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Curry County commissioners on Wednesday rejected a proposal from the sheriff to sell a K9 car to Josephine County, saying they’d rather it benefit local taxpayers instead.

About 15 minutes after they, the sheriff and his jail lieutenant touted the importance of teamwork to get voters to agree to a permanent funding stream, commissioners said they’d rather the Brookings, Gold Beach and Port Orford police departments get first pick of surplus assets.

They were especially dismayed when Sheriff John Ward said he had promised the car to the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office.

“You can’t promise assets that don’t belong to you,” Commissioner Jay Trost told the sheriff.

Ted Fitzgerald, the county’s director of operations and county counsel, said the Brookings Police Department is interested in the K9 vehicle and other cars. BPD is also interested in the dog, which the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office is currently fostering, Fitzgerald said.

Gold Beach has also indicated they were interested in purchasing surplus vehicles from the county previously, though Fitzgerald said he hasn’t spoken to them about the current situation.

On Monday, Ward told commissioners that BPD’s Lt. Donny Dotson had asked about acquiring the K9 cage about three to four months ago. Ward said he’d rather sell the vehicle than destroy it to take out the cage, but Dotson never got back to him.

“Josephine County wants the vehicle now, and they’re willing to pay for it,” he said. “I don’t understand why it has to be a big deal when the car is going to an agency that’s our sister agency.”

The K9 vehicle in question is a 2019 Ford Explorer with 93,662 miles on it. Ward proposed selling it to Josephine County for $16,000 and said that the vehicle has a Kelley Blue Book value of $16,075.

Ward said Josephine County Sheriff’s deputies had come to Curry County to pick the vehicle up and he was told to tell them to go home, “so I had to. The car wasn’t leaving.”

Ward argued that he had sold a car to Brookings and to Port Orford in previous years before bringing the matter before the Board of Commissioners.

The dog itself was purchased with funding donated to the county by local realtor Dick Wilson. Ward said while it was loving to people, the dog was aggressive toward other dogs and almost killed his cat. Josephine County is working on providing additional training, he said.

Ward said Josephine County responded right away after he had asked if anyone was available to foster the dog via a ListServe. He said Sheriff Dave Daniel had been helping him obtain research on creating a service district after Curry County voters rejected a proposed tax levy in May.

Fitzgerald said the donation used to buy the dog was also a county asset.

“You don’t go back and consult the people that made the donation when you’re deciding about the disposition of county property,” he told the sheriff.

The director of operations acknowledged that previous Boards of Commissioners hadn’t delegated procurement authority in the past and said they had done that in error. He added that knowingly violating state procurement rules is a crime.

“The problem here is, you are attempting to bind the county to a promise that you made that you did not have the power to make,” Fitzgerald told the sheriff. “Therefore, that’s the question before the Board at this time.”

Commissioner Brad Alcorn, who worked as a K9 officer for the Fresno Police Department before relocating to Curry County, said the dog should stay in Curry County where it can be an asset to both the Brookings Police Department, if they decide they want it, and by extension the sheriff’s office.

Alcorn argued that the dog could save an officer’s life. In response to Ward, who argued that the dog should stay in Josephine County and “we can always call and they can come over with the dog,”

Alcorn said Brookings is 30 minutes away from Gold Beach, where the sheriff’s office is headquartered.

“Keeping the K9 assets in Curry County is a force multiplier to law enforcement,” Alcorn said. “Whatever agency has them, whether it’s BPD, Gold Beach or Port Orford, the more dogs we have in this county the safer our guys are. That’s the bottom line. Because, mutual aid, we all work together.”

Curry County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeremy Krohn pointed out that 18 patrol vehicles are sitting in the county’s shop.

“In this coastal weather we have, they’re going to rust, they’re going to collect water,” he said. “Unless someone’s out there driving them and turning them on, the engines are going to seize up. We’re going to have bigger problems with them sitting there. If Brookings wants a car, they can come and look at the cars and they can take their pick of the two [K9 cars] that are left.”

Trost said those vehicles could be rotated so that each one is put into service every month.

Trost and Alcorn’s colleague, John Herzog attempted to assuage the tension in the room, urging Ward to speak with Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel about the Board’s decision and the “ground rules we’re playing by.”

“We want to work together without animosity,” he said. “It’s not personal.”

“It sure feels like it,” Ward responded.

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