The Oregonian's story about how energetically the City of Coburg enforces the speed limit reminded me of Paul Arritola (1911-1977) [See comments below], once the police chief of Jordan Valley. Some background: Jordan Valley is a hamlet on US 95 in Malheur County, the only incorporated city on the 163 miles of that highway within Oregon. In the 1970s Mr. Arritola worked out a deal with the city: he would staff the police department at his expense and pay part of the costs of operation, if he could keep the traffic fines. (As usual, I'm oversimplifying a little.) In effect, he agreed to work on commission.
The speed limit on US 95 was 55 mph on 162 of its 163 Oregon miles. The speed limit on the one mile within Jordan Valley's city limits was 25 mph. Mr. Arritola and his staff caught a lot of speeders. It was reported one year that he was the highest-paid public official in the State of Oregon, outearning the governor and the heads of the public universities. The legislature closed that opportunity when the Oregonian broke the story.
Coburg, a city near Interstate 5 a few miles north of Eugene, deserves a trophy in Mr. Arritola's name. A few years ago Coburg discovered a quirk in Chapter 153 of the Oregon Revised Statutes: a city could cite traffic violators into municipal court if the violation occurred in that county, whether or not the violation occurred within the city itself. If the violation was tried in municipal court, the city got to keep the fines and apply them to its general fund.
Coburg sent its finest out to the freeway to ticket speeders, even though the freeway was outside the city. The 2003 legislature amended ORS 153.136 to stop this; Coburg can still patrol the freeway and issue tickets, but violators will be tried in Lane County's courts, not the city's, and any fines will go to the county.
But that didn't stop Coburg . . .
The city has annexed 26 acres on the other side of Interstate 5, and with that annexation it also annexed a stretch of the freeway itself. Now the freeway is within the city limits, and the city can issue tickets and collect fines again.
I admire Coburg's entrepreneurial spirit. But why stop there? By my reckoning the 30 miles of Interstate 5 running north from Coburg aren't in any city -- not until Corvallis does an incorporated city touch the freeway. Dream big, Coburg; annex a strip north.
And where Coburg has led, others can follow. North Plains could annex enough of Sunset Highway to get itself a nice little revenue source from the speeders on the highway, which we could think of as a tax on getting to Seaside and Gearhart. I drive to the coast often enough that I would be willing to buy a season ticket.