Benton County JSIP Misleads Residents with Mental Health Language
Voters in Benton County, Oregon are preparing to decide on a $110 million bond measure next month, which is under scrutiny due to the county's ongoing housing crisis and the related, growing mental health situation. These bonds are essentially loans, with the county promising to repay the borrowed amount, plus interest, over a specified period. Voters must approve the bond measure in a local election before the funds can be raised. The total cost of the project, bond included, is expected to reach nearly $200 million, combining funds from state, county, and fundraising efforts. Although similar measures have failed twice before, county officials are making a third and more comprehensive attempt to gain public support.
A survey conducted last year revealed that a majority of respondents identified "homelessness" (32%) and "housing affordability" (21%) as the most pressing issues, with "public safety" ranking third (13%). In response, Benton County officials seemed to adjust the bond measure to reflect public opinion. However, a closer examination of the proposed allocation of funds makes it clear that the adjustments still fail to align with what residents are asking for.
Law Enforcement (Public Safety)
According to the proposed allocation by Benton County, $104.7 million of the $110 million bond measure, or approximately 95% of the county funding, will be dedicated to a jail, a sheriff's office, and an emergency operations center. Only the remaining 5% of the funding, around $5 million, is earmarked for a homeless navigation center and youth mental health facilities. This means that the vast majority of the county's contribution will be focused on bolstering law enforcement.
As the vote approaches, residents will need to think over the bond measure's allocation of funds and consider whether it truly reflects their priorities. While county officials have made adjustments in response to feedback, the heavy emphasis on law enforcement funding in the proposal appears misaligned with the pressing concerns of homelessness, housing affordability, and mental health support that residents have expressed.
Another crucial issue to consider is the effectiveness of law enforcement in handling mental health crises. The police killing of Julius Hamilton, a community member from Albany, Oregon, who was shot and killed by two officers from the Albany Police Department during a suicidal crisis in February, highlights this concern. Although a trained crisis negotiator was en route, an increasingly-militarized police presence from the Albany Police Department and Benton County Sheriffs continued to escalate the situation, leading to Hamilton's death. Julius' family, who witnessed the incident, believes that the police mishandled the situation and that Julius should still be alive today.
This outcome is not inevitable, however. In Eugene, the Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets (CAHOOTS) program has been funded through the police budget since 1989. According to a 2020 case study, police backup was requested in only 311 out of approximately 24,000 mental health calls; CAHOOTS receives a mere 2% of the funding that the Eugene Police Department is allocated annually. Meanwhile, the City of Corvallis has expanded the role of police in responding to mental health calls. The stark contrast in approaches raises important questions for Benton County voters as they evaluate the bond measure and its focus on law enforcement funding.
Uncertainty of Mental Health and Unhoused Funding
According to a recent article for the Corvallis Gazette-Times, the proposed bond won’t cover the majority of costs associated with attempting to resolve homelessness. The county is only footing $3 million of the proposed $14.2 million for a “homeless navigation center,” expecting that the state will cover the rest. The issue? The state hasn’t committed to that funding. If local voters say yes to the bond measure, no one is sure of what happens next without the state’s approval for the projected portion of their funding. It’s possible that the funding may not happen at all.
Meanwhile, Benton County Law Enforcement has an annual budget quickly approaching $50 million, increasing significantly since 2015. In contrast, Behavioral Health Support Services is responsible for “both mental health and substance use disorder treatment services, including crisis and mobile crisis, pre-commitment investigations, PSRB supervision, and jail and forensic services” and has an allocated budget of just under $7 million which amounts to a reduction in funding since 2015.
Affordable Rent and Housing Crisis
It’s no secret that finding a rental or a home to buy in Benton County has become nearly impossible for the average resident. Corvallis, the seat of Benton County, is statistically the most overburdened city when it comes to rentals in Oregon. More than 1 out of every 3 Corvallis residents are spending over 50% of their income on rent. Next month’s bond measure, if passed by voters, would do little to alleviate these issues, but would instead equip county law enforcement to further criminalize poverty in a country where the average rent-to-income ratio has surpassed 30%, meaning that the common American is officially rent-burdened. If approved, the JSIP would also increase annual taxes for Benton County homeowners in order to fund the bond measure.
Overall, this bond measure appears to be built on a weak foundation that caters to a law enforcement department that already claims a significant portion of the annual budget. The measure offers little to substantially address what many voters are asking for; a solution to a growing crisis that neither the average housed nor unhoused resident has direct control over. A large-scale effort of this size and coordination to confront the poor socioeconomic conditions which have played a crucial role in these growing crises may have an effect, but this bond measure would fall well short of ever seeing those results.
It’s clear that Benton County officials have rushed into using strong language surrounding mental health and homelessness as a way to manipulate voters into supporting a massive law enforcement modernization project. In an interview with the Daily Barometer, Ph.D. Student Brandon Gelvin asserts that “If we really want to stop crime and promote public safety, we need to address the root causes of crime, which often are economic hardship, homelessness, substance addiction and other behavioral health concerns. Gelvin also mentions how voters can be “tricked” into supporting the measure if they believe they are supporting social services, though in reality most of the funding will go to already over-funded departments. If Benton County officials are willing to allocate over $100 million for a jail and sheriff’s office with an operations center, but are only willing to allocate a fragment of that funding to address the pressing issues of homelessness, youth services, and mental health facilities and care in Benton County, then they were never serious about solving the issues that voters are highlighting.
Official voting on the bond measure is scheduled to begin on the third Tuesday in May, which falls on May 16.
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