Dear Citizens,

Upon taking office, the compensation of Bradley County sheriff’s deputies was 23% behind the regional average and about $6,000 per year behind the compensation of their city police counterparts. This large pay disparity was acknowledged publicly by the County Mayor when he stated in an interview with the Cleveland Daily Banner that the “pay of county employees was 20 to 30 percent less than city employees performing the same job.”  This pay disparity is the primary reason that the BCSO has lost three fourths of its entire workforce over the last five years. As other agencies continue to move ahead of the BCSO this loss of employees that costs taxpayers too much in terms of lost experience, re-training, and re-equipping costs is likely to accelerate if not addressed.
It is not unreasonable to request that steps be taken to reduce or close this pay and benefits gap to retain more of our experienced employees.

Upon taking office, BCSO deputies were driving 33 vehicles which have over 200,000 road miles on them. These vehicles are now in such condition, safety of the deputies and their ability to reliably respond to citizen needs is often in jeopardy. It is not unreasonable to ask that deputies be provided safe/reliable vehicles to do their job of protecting citizens.

Upon taking office, the number of patrol deputies on the street covering 333 square miles and trying to answer 82,000 calls for service in a timely manner had dropped to only 5 or 6 deputies per shift for the entire county. This limited number of patrol deputies did not provide adequate coverage for the safety of citizens and unnecessarily jeopardized deputy safety by not providing adequate support and back-up. I have been able to increase this number some through cutting top-heavy management and redistributing resources to the field, but studies show additional manpower is needed. It is not unreasonable to ask for the necessary assistants to do the job we are mandated to do by law.

According to information published in the Cleveland Daily Banner, June 19, 2007, Bradley County accountant Lynn Burns, confirmed that Bradley County has about $40 million plus in extra money called fund balances at the end of each fiscal year, but county management claims this money is restricted and cannot be used.

Additionally, in a Channel 9 news report that aired on June 21, 2007, Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis said an ‘extra’ $35 million was received from the sale of Bradley Memorial Hospital, but that money was split; $20 million went to be administered by the United Way and $15 million went to the county in an interest bearing account that now cannot be utilized.   

This appears to have put the county in a situation where their coffers are over-flowing with about $75 million in tax-payer dollars that cannot be used for basic county business such as roads, schools, and public safety.   

County management wants to blame me for what they are saying will be a “Gobble Tax” to do what should have already been done for public safety, but who is really to blame when by their own admission millions in previously collected taxpayer dollars are stashed away in restricted accounts and not available for necessary use.   

As a citizen, I don’t want to pay any more in taxes either and we shouldn’t have to if these funds were managed correctly.  

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Sincerely,

Tim Gobble
Bradley County Sheriff