Police Chief Harold Skelton will be retiring November 30, 2009. Skelton has served on the Sandy Police Force for 33 years, the last six as Police Chief. He began his career as an officer on November 1, 1976. Prior to that, at age 19, he was a member of the Explorers until he turned 21 and then served as a reserve officer for Clackamas County until he was 23.
         Skelton explained to this Gazette reporter know that his service had not been consecutive; there was a brief interruption in 1978. He was offered a position on the Salem police department, one he had originally applied for. He thought that was were he wanted to be. He worked there for two months and did not enjoy it, so he quit and took a job in construction. The construction job did not meet expectations, either, so when Skelton heard of an opening on the Sandy Police Department, he went to Chief Punzel and asked for the job. Punzel was happy to hire him back and Skelton has been with the Sandy Police Department ever since.
         Skelton is a long-standing member of the Sandy community. He and his wife have raised seven of their own children here and numerous foster children. When asked how many foster children he has had he said, “I don’t remember, but at one time we had four extra kids in our home.”
         After retiring, Skelton and his wife plan to volunteer for the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Skelton would like to serve as a reserve officer. On the lighter side, Skelton said he has taken his kids to 49 of the 50 states. The only state left is Alaska and he hopes to take his wife there, and as many children as can go, sometime next year.
         The City of Sandy has had only two prior police chiefs. They were Chief Punzel, who served from the beginning of the department in 1964 until March 31, 1995; and chief Scobert, who served from 1995 until 2003. When Chief Punzel started, he was a one-man police department. At 31 years of service, he was the longest serving chief in the state of Oregon. Skelton said Punzel had a couple of favorite words of wisdom; “what goes around comes around,” and “time is on your side.”
         Skelton has seen the Sandy Police Department evolve from a one-man operation to nine officers, two sergeants, one and a half code enforcement officers, and one chief. Chief Skelton said Sandy started as a logging community and has transitioned to a suburb of Portland. In the beginning, the population of Sandy was around 900 and it was not uncommon for there to be bar room fights every Friday and Saturday night.
         Sandy has grown rapidly since the mid-90s. Today the city population is 8,000 and the police force deals with the same issues Portland has, although on a smaller scale. The Sandy department is certified by the state so its officers frequently help other community service departments outside the Sandy area.
         Skelton says, “This is a good time to retire, everything is going well and the department is stable.” There are plans for a new police department by July 2011 and Sandy will be equipped with a new police chief to meet the challenges of this next season. The Sandy community is grateful to Chief Skelton for all his years of faithful service.
Community Action
         City council meets on the first and third Mondays of the month at 7 p.m. in City Hall. Visit their website to find out about agendas, events, or details at cityofsandy.com
         Sandy Oregon Chamber lists three activities taking place:
               • October 7, 7:30 a.m.—Good Morning Sandy, hosted by Sherrie’s Nursery at 35900 Industrial.
               • October 14, 11:30 a.m.—SACC Lunch Board election and “How to Maximize Results from Visitors to Oregon’s Mt Hood Territory.” RSVP by October 10, (503) 668-4006.
               • October 15, 12 p.m.—Brown Bag Lunch “Optimizing Your Business,” hosted by Cope to Hope Coaching and Transalliance, at SACC Office, 38963 Pioneer Blvd.
         Sandy Mainstreet is an alliance to improve the downtown Sandy area. They are planning a field trip to meet with representatives from McMinnville Downtown Association; they also plan to hold a promotional event for Halloween. Meeting dates are posted at the city of Sandy website. Contact people are Tracy Brown (503) 668-48865 or Suzanne Hicks, (503) 668-9545. All interested parties are welcome.
         Sandy Kiwanis helps Sandy youth have a successful education experience, especially with projects like: The Bringing up Grades Program, First Book Program, as well as sponsoring Key Club and Providing College Scholarships. They meet Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., upstairs at Sandy Hospice. sandykiwanis.org.
Community Fun
         Sandy Action Center has fall activities ranging from hikes to yoga, and art to team sports. There is a Fall Recreation Guide at the city of Sandy website under Community Services/Recreation.