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THANKS TO MAYOR & CO. COMMISSION |
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Written by Tim Gobble, Sheriff
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
I want to extend my appreciation to the Mayor and County Commission for working with the BCSO over the past two budget years to accomplish and phase in some critical law enforcement needs. Their unanimous vote to approve the acquisition of 10 much-needed new patrol vehicles is greatly appreciated and shows their understanding and support of public safety for all county residents.
These new vehicles will allow us to retire 10 of the most road-weary patrol cars from the BCSO fleet. In some cases, deputies are still operating vehicles with excess of 150,000 miles on them, but progress has been made. Bradley County is spread out over a 333-square-mile area and the men and women in patrol and our other divisions need safe and reliable vehicles to cover that ground, respond to emergencies, assistance one another, answer calls for service, transport prisoners, serve warrants, protect schools, etc.
The mayor and commissioners were also helpful regarding the issue of outside medical care for inmates. While most inmate medical care is handled on site through our contracted healthcare provider, there are occasions when an inmate may need to be taken to the emergency room or admitted to a hospital to receive a higher level of care. Because of the unpredictable nature of such occasions, trying to budget for them was little more than guesswork.
In a spirit of cooperation, Mayor Gary Davis, myself, EMS Director Danny Lawson, County Attorney Joe Byrd and administrators from SkyRidge Medical Center all sat down to discuss the issue and come up with a working solution that is fair to all parties concerned, including the Bradley County taxpayers. It was a productive meeting and resulted in SkyRidge agreeing to an additional 10 percent discount for any medical care an inmate may require at SRMC. This is in addition to the 50 percent discount they already give the county. The annual savings could well be in the tens of thousands of dollars. I thank SkyRidge Administrator Coleman Foss for his assistance.
The BCSO has done well in saving money and even returning money to the General Fund at the end of each budget year since I have been sheriff. Through cooperation and managing resources better, we achieved a 6 percent reduction in crime for 2008, and so far this year, that trend seems to be continuing, and we achieved this without the need for any tax increase, which has always been my goal.
Policy-making and budgeting is sometimes difficult due to limited resources and competing interests. It is inevitable that differences in opinion will arise when managing a progressive community the size of Bradley County. That is the nature of government. However, I know all of us ~ the mayor, the commission and sheriff’s office ~ want what is best for Bradley County, without tax increases. The fact is, we have seen tremendous growth over the past few years and we are positioned, economically, better than a lot of communities around the country. This is due to the cooperation and shared vision of our citizens, our business community and our local government.
Again, I extend my thanks to the mayor and commission for their help in a tight budget year. While we weren’t able to get everything that is needed, we are making phase-in progress without the need for more taxes. I am hopeful next year our growth revenue will be stronger and our much-deserving employees will receive a pay increase then. We have, however, made some progress in this area as well, and the result is lower turnover and a greater ability to attract and retain quality employees.
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