Sheriff Dan Staton Blamed Deborah Kafoury for Proposed Jail Bed Closure, But It Was His Idea

Embattled sheriff chose the budgetary option most likely to rally support.

In politics, people sometimes call it the Washington Monument strategy.

When faced a request to reduce spending, a government official chooses cuts that will be unpalatable to the public or key constituents, as the National Park Service did in 1969 by closing the Washington Monument and other national parks for two days a week. The plan is that people will be so outraged by the loss, they'll demand all the money be restored to the budget.

On April 14, Sheriff Dan Staton unveiled his version of that strategy, claiming in a letter to local mayors and police chiefs that he was being forced by Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury to cut the number of jail beds.

Turns out it was Staton's decision to cut the beds.

Kafoury asked all county agencies to submit budget requests with 2 percent cuts from last year's numbers. The Multnomah County sheriff's budget last year was $135 million.

In response to Kafoury's request, Staton's office submitted a request to cut the 118 jail beds.

"Due to the reduced general fund allocation for [fiscal year] 2017, MCSO will eliminate the following program offers," reads the budget document his office provided in response to the 2 percent cuts.

Multnomah County spokesman Dave Austin confirms that Staton proposed cutting the jail beds Feb. 12, two months before going public with his request from "public safety partners" to save the beds.

"Those are the cuts he proposed," Austin says. "He could have made the cuts anywhere else in his budget he wanted. For him to imply in his letter that the chair is forcing him to cut jail beds is inaccurate."

Staton's spokesman, Lt. Steve Alexander, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The county's citizen budget advisory committee will present its analysis of this year's budget on April 26 at 10:30 am at county headquarters at 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

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