Dear Editor
So, I’m sitting here staring at my computer screen, deleting emails I don’t understand. All of a sudden, I come across one from the City of Creswell. It seems they have hired a monkey to see how much I am willing to pay for Sheriff deputies for our city.
I don’t know how much I am willing to pay for a deputy. If I don’t need one right away, probably not much. If I urgently need one, a lot I suppose. Here is what I told the monkey:
Let us hire whatever number of deputies we need to keep us feeling secure. With the help of these deputies, we develop a “Volunteer Patrol.” These are citizens of Creswell who are able and willing to work with the deputies a few hours a week. They would handle many of the mundane, time-consuming tasks the deputies normally take care of. They could keep the Sheriff’s office open while the deputies are busy elsewhere. They would take reports at the counter or in the field, direct accident or parade traffic, issue handicap or other parking tickets, and many other time-consuming chores. The city would provide one or two radio-equipped vehicles for these “Volunteer Patrol Officers.”
This program would allow deputies to respond more quickly to the urgent needs of our citizens. The result would be better service for all of us at a reasonable cost. Creswell’s monkey needn’t worry anymore.
I think I will go have a banana.
Richard Kauffman
Creswell