RIDGEFIELD WAS RECENTLY named the fourth-safest city in Washington in a report by ValuePenguin. Shown here is David Taylor, a member of Ridgefield’s City Council, passing out candy during last summer’s Fourth of July Celebration Parade.
To view the full report from ValuePenguin.com, go to http://www.valuepenguin.com/2015-safest-places-washington-study
No one has to explain to Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow why his city is considered one of the safest in the state of Washington.
Onslow recently took a trip to the Caribbean. Before he left, he took advantage of an opportunity presented to all Ridgefield residents heading out of town – he let the Ridgefield Police Department know he would be gone so they could watch his residence.
“Like any citizen, I called the police up and said, ‘Here’s my address, I’m going to be gone this amount of time, will you please check my house once in a while,’’’ Onslow said. “When I got back, I ran into one of the police officers and I said, “I want to thank you for watching my house while I was gone.’
“The officer told me that he had noticed the side door to my storage shed was unlocked so he locked it for me,’’ Onslow said. “I told him, ‘I wondered who did that because the reason I had it unlocked was I couldn’t find the key.’ He was all embarrassed, but I told him that I really appreciated it and that I knew I would eventually find the key.’’
Ridgefield was recently named Washington’s fourth-safest city by ValuePenguin, an internet site devoted to helping those in transition relocate to a new destination. The ValuePenguin team claims to break down available data to help its readers decide where to live.
The results were released in a study titled “2015 Safest Places in Washington’’ and emailed to The Reflector. Ridgefield trailed only Sammamish, Duvall and Snoqualmie. Battle Ground was 20th among the 113 cities and towns listed in the report and Woodland was 69th.
Cities and towns with populations under 5,000, such as La Center and Yacolt, were not included in ValuePenguin’s research. Ridgefield was the smallest city in the top five of the rankings.
“I guess you can say it’s a surprise, but it’s not a surprise,’’ said Carrie Greene, Ridgefield’s chief of Police for the past eight years. “We do enjoy a really safe community and it’s not just because we’re a bedroom community and we don’t have a lot of the elements other bigger cities have.
“Our citizens, city staff and members of the police department work really well together and work hard to make sure this area is livable and safe,’’ Greene said. “We see that effort on a daily basis so it (the ranking) makes sense.’’
Onslow has been Ridgefield’s mayor for the past seven years, almost the same tenure with the city as Greene. Since 2007, the city of Ridgefield’s population has grown from under 4,000 to more than 6,000 residents. Despite that, its residents’ safety has not been compromised.
“One of the things we do is we get out there and try to be very visible,’’ Greene said. “We try to make ourselves very visible and accessible. When we do have an incident, citizens call in and we’re very responsive. We respond efficiently and quickly and we hold people accountable when we do find they’ve done something.’’
Greene pointed to a recent number of car prowls as an example of that.
Onslow said the city enjoys a cooperative relationship with its staff, police department and school district.
“We work really hard on our connection to the schools providing safety for the children,’’ Onslow said. “We try to provide a safe atmosphere for kids in the schools and in the neighborhoods and then I think they take a sense of ownership in it. And when a developer comes to the city, we try to make sure we are building real neighborhoods.’’
Onslow used Ridgefield’s Pioneer Canyon and developer Mark Jeffries as an example.
“You can take a page out of Mark Jeffries’ book, who built Pioneer Canyon,’’ Onslow said. “One one side they are bordered by Main Street, on another side by a canyon and on another side by a trail. We also ask all developments to put in an HOA (Homeowners’ Association) so the city can connect with their neighborhood.’’
Onslow also praised many of the Ridgefield neighborhoods who have created blogs to connect residents with each other.
“That promotes safety,’’ Onslow said. “When you know somebody you have a much better feeling of who they are and whether you can trust them or not.’’
Onslow also pointed out that Ridgefield was the second-fastest growing city in Washington last year, trailing only Bothell. The mayor is also proud of the 95 percent graduation rate of students at Ridgefield High School.
“All those things contribute to the fact that I think it’s a desirable place to move to,’’ Onslow said. “We’ve got a lot of nice people who like the small town atmosphere and who like the way we’re doing things so they move in and you get good citizens.’’
