Let’s look ahead to Proposition 1 — the juvenile detention facilities sales/use tax — which will be on the Nov. 7 Clallam County election ballot.
It is vital to fighting juvenile crime in our county.
It requests a very small 0.1 percent sales tax increase — adding only a penny more to a $10 purchase — but the estimated $1.1 million it will provide will help offset the county juvenile justice system’s deficit of more than $1.5 million.
Without this new funding, successful programs will have to be eliminated to reduce the deficit.
Clallam County Juvenile and Family Services’ mission has expanded in recent years from managing truancy and incarceration for juveniles to keeping youths out of the criminal justice system by treating drug, alcohol and mental health problems; arranging for employment training and education; and providing community service diversion programs (“Clallam to Put Juvenile Justice Sales Tax on Ballot,” PDN, July 14).
The success stories that come out of Juvenile and Family Services are many. Our juvenile services address problems now that help the county both financially and socially well into the future.
Prop 1 is about continuing to fund outstanding programs that stabilize the lives of children and teens — and steer those who run afoul of the law back to the right direction.
If we want to keep juvenile crime down — and change criminal behavior before the child becomes an adult — we must be able to continue our current programs.
There is little financial burden on county residents — and no better investment — than Prop 1. Please vote “yes.”
John Brewer,
Port Angeles
Brewer is the former editor and publisher of the Peninsula Daily News.