The resounding rejection of Public Safety Levy Measure 3-633 during the May primary was a watershed moment. Clackamas County voters sent an unmistakable message to the County Red Soils Campus: working families and retirees on fixed incomes cannot bear the weight of endless tax hikes. Government does not produce wealth; hard-working citizens do. Every dollar taken from a taxpayer's pocket must be justified by absolute, urgent public necessity.

As a former Clackamas County Commissioner who consistently supported our Sheriff’s Office while championing smarter, more efficient government, I view the recent budget challenges not as a crisis of despair but as an opportunity for innovation and renewed commitment to the safety of our families and communities. The defeat of the public safety levy in May underscores the very real pressures facing taxpayers rising costs, economic uncertainty, and skepticism toward new tax bur