Gresham mayor hopes public safety levy 'saves lives'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Gresham city officials are thanking voters for approving additional funding for first responders.

The May primary election outcome comes one year after a public safety levy was rejected by voters. Preliminary data shows 55% of voters said “yes” to Measure 26-257. So what changed?

One major alteration from last year’s funding was a cut to homeless services. Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall said it's been more than three decades since a public safety levy passed. He hopes the levy will make a difference in response times.

“This is an historic opportunity to really look to ensure that we can keep our community members safe. And we can respond in timeframes that saves lives.”

Stovall said the levy will allocate more money toward hiring and retaining Gresham firefighters and Gresham police officers.

Gresham officials said the city has seen a shortage of police officers in the last 20 years. The fire department is also facing some of the same challenges.

Over the next five years, the levy will cover 13 new firefighters and nine police officers. That represents an upgrade for resource levels that have stayed the same since the mid-1990s, which translates to the bare minimum for modern day-to-day needs for the city, Stovall said. He’s already started the hiring process. 

“Our budget assumed this passage. And so since we have that in place we now can really execute very quickly. We are already going out, already posting jobs,” Stovall said. 

He expects the city to get the hiring done “almost immediately” but said the training afterward is “going to take a little bit of time.”

The measure will cost the average household about $25.65 each month, starting this July. It's expected to bring in $12.1 million in revenue in the first year.

“We want to make sure that we answer the call in and let them know that we are moving forward to make sure that they can trust us,” Stovall said.

The measure will also pay to keep an average of 30 first responders every year. The city said funds from the levy will be overseen by a volunteer committee that will regularly report to the Gresham City Council.