PLEASE USE THIS POLL ONLY. System doubled entry.

Dickerson is naive. He does not know the slighest thing about the Sheriffs Department. That department won't get any better until it is adequately funded. Voters turned down the last several levies and now they are complaining about service.
Dickerson wants to give everyone a raise. How is he going to do that if the department remains underfunded?

Not sure who started the notion Mr Dickerson wants to give raises, believe it was Bryan that first said that. Everyone should know that the Sheriff employees are part of an Association/Union and their pay and benefits are all directed by what's in their contract. that is all negotiated between the Association and Representatives of the County. The Sheriff does not directly set anyone's pay or benefits. Association President is Bryan.

Jim Gibson

Norm wrote:

Dickerson is naive. He does not know the slighest thing about the Sheriffs Department. That department won't get any better until it is adequately funded. Voters turned down the last several levies and now they are complaining about service.
Dickerson wants to give everyone a raise. How is he going to do that if the department remains underfunded?

Not only that, but the county commissioners have to allow for the funding of raises to the sheriffs office as well. Dickerson is not as naive as you might think.

What I want to know, is what positive things does ANYONE have to say about Simmons? All I hear is that he has 27yrs experience. Well, that 27yrs is certainly not going to win him an election in this county. Not with the way the SO has been managed these past several years, and with him in 2nd in commmand to boot.

I'm really tired of hearing the whining and complaining about what Simmons supporters don't like about Dickerson.

So far, no one that supports Simmons has had anything positive to say about what their candidate is going to do to change anything? So what does that mean to the voters? More embarrassment? More lies? More cover-ups? Not with my tax dollars!

"Norm" should worry about fixing the problems in the jail he's supposed to be running. Start looking out the back door and maybe he'll catch those CCSO volunteers giving trustys rides to McDonalds. Or maybe start scheduling male and female on the same shift instead of giving preference to his wife all the time. Maybe that way the trustys coming back into the jail will have a thorough search instead of the self-patdowns they regularly perform, Maybe that's why one road deputy found a handcuff key in the molding at the jail. 99.8% rating--what a crock. I guess this all happened, not to mention the TV fiasco, AFTER the Sheriff's Association conducted their survey. Either that, or maybe the surveyors aren't all that thorough themselves?

I do think credit is due to the people who DID make that 99.8% score happen on the jail inspection. No doubt, the corrections deputies and the jail manager had a great deal to do with that. I think Simmons just wishes to take the Credit for the few good things that the employees of the sheriffs office have made happen. His own successes there are few, it seems.

The trustees are still inmates, and I certainly hope that they are still considered inmates at this jail and not, EVER, taken out for fast food! Yikes!

Norm,
You said, "Dickerson is naive. He does not know the slighest thing about the Sheriffs Department. That department won't get any better until it is adequately funded."
Lets say you are correct, that Jeff has absolutly no experience or idea on how to run a sheriffs office. Are you saying that Simmons does? The sheriffs office is a complete failure, The FACT is that Simmons can't run the sheriffs office now and he won't do any better as sheriff. Simmons and the current admin have failed to get the CCSO the funding it needs.
Now, Dickersons Website is FULL of IDEAS for the sheriffs office, so apparentlt he does have some idea on how to run it.
Norm, how much money does it cost to have evaluations for your employees which does not happen right now with any of the parol deputies? Thats right not a penny.
Norm, how much money does it cost to extend to hours of patrol coverage past 10 PM at night like it is now? Thats right not a penny. You simply stagger the start stop times for the four man teams you have now and you can have deputies on till 2 AM. That would actually save money because you would not be paying the overtime for call outs between 10 PM and 2 AM like Simmons is doing now.
It also reduces response times to emergencies because a deputy would already be on duty and in uniform an not have to be called out. Now it is hard to even get a deputy to answer the phone at night after 10 PM.
Norm, How much money does it take to make good common sense decisions? Thats right, not a penny. You just have to have a Sheriff that has good common sense and as we can all see from past practice Simmons does not have that.
So as you can see Norm, you don't have to be a magician to make things better at the sheriffs office. You just have to be willing to accept change for the better. Change we can all believe in.
Thats why cops, firefighters, and dispatchers from all over this county, including several from north county and Clatskanie or endorsing Dickerson for sheriff.
www.dickerson4sheriff.com
J.H.- Columbia County Police Officer

Very well said JH Cop. Maybe after some positive change at the sheriffs office the voters will vote for a reasonalbe levy and we can get even more patrol deputies.

Dickeson For Sheriff.

I am just a citizen, not a police officer. Gerry should have just retired. He would have left with a nice retirement party and people saying thank you. Gerry has brought the negative comments about him and the sheriffs office on himself by running.

Everyone I know agrees that there is change needed at the sheriffs office and everyone also agrees that Gerry will not make those needed changes. Even Gerry himself has said so. If Gerry really wanted what was best for the sheriffs office and the citizens of this county he would have retired and let someone else take charge.

I support needed change and thats why I support Jeff Dickerson.

Good luck Mr. Dickerson you have my vote and almost everyone else who I have talked to is voting for you as well.

Norm wrote:

Dickerson is naive. He does not know the slighest thing about the Sheriffs Department. That department won't get any better until it is adequately funded. Voters turned down the last several levies and now they are complaining about service.
Dickerson wants to give everyone a raise. How is he going to do that if the department remains underfunded?

The thinking that you cannot improve the sheriff's office without more funding is flawed. It is an excuse for not upholding the sheriff's responsibility to conserve the peace. There are MANY ways to improve the sheriff's office without hiring a single new deputy or raising wages. Those ways include:
1. Establishing regular, mandatory training of deputies--
a) With state-certified police trainers;
b) Requiring mandatory attendance at essential
training exercises and demonstration of
satisfactory levels of competence; and
c) providing opportunities to employees to
develop skills along their lines of interest
to help the agency become better equipped to
handle a wide variety of law enforcement -
related issues.
2. Staggering shifts so that there are patrols on later at night.
3. Place deputies in on-call status so that there is always someone from the sheriff's office available to handle emergency calls, without asking dispatch to try and find one from their call lists.
4. Make all sworn members (including the sheriff) of the sheriff's office responsible for solving community problems as they crop up.
5. Improve the quality of the evaluation program in the jail and on the road. The jail evaluation program is inadequate and arbitrary. The patrol evaluation program is nonexistant. I would institute a program of regular checkups by supervisors to establish consistent, ongoing overview of procedure. Where necessary, corrective action reports (CARs)would be issued to notify employees and the chain of command of issues that need to be addressd. The yearly evaluation should then be a celebration of successes by employees. If documented CARs were corrected, there would be no reason to readdress them. And employees should be evaluated on job performance alone.

This way everyone is held accountable for their job performance, and leadership has a good idea of where the employees are at in their career development and any training needs that may exist.

All of these things (and many more not listed here) are things that can be done to improve the sheriff's office without asking taxpayers for more money.

And the odds of getting more deputies are greatly improved when you build efficiencies and better service into your organization.

I may be "naive"--as you put it--but I do have a plan to improve the sheriff's office without spending more money. I am a dealer in "hope." I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It may be naivete, but at least I'm ready to take this challenge on with a reasonable plan. I haven't heard anyone say the plan is untenable. I think the reason so many public safety people are supporting me, including a number of CCSO deputies (mostly silently) is because these type of changes are really just common sense. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. You do have to be willing to stake your election on the line by coming out with a clear picture of where you would take the agency instead of banking on "27 years of experience" and the mantra that "we could do more if the voters would just pass a levy."

I don't think voters want to hear those kinds of excuses any more.

Jeff..

I have always agreed with your plans for a change in the sheriff's office and change is just what our county needs. Simmons is very good at saying, "we have no money". Well jeff you are correct, you dont need extra money to be a professional, honorable Law Enforcement Officer! You need people to have the desire to do whats right, not make excuses.

We have needed a change in the sheriff's office for years.. Simmons's "claim to fame" is that he has been at the sheriff's office for 27 years and 10+ years as the Under-Sheriff.. Thats what I have been talking about!! In 27 years of working for an agency and 10+ years as "being the boss" you cant make a change?? Come on, whats wrong with that picture. He cant make a change because he is part of the problem and cant see that there is a problem..

The Sheriff's Office would have passed several levys if they would care about the citizens, their agency and their professionalism. Show the citizens that you are doing your best and that you are protecting them at all cost so that they will respect you and trust you...then maybe their voting would have been differant.

Its not too late to build a relationship and trust between the citizens and the sheriff's office. I say "build" and not "re-build" because the sheriff's office has never had the trust and respect of its citizens.. You Jeff can change that and will.

Thank you for running for Sheriff and wanting to make a big change in Law Enforcement in our county.

I feel everyone needs to be reminded that Gerry Simmons is not the current Sheriff. The Sheriff's Office is under the authority and control of the current elected Sheriff, Phil Derby. I do not think all the blame for the way things are should be directed only at the Under-Sheriff. He follows the Sheriff's directives and orders. I believe much of the blame is being placed on the wrong individual.

That being said, I still believe it will take someone from the outside that does not have the internal history with the Office in order to make the changes that are needed. Someone with Law Enforcement experience, Business experience and Journalism (communication) experience is a perfect fit for the position of Sheriff. Jeff Dickerson is ready, willing and able to take on this challenge. The voters of Columbia County are encouraged to select the BEST CHOICE for Sheriff and I believe that is Jeff Dickerson.

If you need more info on his goals & visions just go to www.dickerson4sheriff.com

Go Dickerson! You have earned my vote. Keep up the good work and the good campaign.
Vote DICKERSON for SHERIFF!

Norm wrote:

Dickerson is naive. He does not know the slighest thing about the Sheriffs Department. That department won't get any better until it is adequately funded. Voters turned down the last several levies and now they are complaining about service.
Dickerson wants to give everyone a raise. How is he going to do that if the department remains underfunded?

Well "Norm", after looking at the recently signed contract with the deputies union, apparently there WAS money to give deputies a raise afterall. Apparently Cutright got a pretty big raise himself after he negotiated the contract for his union.

Your hypocrisy is unbecoming.

Jack wrote:

<quoted text>
Well "Norm", after looking at the recently signed contract with the deputies union, apparently there WAS money to give deputies a raise afterall. Apparently Cutright got a pretty big raise himself after he negotiated the contract for his union.
Your hypocrisy is unbecoming.

I would almost bet that there was some interesting things put in the contract besides pay increases. Wonder if anything was added to limit what the Sheriff can do (use) like Reserves, etc?????
Wouldn't surprise me knowing the players!!!!

I don't really think it matters now that they are going to be making so many cuts because of the logging slump that they can' afford the officers we do have so it's not like you're going to get a response if you live in rural columbia county. A couple of things that won't be happening for sure are I doubt anyone will be getting a pay increase any time soon and I won't be voting for Gerry Simmons.