The Crook County Court enters the new year with an ongoing slate of work overseeing nearly two dozen county departments and planning multiple projects.
But a few primary goals rise to the top as County Judge Seth Crawford and Commissioners Jerry Brummer and Brian Barney lead the county through 2023. Some are the continuation of needs the county has faced for several years, while others focus on new needs and projects.
Crawford said one top priority for the county in the coming year is a continued push for local control. He highlighted the recent vote on whether to allow psilocybin facilities in Crook County as an example of the state putting decision in the hands of local leaders. While a ballot measure opened the door for psilocybin facilities to operate in Oregon, it included a provision that enabled individual communities to opt out by a vote of the people.
“We would like to see more of that at the state level, allowing counties, when the state makes a decision, to have some local input to see if it fits,” Crawford said. County officials would like local control on natural resources decisions, on gun control laws, decriminalization of hard drugs and other major issues that are typically enacted and mandated statewide.
“It’s a constant battle. It’s something that we work on every day,” Crawford said, adding that the goal is to show people in Salem what life is like in Crook County. Such efforts include meeting with, and developing relationships with, state legislators and leaning on the help of the Association of Oregon Counties.
Another goal is to increase the quantity of access into and out of Juniper Canyon. Commissioner Brummer has worked on this particular project for the majority of his six years in office, and even made it a priority while serving on the Crook County Planning Commission in the 1990s. The project is moving forward as 2023 begins. Crawford notes that right-of-way for a route has been negotiated and meetings will likely get held this spring to gather public input.
“At this point, the next steps for the county are hiring an engineer to put together plans so as we move forward with additional public meetings, there will be more information to share with people about costs and plans.”
Funding will be a primary hurdle.
“If you look at our budget for the road department, there is only so much money in there and purchasing a road like this would very quickly deplete those funds for all the roads in the county,” Crawford said.
County officials have continually sought out grants and other sources of state and federal funding, but the process can take a long time. And given that Juniper Canyon residents consider the access issue a very high priority, the county would like to find a faster solution.
“Part of that is conversations with the people up in Juniper Canyon. They have shown, through surveys, a lot of interest in looking at self-taxation to start paying for that,” Crawford said. “I think it is really important that we have local people who live up there promoting those things. That’s part of these meetings, to try to find those advocates.”
The other major goal in 2023 is seeing the criminal justice center construction to completion. Voters approved a bond measure to build the facility in November 2020 and work began on it this past year. The building should start gaining more visibility in 2023 as work continues toward a targeted February 2024 completion date.
“We have got the concrete down,” Crawford said. “In the next couple months, we’ll start seeing some iron going up and then the walls.” He went on to credit Commissioner Barney with shepherding the process and working with the state and with architects to “make sure that we get the best building for the best price possible.”
