Video: King County about to save some jobs

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SEATTLE – It’s something you don’t hear much of in these days of the struggling economy. King County is actually going to save some jobs.

After public outcry over how much public safety is threatened by budget cuts, the King County Council says it has found a way to shift about $10 million dollars from cuts it was going to make next year.

That’s going to mean 19 full-time positions with the King County Sheriff’s Office will stay, as well as full funding for drug and mental health court plus the King County Fair.

For people in the White Center neighborhood, which has seen a turnaround in crime, that’s good news.

“We've done so much work, but in a moment, it could all come back,” said ice cream shop owner Justin Cline.

The county is facing a $93 million shortfall. In order to fill the gap, the King County Council tweaked Executive Ron Sims’ proposal by cutting line items like video preservations units, voice mail upgrades and other maintenance items.

Even with the move to help public safety, not everything is rosy.

“The cuts are still devastating,” said King County Sheriff Sue Rahr. Her department will still lose nearly 60 jobs – one-sixth of current uniformed deputies and detectives. The department says the biggest impact will be follow-up investigations for lower level crimes like burglary, theft and shoplifting.

"Professional shoplifting rings are now talking about King County being easy pickings because we're not going to be focusing on property crimes,” said Rahr.

White Center will not lose its storefront sheriff’s station, but will e among those communities losing the investigative presence.

"I think public safety should be number one,” said Cline.

The council is expected to finalize the budget on Monday.