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INDEPENDENT PORT ORCHARD
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2011 ■ Vol. 120, No. 27 ■ www.portorchardindependent.com ■ 50¢
Prosecutor’s budget cut will be lessened Hauge calls $700,000 proposed reduction from his office disproportionate, unfair By KAITLIN STROHSCHEIN Staff Writer
Kitsap County commissioners have decided to drastically alter their 2012 budget after hearing complaints from the county’s auditor and prosecutor.
With no spin, how does crime rate look? By TIM KELLY
PORT ORCHARD POPULATION 2007 8,350
2008 8,380
2009 10,400
2010 10,910
PROPERTY CRIMES IN PORT ORCHARD Category 2007 Burglary 70 Larceny/theft 280 Vehicle theft 30 Arson 2 Total 382
2008 127 312 22 4 465
2009 113 429 18 4 554
2010 102 450 38 2 592
Rate of property crimes per 1,000 residents (state rank)
Editor
Mayor Lary Coppola has made campaign boasts about a reduction in crime during his time in office, while a campaign flier mailed to Port Orchard residents tries to disprove the mayor’s claim. Who’s got it right? Well, the issue is not quite as blackand-white as a police cruiser. Coppola, running for re-election to a second term, generally highlights SEE CRIME STATS, A14
Index Opinion Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Thinking Allowed Letters
Deadlines to finish the budget are looming. “We need to have things finalized by the end of next week at the latest,” Amber D’Amato, the county’s budget and finance officer said Tuesday.
“From my perspective, I’m getting nervous that we’re getting close to our deadlines here.” The commissionRuss Hauge ers decided to make the changes after hearing arguments Wednesday from Auditor Walt Davis and Prosecutor Russ Hauge that
2007
2008
2009
2010
45.7 (56th)
55.2 (53rd)
54.2 (27th)
54.3 (29th)
VIOLENT CRIMES IN PORT ORCHARD Category Murder
2007 0
2008 2
2009 0
2010 0
they’re seriously concerned about the magnitude of the cuts proposed for their offices. Funding of the auditor’s office would drop by 10.9 percent, and the prosecutor’s office would drop by 6.8 percent in the county’s proposed 2012 budget. Hauge called the cuts for his office “unfair, unsafe, and unnecessary” in a
Category 2007 Sexual assault 12 Robbery 1 Aggravated 67 assault Total 80
SEE COUNTY CUTS, A2
2008 9 6 33
2009 5 3 44
2010 14 3 33
50
52
50
Rate of violent crimes per 1,000 residents (state rank)
2007
2008
2009
2010
9.6 (6th)
5.9 (15th)
5.0 (22nd)
4.6 (20th)
MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS, CITATIONS Category 2007 DUI 58 Assault 41 domestic violence Assault - simple 35 Drug-related 98
2008 51 36
2009 94 55
2010 82 46
22 82
51 106
44 88
Source: Port Orchard Police Department annual reports
Ghost Train a monster success as fundraiser By TIM KELLY Editor
A6 A6 A9 A10-11 A7 A7-8
memorandum to the commissioners. “We can honestly say that we can cut $200,000 without doing violence to the service you receive and public receiver,” he said during a meeting with the commissioners Monday morning, but the proposed $700,000 cut would make his office “much less
Of all the Halloween festivities last weekend,nonedrewalargercrowdthan the annual Ghost Train event put on by
Passengers on the Ghost Train encountered all manner of spooky sights. Tim Kelly/Staff Photo
South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890
Kitsap Live Steamers as a benefit for the Kitsap Foster Parents Association. Parked cars lined both sides of Jackson Avenue as hundreds of people came to South Kitsap Regional Park for games, trick-or-treating and rides on the scale-model trains past ghoulish scenes in the woods. The event raised more than $6,000, SEE GHOST TRAIN, A13