Lorraine Shore, acting sheriff and county emergency‑management director, told the Board of County Commissioners that additional budget reductions would have “a significant impact to public safety.”

Shore said a further cut would force elimination of half the emergency‑management staff and the animal‑control deputy position added in March. She said personnel costs make up the largest share of the sheriff’s budget and that the department already operates “at a bare minimum.” Shore warned that if staffing declines the sheriff’s office could be forced to limit booking or impose booking restrictions, and proactive traffic enforcement and community‑policing programs would be curtailed.

Why it matters: Shore framed the argument as both a public‑safety and economic one — reduced policing and emergency capacity can affect crime and perceived safety, which she said would in turn affect property values and quality of life.

Details Shore provided:
- Emergency management: Losing half of emergency‑management staff would “present a tremendous difficulty” for the county’s frequent emergency‑management needs, including tsunami and other hazard responses.
- Corrections/jail staffing: The county jail and corrections already report understaffing; additional reductions risk operational restrictions that carry legal and public‑safety implications.
- Animal control and traffic enforcement: The animal‑control deputy and proactive traffic enforcement were cited as services that would stop under deeper cuts, with an expected public impact because animal calls and traffic enforcement are frequent service requests.

Shore opened the public‑safety comments while noting an active tsunami warning and said she needed to join an early state call; she provided the department’s concerns in a short statement to the board. Commissioners acknowledged the potential counterproductive effects of cuts — e.g., reducing enforcement could shift costs to other funds or outside providers — and asked staff to weigh public‑safety impacts in any package of cuts.

No formal action or vote was taken; commissioners asked staff to include the sheriff’s operational constraints when modeling budget scenarios.