Ferry Street News City of Dayton, Oregon Quarterly Newsletter
December 2021
Photo Credit: John Collins
Town Talk with the Mayor Hey neighbors! Tuesday November 2, I was disappointed to discover that our public safety levy failed. Moreover, 6 votes separated the yays from the nays. This means that just over 200 “no” votes will delay the ability to secure the future of our police services, code enforcement, and local courts for all 2700 residents. The ask was to continue our services as they have been, increasing costs only to cover the rise due to changes in salaries and direct expenses. Unfortunately, without this fee, we could suffer negative effects from the lack of enforcement regarding traffic safety, use of public spaces, code compliance, and even slowed response times for criminal emergencies. Some of the responsibility falls on our city leadership for failing to sufficiently promote the need and for that, I apologize. I sincerely hope that when the question is posed again, the City will say “yes” and we can continue to provide the basic police services we have maintained for the last couple of decades. Elections matter and your vote counts. In the last community survey, a common request for improvement was an increase to police presence as well as code and traffic enforcement. We are currently policed at a lower rate than any other Yamhill County city so the consideration is natural, but In this Issue when a follow-up survey was released, it was made clear that residents were not prepared to pay for the increase in the public safety levy. This was why we only DCDA’s Caravan of asked for continued services at this time. Please watch carefully for this issue on Lights your May ballot and vote accordingly so the outcome may better reflect the will and need of the community. Historical Highlight Light up Dayton Holiday Lighting Competition Tree of Giving Info Columna de noticias en espanol Crosswalk Safety
Public safety is not our only need, however, and our staff and Council are diligently advocating for infrastructure dollars in the hopes of replacing the footbridge, upgrading lift stations, improving sidewalks and streets, and bringing new water sources online. Fortunately, we have had opportunities to discuss our needs with County Commissioners, State legislators, and U.S. Senators. With the recent passage of a major infrastructure spending bill, we may be able to make some improvements to our city with federal, state, and county funding, limiting the financial impact to our residents. (Continued on page 4)