Emergency Services. In the most rural areas of House District 17, lack of access to emergency services puts people at risk. First responders in this district work incredibly hard to keep people safe; however, there are only two hospitals in-district, and some communities do not have their own fire stations. Waiting for emergency services to respond from another city puts people in danger. Paige knows that adequate, accessible, updated, and properly funded emergency services are critical to the safety and health of her constituents. That is why as State Representative she will advocate for legislation to address these pressing issues and to ensure her community has the right resources to keep them safe.
Public Safety. Paige is acutely aware of the need in some areas of House District 17 for a secondary water source, an issue that was brought home during the 2018 algae bloom scare that threatened water access and public health in parts of the Santiam Canyon, and the current struggles we are seeing in neighboring House Districts where the Warm Springs Reservation is located. She believes the proper resources should be dedicated to ensure these essential services continue under any circumstances.
Further, Paige sees the need for the restructuring of our police agencies, and for better resources and funding for firefighting, and similar emergency services that contribute to public safety. She understands that some buildings that house such services are in flood zones or are vulnerable to seismic activity. When elected, Paige will show up in Salem and demand our rural communities are given adequate funding for community safety and social services that can provide residents with the help they need to function in a healthy way.
Policing has been a heightened topic in our country and state due to the inexcusable killings of Black individuals such as George Floyd, Oscar Grant, Breonna Taylor, and many others. Police hold an important role in keeping our communities safe, but it is clear we need to have immediate measures put in place for harm reduction such as requiring a use of force continuum and implementing policies with a focus on accountability for our law enforcement officers. All community members need to be able to trust those that are sworn to serve and protect which means we must change policies and require our own officers to:
- De-escalate situations, where possible, by communicating with subjects, maintaining distance, and otherwise eliminating the need to use force
- Exhaust all other alternatives, including non-force and less lethal force options, prior to resorting to deadly force
- Set policy that makes it so officers must give a verbal warning in all situations before using deadly force
- Intervene and stop excessive force used by other officers and report these incidents immediately to a supervisor
- Make it mandatory that officers report each time they use force or threaten to use force against civilians
- Demilitarize our police force
- Ban chokeholds and all other neck restraints that often result in serious injury or death of civilians