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C M
K
Inside
Fabulous
February
Crooked River State
Park is offering a
plethora of events next
month.
see6A
Wage survey reveals disparities
Jocelyn Brumbaugh
jocelyn@tribune-georgian.com
Compared to similarly sized
counties in Georgia, Camden
County pays many of its top em
ployees slightly and sometimes sig
nificantly higher.
Georgia’s Department of Com
munity Affairs (DCA) conducts an
annual survey of county and city
government employees and pub
lishes their salaries and salary ranges
each October. Participation in the
survey is voluntary.
Camden County participated in
the salary and wage survey in 2008,
2009 and 2010 but did not submit
information for 2011 and 2012.
Thirty other counties did not par
ticipate last year; 128 counties pro
vided salary information.
County administrator Steve
Howard said there are many vari
ables to consider when looking at
employees’ salaries, such as position,
population growth, pay scale, expe
rience, education and skill set.
Longtime employees or those
with more education and training
may earn more than new hires or
those with little experience, Howard
said.
“There’s lots of different things
that go into that,” he said.
Howard, for example, received a
See PAY, page 9A
Salary Watch
This story is the
first in a three-part
series. To see the
top wage earners
at the county and
in Woodbine, turn
to page 9A.
And the
winners are...
See who our readers
chose as their favorites
in the annual Best of
Camden contest.
see insert
Marijuana,
murder cases
slated for trial
Index
Obituaries
2A
Opinion
4A
Upcoming Events
6A
Sports
1B
People
3B
Classifieds
9B
Legals
11B
Today’s Poll
Do you believe
local government
employees are
overpaid?
Vote online at
tribune-georgian.com
Tribune &
Georgian
On parade
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Johnson
Jocelyn Brumbaugh
jocelyn@tribune-georgian.com
With another busy
year in the books, the
district attorney’s office
is ready for the chal
lenges of a new year.
Jackie John
son said her of
fice is just
“starting to get
our heads
above water” in
murder cases
she calls “fairly
serious,” but
still has goals
in mind for the upcom
ing months.
The main goal, John
son says, is to get major
crimes to trial in under a
year. Although there are
factors that can cause
delays with trials, she
said she aims to make
sure that those hold-ups
do not come from her
office.
“The public needs to
know there’s still conse
quences to these crimes
and that they’re happen
ing quickly,” she said.
Johnson has three
major cases that she and
her office are aiming to
take to trial “hopefully
within the next few
months.” Two of the
three are murder cases.
The first case involves
suspects Jeffrey Eicher,
Aaron Paxton
and Timothy
Pennington,
who were all
indicted in Jan
uary 2012 for
the death of
Spc. James A.
Willis, a Fort
Stewart soldier,
in November 2011.
Johnson said there is a
possibility that there
may be three separate
trials in this case, with
each of the defendants
charged with malice
murder, felony murder,
aggravated assault and
conspiracy to commit
murder.
Johnson also wants to
take those responsible
for the murder of
Charles Smith to trial.
See CASES, page 9A
Michael Allen of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, his wife, La-
tanya, and other commission members bundle up to participate in the 2013 Presidential In
augural Parade in Washington, D.C.The commission regulates the cultural heritage corridor,
which celebrates the legacy of the Gullah Geechee people and includes coastal counties in
South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, including Camden.
P.O. Box 6960,
St. Marys, Ga.
31558
Volume 110, No. 8
42 pages • Three sections
tribune-georgian.com
© 2013, Tribune & Georgian,
Community Newspapers Inc.
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Call for consolidation evokes mixed responses
Jocelyn Brumbaugh
jocelyn@tribune-georgian.com
“Making it better” was the
theme of a presentation
given Tuesday night to the
Camden County Board of
Commissioners concerning
its fire and emergency med
ical services (EMS).
Joe Pozzo, senior manager
of fire and EMS for the In
ternational City/County
Management Association’s
Center for Public Safety,
took the board through an
overview of his analysis of
the department and provided
advice for the future.
Pozzo and his team per
formed their analysis in two
phases — data analysis and
site visits from July 25-26.
The data collected was re
viewed not only by ICMA
but county administrator
Steve Howard and fire chief
Dennis Gailey for what
Pozzo called “absolute accu
racy.”
Pozzo’s ensuing report on
operations at Camden
County Fire Rescue (CCFR)
measured more than 100
Tribune & Georgian file photo
City and county firefighters battle a blaze that broke out at the Winding River subdivision
in August 2012. A recent study by the International City/County Management Association
recommended consolidation of fire services on some level.
pages.
Pozzo explained Tuesday
that CCFR is the largest de
partment in the nation to
maintain an ISO rating of 4
while delivering fire services
using mobile tankers that
shuttle water to scenes.
“That’s a pretty good ac
complishment,” Pozzo said.
The first recommenda
tions Pozzo offered were
concerning aid — mutual
and automatic. Mutual aid
includes an agreement where
one department can call an
other nearby for backup dur
ing an emergency.
Automatic aid would re
quire the closest unit to re
spond, regardless of whether
the closest station was run by
a city or the county. Pozzo
mentioned the department
lacks automatic aid and
brought up the possibility of
consolidation, but empha
sized that this was not the
focus of their study and en
couraged further analysis to
be done.
A lack of planning was also
addressed in the presenta
tion. Pozzo said a depart
ment strategic plan, a
community risk assessment,
internal risk management
and a performance measure
ment system — all the re
sponsibility of the fire chief
— are essential to a success
ful future for the depart
ment. Pozzo recommended
an accreditation process to
assist with improvements
and assessments so that
benchmarks can be set and
goals can be met.
“You have a lot of things
going on that you need to
See STUDY, page 8A