Public comment at the Curry County Board of Commissioners's Dec. 3 meeting covered veterans outreach, patrol staffing and sharp criticism of the board's handling of law enforcement and financial matters.

Don Bemis and Deborah Salzman of Wreaths Across America described volunteer and corporate donor support for Brookings and Gold Beach ceremonies, and announced a Brookings event on Dec. 13 at 9 a.m.

Several speakers then addressed law enforcement staffing and board conduct. Andre Bey said canvass results for recent recall efforts showed roughly 1,600 signatures from about 2,000 contacts—an 80% figure he cited—and disputed prior characterization of deputy counts. Bruce Cockerham and Georgia Cockerham both criticized public statements by commissioners and described periods when only one patrol deputy was available because others were reassigned to cover jail staffing. Bruce Cockerham told the board it is "always best to tell the truth," saying misstatements about deputy counts mislead the public.

Kylie Wagner, the county assessor, delivered a lengthy statement criticizing the board for failing to respond to her earlier emails about a personnel matter and disputing a board statement that the Department of Revenue alerted the county to PRC distribution discrepancies. Wagner read an email from the Department of Revenue (dated June 25, 2025) that said the assessor's office raised distribution discrepancies; she said the county had information about an extra $64,000 to County General that was not disclosed to the budget committee and urged citizens to seek documents she offered to make available.

Remarks in public comment included direct accusations and rebuttals between residents and county officials. The record shows no formal board action taken in response to these specific accusations at the Dec. 3 meeting; commissioners responded with clarifying details about staffing and ongoing audit work but did not adopt immediate policy changes on the issues raised.