As a county employee of many years, I write to protest the closure of Des-chutes County offices on July 3 without pay, as announced on March 14. We are told that this ”loss of compensation” will save the county an estimated $110,000, which will be used to fund a new position at Parole and Probation. On March 18, The Bulletin added insult to injury by applauding this cavalier act of the commissioners by suggesting that the state should follow suit to fund Oregon State Police trooper positions.

Why should state or county employees bear the burden of what the voters refuse to fund at the polls? The loss of one day of pay represents a very real and significant hardship to many people. County employees have been forced to forgo wages during budget shortfalls in past years, but by doing so we were saving jobs, not creating new ones. It appears the county has set a precedent for bailing itself and/or its departments out of financial difficulty – just ding the employees a day’s pay. Heaven forbid a department head should be held responsible for apparent lack of management acumen or financial accountability. Parole and Probation should fix its problem, not ask the commissioners to do their magic and make the problem go away. Now that The Bulletin has voiced its opinion, it might consider asking its own employees to give up one day’s pay to help out Parole and Probation along with us.

Betty Peterson

Bend