Sheriff critical of proposed cuts

Kimball says budget will put residents at "grave risk"

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published March 10, 2009

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Thurston County Sheriff Dan Kimball on Monday strongly criticized proposed budget cuts that he said will place the safety of residents at "grave risk." But county leaders said they're working to ensure that doesn't happen.

County commissioners directed Kimball to cut $1.9 million, or 6.5 percent, from his department's $29 million budget.

Other county departments face cuts as well in an effort to reduce spending by $5.7 million to keep the general fund, which pays for basic public services, balanced through early next year. The recession has hit the general fund hard because residents are spending less and the county is receiving less sales-tax revenue.

Kimball said the proposed reductions endanger public safety because they would result in the loss of more than one-quarter of his commissioned staff. If those cuts are made, the sheriff said deputies would not respond to certain calls and it would take longer for them to get to a crime scene.

The cuts county commissioners proposed will "place the safety of our citizens in this community at grave risk if enacted in the direction they have indicated they desire to go," Kimball said in a news release Monday.

He added during a follow-up interview: "If they do this (and) if you're looking to buy a house in Thurston County, I'd say get it in one of the cities" that have their own police forces.

Commissioner Cathy Wolfe said she and the other commissioners are making public safety a top priority, but the sheriff's office can't be immune to cuts because of the severity of the budget crisis.

"To exempt him, we just can't do that in this current scenario," she said.

Kimball's outline of reductions is based on no cuts at the county jail and no money being added.

Kimball said in his release that county commissioners "indicated their desire" that no cuts be made at the jail. However, Thurston County Chief Administrative Officer Don Krupp said that while commissioners want to avoid cuts in the jail because of security concerns, "they haven't ruled out cuts in corrections at all." Krupp said Kimball was informed of this.

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