manager with plenty of screw ups. I made the change that he would make his own schedule and it could be flexible to meet changing needs. The Business Manager and myself always had an advance copy of his schedule. This was not shared with others. We did not want the bad guys to know this.
He does a good job of posting his activities for each week. It is up to each one of you to decide if you think that what we get is worth the money. This is also what the County will decide.
We all know that Pacific County is limited on funds and their Deputy Sheriff staff is very limited. The cost that Surfside pays is only a portion of the total deputy costs. Police car, gas and insurance cost are paid by the tax payers of all of Pa Those outside of Surfside might ask, what makes Surfside so special that we have to subsidize them? If there is a new contract with Pacific County, it would be fair to expect the cost for us to substantially go up.
If we lose the deputy, we would be like the rest of the County. We would have no special treatment. If we paid the full cost and had a fully certified deputy, I am sure the contract would continue.
The first thing we need to know is...Is the County willing to continue the present contract and at what price? You can be sure, that is what they are looking at. They have to consider what is in the best interests of the entire County. Letter writing may have some influence with the Sheriff, but he has to answer for his spending to the County Commissioners. Kind of makes you wish we had treated the County with a little more respect, does,nt it?
Any bet on if our Board can screw this up?
I almost forgot the most important point...
Security lighting and observant neighbors are the best and cheapest security measures.
27 comments:
This group of Trustees listen to nobody. They call all the shots. They set and approve all the agendas. They refuse to allow member proposals to be voted on. They are drunk on power and tree trunks and branches.
I sure hope the EPA will take action soon.
I wonder if Trustees such as Clancy will continue to build without permits.
I would think the contract is still valid and it is up to SHOA to hire a replacement for Travis. The contract says SHOA is responsible to, "Employ, as a fill-time employee of Surfside, a Patrol Officer."
Interesting Dan!! Good to know because Surfside wants the members to contact the sheriff, because the members should be heard!!
Do we take bets he won't be replaced and that money goes elsewhere?
Here's a thought... Cut our GM wage, he makes way too much and doesn't know what is job is, and cut out the compliance position and that gives us additional monies for the deputy.
Ask yourselves, what's more important here...a compliance guy or a deputy. What's more important, arguing over a few lights or our safety
Funny, they want us to contact the sheriff, but ignore us themselves. Most of the time travis tries to take someone in on warrant etc, he has nowhere to take them n most they get is a ticket. Whats the point?
Good points 01/25 8:18 PM. Also, security lighting, observant neighbors, and most break-ins happen during daytime so end the contract. We all could get an approximate $70,000/2,040=$34 rebate on our dues and assessments this year.
You left out the guy who followed (briefly) Larry Clark. His name escapes me at the moment but many of us referred to him as " the gentle giant " due to the fact that he was probably 6'5. Just a bit of added information.
Thanks 7:47
As I recall his name was Paul and he was only here for a couple of months. I think he took another job with fish and game in enforcement. This job here is really not for young people, but perfect for retired ones.
Think we should live as the rest of the county does. It will be a big savings to our budget and at this point the dollars are very important to us retired members
I would definitely come to support and help with that at the 2020 July Annual Meeting 12:56 PM.
We need the most members possible to attend the July meeting this year, especially recreational vehicle lot owners. They actually own more land, pay the same dues plus taxes and are the least represented in our HOA
I thought that when we moved here having security was part of the contract along with water and garbage. Now we have bad water, no security, what exactly is our dues paying for?
Incompetence.
Along with what 5:47 says, when I moved here a long time ago I expected good water pressure and people to follow the covenants they agreed to when they signed the paperwork.
There is a broader need in the North Peninusula for a deputy. I think the SHOA. contract should fold into a substation in Ocean Park. For one thing,would a deputy arrest a board member? This encourages their emboldened attitude toward getting away with stuff. The deputy assigned to just Surfside is poorly utilized when the same deputy could be working on the drug issues in the commercial district. Work hours would be around the clock, and the deputy would be just as available for the kind of incidents that occur in Surfside, such as shed break-ins and outstanding warrants. Times have changed. Maybe we should be looking at this another way.
There are no mansions or million dollar houses in Surfside. So this is really silly. This class war is more like a barroom brawl.
547 - your dues are for garbage. It's what the Board gives you. Plenty of it.
Amen 6:56!!!
Where is this " commercial district ".?
Bay Street is the Ocean PaRK Commercial district.
SHERIFF PATROL ISSUES. I just had a phone call from the sheriff, Robin Souvenir, regarding a phone message I left him. He explained to me that he never said he was not going to replace Travis ever. What he did say to Tom Rebus was that he couldn't replace him immediately. He had to check with the civil attorneys that work for Pacific County since the lady from the newspaper article complained that they were using public funds to pay for the SUV and gas for our deputy. Also, paid reserve officers can only be paid for 6 months out of the year but because we pay for him, he hopes that will be cleared up by the public civil attorneys. He has put this on the calendar for the 1st week of February when the attorneys gets back. He shares my view that our officer does also come to the aid of any other officer from Ocean Park area when on duty which protects his officers if needed. So he believes it is a win win situation. He will call Tom and I both with questions and when a decision is made by the attorneys. Those attorneys are our attorneys also. I hope this clears up the air for now for all of us.
good
From the SHOA Weekender:
Deputy Service Petition: If you would like to request that the contract for deputy services with Surfside be continued please fill out and submit the linked Deputy Service Petition form.
https://www.surfsideonline.org/deputy-service-petition/
End the contract!
End the contract, sounds like we’ll need to require more dollars for fines! We can just be part of the county.
My guess is they will not replace Travis and pocket the money for their future raises.
No matter what the outcome of all this is, I seriously doubt anyone will see a decrease or refund on their dues. No doubt SHOA will find a way to spend those funds on something else...and not tell us of course...
This is a great deal for the county...they get 1 more patrol officer and all it costs them is gas money. As it stands now there could be times when someone in SHOA needs a deputy and the response will be from Naselle or S. Bend...who calls for help and expects an hour or more delay in a response?
If they do not replace Travis I would expect phone calls for help to be handled much differently then they are now...basically is it a real emergency, or, they take your information, assign you a case number and tell you a deputy will be by "sometime".
I firmly believe what we receive for our measley $25 is worth every penny.
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