As Fall Presses In, Keep Summer’s Pleasures In Mind

By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
first published in the Central Oregonian of Prineville, September 2007

Fundamentally, Crook County has much to be pleased about

I both dread and anticipate the arrival of fall.

The return of cool weather, the beauty of the changing landscape, the excitement in my house that accompanies the start of school and the end of lawnmowing for another season are all reasons to be glad to put the hot days behind us. Professionally, there are reasons to like the fall as well: the early season threat of floods and the late season threat of fire largely disappears. The tide of hunters appears creating its own challenges, but their impact on law enforcement is more than offset by benefits to the local economy. It isn’t snowing yet, so winter road mainentance isn’t yet a priority. All in all, fall is a pretty nice time to be in county government.

If there is a downside to the season, it’s the fact that fall seems to signal that point in the year when we start to pay attention once more to the world around us. In the summer when the sun beckons us to enjoy our world from early morning until late at night, there are just too many things to do to waste a lot of daylight hours hunkered down in front of the tube or scanning the headlines of the paper. Even though the national housing market might be crashing around us and the war in Iraq continues to produce grim statistics and scandalous revelations about senior senators from Idao remind us once again that elected officials have just as many faults as normal people, things just don’t seem so bad as long as the sun keeps shining.

That changes with the shortening of the days. We start to pay attention again, and in the dark of the night as the cold presses in through our windows and we nudge the thermostate the news which seemed distant and far away just a month ago somehow seems more ominous. Maybe that’s why the framers of our Constitution called for elections to be held late in the fall: being farmers themselves, they understood this was the period in the year when we were most likely to be paying attention.

So as we enter that period, it seems like a good time to recap not what’s wrong in our community but instead to focus on a few things that are right.

Recently, I was invited to give a presentation to the Commerical Investment Division of the Central Oregon Realtors Association which met here in Prineville. As far as I know, this is the first big gathering of this regional group which plays an important role in directing investment throughout the region. As I prepared for the speech, my focus was on telling the Crook County story: that whatever you may have thought or known about Crook County yesterday, today’s Crook County looks decidedly different. In short, all the reasons I remain, Bullish On Prineville.

Here are just a few of the statistics I presented to that group:

While the 327 building permits issued in Crook County in the fiscal year ended 2007 was under the number issued in calendar years 2004, 2005 and 2006, the number continues to exceed the number issued in calendar years 2000-2003. What we are experiencing now appears not to be a slow down but a much-needed correction to sustainable and historic development patterns which the community can more easily absorb.

Faced with market pressure, the rapidly escalating price of housing in Crook County has begun to soften. In the second quarter of 2007 saw the median (middle) price paid for residential property settle at $210,000, compared to Bend’s $348,250 and Redmond’s $255,000. While affordability, especially for young families and first-time homebuyers, remains a concern in Crook County at any number above $200,000, the slowing trend suggests that in combination with a cooling (or “frozen” as realtors might characterize it) housing market nationwide, the possibility of a good mix of both affordable and higher end housing returning to our community is on the horizon.

The situation as it relates to employment oportunities continues to improve. The number of Crook County employers counted by the Oregon Employment Department rose from 480 to 664, between the first quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2007. That’s a 38 percent increase. By contrast, Oregon overall posted only a 22 percent increase experienced by Oregon and even Portland posted only a 21 percent rise in the same period. Clearly, business continues to invest in Prineville and Crook County.

With the increase in employers came two key things: population and wealth.

Crook County was the fastest growing county in Oregon in terms of population in 2005, outpacing Deschutes County. In 2006, the two counties swapped positions with Deschutes taking first position and Crook taking a close second. With an estimated population of 24,525—for all intents and purposes 25,000—Crook County has experienced a total increase in population since the 2000 census of 29 percent. During the same period, the Oregon population grew just under 8 percent. I suspect I’m not the only one who walks into Bi-Mart these days and feels like there are an awful lot of people I don’t know anymore, but I’m not complaining: the newcomers bring talents, diversity and new perspectives to our community to help us plan a better future.

Perhaps even more importantly for the future of our economy, they also bring with them economic opportunities for those of us who predated them.

During a six year period, 2001-2007, the total quarterly payroll in Crook County jumped 47 percent. compared to 25 percent statewide. The average wage increased 29 percent, compared to 17 percent statewide. Deposits in Crook County financial institutations, as reported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation were 226 percent greater in 2006 than in 2000. By contrast, the statewide total increase was about 152 percent greater over a six year period, and the Crook County growth exceeded even that of Deschutes County, which increased 215 percent during the same period.
Bottom line is: Crook County’s economic fundamentals are strong: At no period in our history, have we had it so good. As the days shorten and our thoughts turn once more to the world around us, we would be well advised to bear that in mind .