Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, July 24,2019
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 9A
What Sewell plans to do if he’s elected sheriff
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
Marcus Sewell, a long
time resident of Dawson
County, launched his
Facebook page, Marcus
Sewell for Sheriff, last
week which officially
announced his campaign
for the May 2020 elec
tion.
From 2005 until 2009,
Sewell worked for the
Dawson County Sheriff’s
Office as a jail deputy then
was promoted to sergeant
before transferring to the
patrol division. In 2009,
Sewell accepted a position
as assistant jail commander
in the Lumpkin County
Sheriff’s Office. From
there, Sewell served as Jail
Commander, Special
Services Commander
(overseeing drug investiga
tions, K9 deputies, school
resource officers, victims
advocate and animal con
trol) and currently serves
as Commander of Criminal
Investigations.
Sewell said he decided
to run for sheriff about 18
months ago after feeling
it was the path God was
putting him on.
“People ask me why I
want to do this because
there’s no fame in this
and I tell people ‘I’ve got
a servant’s heart,”’ Sewell
said. “I serve my God, I
serve my family and I
serve my community.”
Sewell said his bid for
sheriff isn’t about him;
it’s about the people of
Dawson County.
“I believe that I bring a
great deal of leadership
and experience to this
agency and I’m vested
here,” Sewell said. “I
believe in bringing the
community and the sher
iff’s office together.”
One of his primary con
cerns he would address if
elected as the next sheriff
would be the office’s bud
get and finding ways to
streamline the agency to
make it as efficient as
possible.
“The budget is a huge
concern because every dol
lar in the budget represents
the taxpayers,” Sewell said.
“You as a citizen want to
make sure that that penny,
quarter, dollar is spent in
the best interest for you.”
Sewell said he would be
strategic with the budget
and be a good steward of
taxpayer dollars, making
sure he prioritizes the
needs of the office over
the wants. The first need,
and most important need
of the office, according to
Sewell, is paying officers
a fair wage and retaining
officers in the department.
“I believe in taking care
of them and paying them
a fair wage,” Sewell said.
“You can do that when
you adjust your manage
ment of your positions,
where you streamline
your agency, make it
more efficient and put the
money back in the pock
ets of the men and
women of your depart
ment.”
Sewell also said he
would not spend any of
the budget on community
events. Instead, money
for community events,
programs and charities
would be raised by the
sheriff’s office.
“I do not believe in
using tax dollars in your
budget for community
events, whether it’s Shop
with a Cop, or a dinner or
any of that. I believe per
sonally that money should
be raised by the sheriff’s
office,” Sewell said.
Community involve
ment is very important for
Sewell as he hopes to not
only keep current commu
nity events in place, but
also expand upon certain
initiatives and implement
some of his own. Ideally,
Sewell would like to cre
ate a Citizens Advisory
Service Board for gradu
ates of the Citizens Law
Enforcement Academy
that would like to continue
their involvement with the
sheriff’s office. The board
could help fundraise for
charity events, provide
meals for the deputies and
help at local events, some
thing Sewell has seen
great success in while
serving in Lumpkin
County.
Sewell has lived in
Dawson County since
1989, having moved here
at the age of nine. He is
married to Amber, who is
a nurse at Mount Sinai
Wellness Center. They
have two children: Tristan,
8, and Alena, 4. Sewell is
a home pastor at Harvest
Baptist Church. In his free
time, he enjoys spending
time with his family and
friends and being involved
with community sports
either as a player or coach.
“I’m not perfect, never
said I was perfect. I got
flaws like anybody else,
probably more flaws. But
I know where my heart is
and it’s with Dawson
County,” Sewell said. “I
ask for their vote and
their support, but most
importantly ask for
prayers for me and my
family.”
FROM 1A
Etowah
pay, dating back to 2016, when Johnson
unsuccessfully sued the county over
funding.
Before the Sheriff even began his
request, Board of Commissioners
Chairman Billy Thurmond spoke up.
“After looking at this action further,
the fact that you have the authority to
give them that raise without coming to
this Board — there’s really no need for
this board to take action or vote on that,
because it’s well within your authority
to do so,” said Thurmond.
Dawson County District 2
Commissioner Chris Gaines also
chimed in on the subject.
“This whole Board respects our law
enforcement,” said Gaines. “In this par
ticular situation, it’s not our call. As we
go into budget season, we will take any
thing into consideration when we see
what our revenues are going to be.
“You have every right to do what you
need to do within your own department
with the resources you’ve been allocat
ed,” Gaines added.
The Sheriff, for his part, remained
optimistic.
“We were looking for a long-term
commitment (of funding from the
Board), but I respect the Board’s ability
to not to be able to forecast that far
along,” said Johnson. “My concern, and
obviously we want to caution our folks,
is that if we get a raise, we may have
something we need to buy and then
we’re committed to that, and most raises
don’t come with a termination date on
it. So we want to really caution our folks
to be careful through the end of the year
and see how the next budget cycle pro
cess goes.”
“But thankfully,” Johnson added,
“we’re close to the budget process or
we’ve started the budget process
already, so hopefully the funds will be
there in 2019 to carry this on. It (a raise
for police officers) is a win for Dawson
County. From a recruiting standpoint,
from a retention standpoint, we’re in a
lot better shape than we were.”
At the 4 p.m. work session, much of
the focus turned to a proposed updated
to the county fee schedule — the list of
fees charged for things like building per
mits and business licenses.
According to the presentation given to
the Board of Commissioners by Planning
and Development Director Jameson
Kinley, most of Dawson County’s current
fees are significantly lower than those in
surrounding counties.
For example, a commercial building per
mit for a new 4,000-sq.-ft. building costs
$480 in Dawson County. The same permit
costs $1,200 in Lumpkin County, $960 in
Hall County, and $850 in Union County.
White County’s permit also costs $480.
This proposed increase in fees is in
direct response to the recent lowering of
the county impact fees — the fees paid
by businesses to offset the financial
impact to the county for necessary
increases in public services.
Impact fees were lowered earlier this
year to bring them in line with neighbor
ing counties.
One of the main differences between
impact fees and other fees placed on
businesses is that impact fees can only be
used for very specific purposes related to
individual projects. These other permit
ting and licensing fees go into the general
budget to be used as the county sees fit.
“These rates have not been reviewed
in almost 20 years and are well below
the rates that are charged in the counties
around us,” said Gaines. “This simply
gets us in line and provides some addi
tional funding to address increased
needs.”
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