Small Pierce County towns worry as budget cuts loom
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EATONVILLE, Wash. -- The small town of Eatonville is the type of place with an American flag on almost every corner; where some plants are paid for on the honors system, and where antiques shop owner Cliff Murphy takes a coffee break in his driveway along the main drag, watching the world pass by.
"Well, it's a nice day to be out, isn't it?" he says, taking a slow sip of coffee on this 80 degree day. "A lot of my friends go by. People are wonderful here."
For as wonderful as this gateway to Mount Rainier is, Eatonville is also one of many rural Pierce County towns that could be affected by proposed budget cuts.
The county is still crunching the projections and the numbers for 2013, but the county executive has asked department heads to look at cutting 3 percent across the board, said Hunter George, communications director for the county.
"We've been cutting our budget every year here and there. It's painful. Nobody wants to do it," George said. "We're trying to figure out what the bottom line is going to be (for next year.)"
In the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, a 3 percent budget cut could mean fewer deputies, longer response times, and even no response to minor property crimes like car break-ins, stolen bikes, and more, said Det. Ed Troyer, spokesman for the department.
"(A deputy) may be out there alone, which we don't like - or not at all - when something happens, and a citizen might be stuck out there for 15, 20 minutes without help," Troyer said. "What's unfortunate is you talk about the economy getting better but on our end, it's just getting worse."
In Eatonville, Deputy Nick Hausner fired the fatal shot that killed the man who opened fire on his partner, Deputy Kent Mundell in 2009.
Troyer pointed to the case as an example where backup was needed in a rural town to handle a violent situation.
"We had two people working out there and we managed to get somebody there," Troyer said, "but if we don't have anybody there to get anybody there, they're going to come out of the patrol division, and they could be 15-20 minutes away."
"(It was a) sad day," Murphy recalled, his voice tinged with emotion. "I mean, things like that… even right now it kind of sticks in my throat."
George emphasized the proposed cuts are fluid at this point, and that the executive has until about the third week in September to craft a budget proposal to present before the county council.
"At this time she is asking departments to identify 3 percent in cuts from their base budgets for 2013," he said, "but no one has made any decision on what that will mean."
Murphy - a former mayor in Eatonville - knows that cuts can hurt small towns the hardest.
"Budget cuts usually mean less service," he said, "but we weren't fat with service."
"Well, it's a nice day to be out, isn't it?" he says, taking a slow sip of coffee on this 80 degree day. "A lot of my friends go by. People are wonderful here."
For as wonderful as this gateway to Mount Rainier is, Eatonville is also one of many rural Pierce County towns that could be affected by proposed budget cuts.
The county is still crunching the projections and the numbers for 2013, but the county executive has asked department heads to look at cutting 3 percent across the board, said Hunter George, communications director for the county.
"We've been cutting our budget every year here and there. It's painful. Nobody wants to do it," George said. "We're trying to figure out what the bottom line is going to be (for next year.)"
In the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, a 3 percent budget cut could mean fewer deputies, longer response times, and even no response to minor property crimes like car break-ins, stolen bikes, and more, said Det. Ed Troyer, spokesman for the department.
"(A deputy) may be out there alone, which we don't like - or not at all - when something happens, and a citizen might be stuck out there for 15, 20 minutes without help," Troyer said. "What's unfortunate is you talk about the economy getting better but on our end, it's just getting worse."
In Eatonville, Deputy Nick Hausner fired the fatal shot that killed the man who opened fire on his partner, Deputy Kent Mundell in 2009.
Troyer pointed to the case as an example where backup was needed in a rural town to handle a violent situation.
"We had two people working out there and we managed to get somebody there," Troyer said, "but if we don't have anybody there to get anybody there, they're going to come out of the patrol division, and they could be 15-20 minutes away."
"(It was a) sad day," Murphy recalled, his voice tinged with emotion. "I mean, things like that… even right now it kind of sticks in my throat."
George emphasized the proposed cuts are fluid at this point, and that the executive has until about the third week in September to craft a budget proposal to present before the county council.
"At this time she is asking departments to identify 3 percent in cuts from their base budgets for 2013," he said, "but no one has made any decision on what that will mean."
Murphy - a former mayor in Eatonville - knows that cuts can hurt small towns the hardest.
"Budget cuts usually mean less service," he said, "but we weren't fat with service."
 "departments to identify 3 percent in cuts from their base budgets for 2013" This is government speak for pretend budget cuts that are really government increases They have already increased the budget for the year 2013.
Headline wrong. It says "towns" plural. There is only mention of one town, Eatonville.Â
 @kangaroo They're using Eatonville as an example here so "towns" is correct because it's not just Eatonville.
Here is an example of wasteful spending by the Pierce County Sheriff. Â
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My housing development in Graham WA is an HOA, thus it is all considered private property and owned by the homeowners.  Our crime rate is low, itâs a nice neighborhood. We have a couple cursory stop signs set up (even though they arenât really âlegalâ because of the height, etc. and they are on private property). Iâve lived there for over 10 years and have rarely seen any issues because people drive pretty slow through there anyway (if they donât, they get reported to the HOA who will reprimand/fine them).
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Hereâs my issueâ¦. Pierce County Sheriff has posted a police officer in there to do nothing but pull people over for running these stop signs (like I said, they are not legal height and on private property).  This is silly and there are much better uses for his time. He is down there several times a week for hours at a time. All he does is sit there watching some stupid stop sign that hardly has any traffic.Â
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With all the budget cuts and tax hikes, weâve had to endure, shouldnât the county really evaluate the best use of their resources? If anything, these cops should park themselves in neighborhoods with real problems and higher crime rates.
So typical. Â When people say they can't afford another tax increase, the gov't's response is to threaten cuts to police, fire & parks.
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You will never hear about firing the redundant public-sector gooniun member who moistens a chair all day long. Â I used to do computer service work at gov't buildings, and they are everywhere.
Meanwhile ppl like orcas thunder cover up their eyes and act like everything is hunky dory. Typical socialist attitude.
If you trimmed the fat there'd be plenty to go around. Course, that'll never happen. It'd take hurting some "special interest" group, and that wouldn't go well for anybody running for office---both "parties" incl. The current system is broken. How come nobody can see that??
 @SandyBeach That's getting to smell like road kill...care to show exactly where Eatonville's "fat" is?
OPEN YOUR EYES!!! Your brain isn't working very well. Â
 @SandyBeach Spending too much time in the sun, aren't you?
If you find anything constructive to add, let us know...
 @OrcasThunder http://mynorthwest.com/76/664265/Legal-consquences-for-theft-of-Eatonville-trail-money-uncertain
 @nobelprizeme Seems to me that's part of why they are so lean, not "fat"...Plus the man who made the transfer is no longer there.
So, again, where is the FAT?
3%! BFD. Like it is the end of the world. Most of us reading this have learned to live with much less, with a poor economy, runaway health care rates, and escalating energy costs. Aren't we all tired of the "budget cuts mean less fire and police" every time the government has to tighten their belts a little?
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I would love to see the annual rate of budget growth for local government over the last 20 years. I would bet that it is somewhere between 5-10%, per year. Suck it up Eatonville, the taxpayers are broke.
Isn't this a little misleading since Eatonville has its own police force and Deputy Mundell's shooting took place nearly 10 miles outside the city limits?
 @Christine Doesn't matter it it occurred two steps or 40 miles outside of Eatonville, it stilled happened in Eatonville. It's not about city limits, it's about what is considered Eatonville.
I have no idea where Eatonville is. Is that in Washington?!
 @GeorgeG. People like you make Washingtonians look really stupid....
 @GeorgeG. http://eatonville.com/
If people are liking this "change", I sure am not. Hit the voting booths this fall and give Obama back his change.