Newspaper Page Text
Young: Cop layoffs possible
EmSheriff says he’ll
stage budget battle to
protect jobs.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Mayor Bob Young was frank in
stating that a tight county budget
for the new millennium could spell
layoffs for the Richmond County
Sheriff’'s Department.
The mayor’s reaction is based
on results stemming from an in
dependent management efficiency
study which suggests the sheriff’s
department could adequately func
Laney
From page one
30 percent drop in students this
decade, Laney principal Quentin
Motley is more than concerned
about stabilizing his student popu
lation rate.
Although he realizes not as
many youngsters are growing up
in neighborhoods just off a once
thriving Laney-Walker Blvd.,
Motley recognizes the traditional
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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
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passenger safety in frontal crash tests.
tion without 26 patrol officers on
the county payroll.
Mayor Young also said Rich
mond County Sheriff Charles
Webster is aware of staff reduc
tion recommendations and his
(sheriff’s) administration should
be mindful of possiblelayoffswhen
submitting department budgetary
requests for the year 2000.
“They (sheriff's department)
have been instructed to consider
what the management study has
suggested,” said the mayor, while
describing the 300-page document
as an efficiency plan for saving
taxpayer dollars. The plan was
developed by an independent At
lanta-based agency called DMG-
relevance of ensuring the Wild
catsremain a viableentity among
Augusta schools. As a former bas
ketball and football coach at T.W.
Josey High, Motley is reportedly
looking atgetting Laney from AAA
status to AA, which could increase
athletic success among school
teams.
“There’s so much history here.
We can’t let Laney fall by the
wayside,” said Motley, who just
finished his first year as Laney’s
principal.
City / Region
Maximus and released earlier this
year.
When asked to respond to the
study, county commissioner
Freddie Handy said he and other
commissioners at this time, had
yet to discuss plan recommenda
tions. He did say he thinks the
plan was initiated by county ad
ministrator Randy Oliver for ma
licious reasons.
“To me, it seems like this plan
was implemented as a way for
Randy toget back at the sheritffor
the 68 additional officers,” said
Handy, who also heads the com
missioners’ public safety commit
tee.
Handy said he believes the
sheriff’s successful bid in garner
ing new officers for the federally
funded grant program Commu
nity Oriented Police Services
(COPS), was apparently unpopu
lar with Oliver who failed to con
sider COPS as cost effective for
the county.
The current county general bud
get of $82.7 million funnels more
than 40 percent of the budget or
$33.3 million to the Sheriff's de
partment, according to county
assistant comptroller David
Collins.
Although the U.S. Department
of Justice has provided the county
with over $3 million to fund the
three-year COPS program since
November 1997, in January 2000,
the county must assume a bill of
about sl.l million annually to con
tinue the COPS program —based
on federal requirements. The
countywould save SBBB,OOO a year
if police staffing were reduced, the
study suggests.
Meanwhile, the sheriff says the
commissioners may as well pre
pare themselves for a budget
battle.
SATURN.
Of Augusta
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“They want to take 26 people
away from me? After all the hard
work I've done to get this staff to
whereit’s at? It’s gonnabe a battle.
T'll tell the commissioners we don’t
need to lose these people. As hard
as we've worked, I'm not going to
give anything up without a fight,”
said Webster, whose terms ends
in November 2000.
‘The sheriff said personnei cuts
would adversely affect local public
safety. :
“You've got the elderly people,
the ones on fixed incomes. Those
are the ones who would be hurt.
We’ve got it now where people can
sit on their porches and walk their
neighborhoods and feel safe.
“T’ll try and prove my point to
the commissioners. They have to
look at the entire picture,” he
said.
Although he realizes a tight
budget would cause scrutiny of
the efficiency plan, commissioner
Bill Kuhlke also sees the sheriff’s
side.
“If I'm him (Webster), I say we
can’t do with less staff ... espe
cially now, when safety is our No.
1 priority,” said Kuhlke, also a
public safety committee member.
The county’s 2000 budget should
be adopted by mid-December, said
Collins. The public will also have
input before conclusions are made,
he said.
Updatingutilitiesinfrastructure,
primarily to alleviate current wa
ter woes, is another priority that
could cut funding for other county
departments, said Kuhlke.
A $4 million combined shortfall
equating to diminished revenue
of $2 million and $2 million for
expenditures, will also “signifi
cantly influence our spending de
cisions” for the upcoming budget,
the mayor said.
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Water privatization
call doesn’t faze Hicks:
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
Upon hearing reports that
Mayor Bob Young is calling for
privatization of the county’s water
department, the man who would
be directly affected by a change in
operations, says he’s not fazed by
such talk.
“I don’t have any comment, re
ally,” said Max Hicks, Augusta-
Richmond County Utilities direc
tor. In his position, Hicks is the
man accountable for continuous
water shortages experienced by
Richmond County residents last
summer and again, this year.
While the mayor thinks
outsourcing water department
duties to a private company inde
pendent of county administration
may help resolve problems associ
ated with water shortages — spe
cifically causing public outrage by
south Richmond County residents
ill affected by shortages, Hicks
said he’s confident he’s doing the
right thing to restore residents’
confidencein hisjob performance.
“All I can do is operate the sys
tem the best I can,” said Hicks,
who before coming to Augusta in
1991, worked for the Toccoa, Ga.
public works department. An en
gineer by trade, Hicks admits not
have an engineering degree, but
hastaken correspondence courses
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AUGUSTA FOCUS JUNE 24, 1999
related to his field and has worked
in the public utilities arena simigs
1969. i
Hicks said sufficient water is
available in south Richmond
County, but the problem lies in
finding effective methods of distrib- *
uting the water to those affected *
subdivisions primarily near To-*
bacco Road, Brown Road and Old -
Waynesboro Road. 5
Heexplained that therecentlack *
of rain coupled with increased wa
ter usage by homeowners attempt- -
ing to keep lawns and gardens in
tact, have caused the sudden de- _
crease in water availability. Hicks |,
said the construction of a five mjl
lion gallon water tank could spell |
the end of any more problems by
May 2000. 2
But Mayor Youngreportedly feels
the current department may be
incapable of running a water de
partment impacted by increased -
housingconstruction in additionte
the effects of being the second larg- |
est metropolitan area in the state
—thanks toconsolidation of county .
and city governments in 1996.
Concerning the mayor’s appar
ent loss of faith in his ability to do
the job, Hicks said, “ ... that’s a_
matter of opinion. The mayor and
the commissioners would have to
discuss it. I hope it doesn’t appear
like I'm being confrontational be--
cause I'm not. But I do have confi
dencein my abilities,” added Hicks. «
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