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PAGE 2B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. AUGUST 25. 2022
Fire, sheriff struggle to retain staff, citing low pay
“We’re having to compete with Dairy Queen,” said sheriff
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
According to top sheriff
and fire officials, they are
struggling to retain employ
ees due to low pay, which
leaves them unable to com
pete with surrounding agen
cies.
Both the Pickens County
Fire & EMS and Pickens
County Sheriff’s Office are
understaffed.
Pickens Fire Chief Tim
Prather gave a presentation
about the staffing challenges
they face at their work ses
sion Wednesday, Aug. 17. In
addition to staffing shortages,
low pay, long hours and over
time, he touched on em
ployee fatigue, loss of staff to
surrounding agencies with
better pay, and the extra
strain an unstable economy
puts on public safety.
Sheriff Donnie Craig was
also in attendance and said
their office faces the same is
sues, but both agreed the
problem is not isolated to
Pickens County.
“We’re having to compete
with Dairy Queen when it
comes to salaries,” Craig
said.
The fire department cur
rently has 11 full-time field
operations positions vacant.
Since Prather took the office
just a few months ago they
have had four employees
leave, and a total of six leave
year-to-date. Two weeks ago
they lost an employee who
went on to make $6 more an
hour for the same job.
“Every one of them went
for more money, bigger
salaries,” he said. “.. .I’ve got
some guys they say, ‘chief,
this is a really good place to
work, but it doesn’t pay the
bills.’”
Prather commented on the
negative impacts of long
hours and staff shortages.
“It’s a bad feeling to put
someone on even something
as small as a car fire with one
man on a fire truck,” he said.
“It’s dangerous.”
He mentioned one em
ployee who recently worked
eight shifts straight.
“That’s tough,” he said.
“It’s tough on their families,
but that’s some of the com
mitment of the people we
have working here.”
Occasionally, they have
firetrucks they are unable to
staff.
“That’s just being honest,
we can’t get anyone to
work,” he said. “We’ve
reached out for overtime
we’re reached out for part
timers. We’re doing pretty
good with what we’ve got.”
Prather surveyed 13 north
Georgia agencies that are
similar in size. He found that
the six departments of those
13 that have EMS transport
services/operated ambu
lances like Pickens County,
Pickens ranks lowest with a
base salary of $13.56 hourly
for a firefighter/EMT; and
$15.19 hourly for a fire
fighter/paramedic. (Pickens
County combined fire and
EMS in 2014). Dawson
County topped the list of six
at $16.75 firefighter/EMT
and $18.79 firefighter/para
medic.
“Right now it’s hard to get
anyone’s attention at $13.50
an hour,” he said.
Of the 13 total depart
ments surveyed, which is a
mix of departments that run
ambulances and those that
don’t, Pickens was third from
the bottom, above Ellijay and
Bartow.
“We used to have a fire
department,” he said. “Guys
fought fires and ran accidents
and did first responder, then
they combined them and got
the ambulance service in
here,” he said. “You went
from one job and now
they’ve got to do two and
maintain two certifications...
on the fire side I think it hurts
it because we’ve got to keep
those ambulances staffed.”
Prather found that among
those agencies surveyed,
Pickens is on average 13-15
percent lower for firefight-
ers/EMTs salaries, and 15
percent lower for firefight
ers/paramedics, not including
incentives.
He requested commis
sioners review the salary in
formation he researched, and
consider adjusting salaries.
Sheriff Craig said his of
fice has 12 vacancies.
“And those numbers are
not uncommon,” said Craig.
Non-certified employees
start at $36,000 annually with
certified starting at $42,000,
which puts Pickens at the
bottom of the list when com
pared to Gilmer, Gordon and
Dawson counties. Gilmer
pays $40,000/$46,000 (non-
Angels on Horseback Fall Session
Begins September 6
Lexi the therapy horse at work in the Angels on Horseback riding facilities in Pickens
County.
The “magic of the horse” happens every day at Angels
on Horseback.
Therapeutic Riding and
Equine-Facilitated Activities
are offered right here in Pick
ens County at one of just a
few therapeutic riding facili
ties in north Georgia.
Angels on Horseback, a
501c3 organization, provides
equine assisted activities to
individuals with mental,
physical, or emotional dis
abilities. Therapeutic riding
is the most popular form of
equine assisted activities. It
is mounted horseback riding
for the purpose of promoting
strength, increasing flexibil
ity, developing balance, im
proving coordination, and
much more.
Equine Facilitated Learn
ing is an educational ap
proach to equine assisted
activities that facilitates per
sonal growth and develop
ment of life skills through
equine interactions.
Down syndrome, cerebral
palsy, autism, and multiple
sclerosis are just a few of the
many conditions that benefit
from therapeutic riding. Visit
the website to learn more at
angelsonhorseback.org or
email at angelsonhorse-
backl7@gmail.com.
Registration for Fall ses
sion is now open. It will run
from September 6 - Novem
ber 14. Students of all ages
are welcome. Visit the web
site (angelsonhorseback.org)
or call 706.669.7272 for
more information.
The community is encour
aged to be a part of Angels
on Horseback by volunteer
ing. Check the website for
the latest volunteer training
date, and of course, dona
tions are always welcome
and needed.
TRADITION
TREE SERVICE
Jasper, GA
Generations of Tree Care
• Free Estimates
• Fully Insured
• Tree Removal
• Tree Pruning
•Brush Chipping
with our new chipper
traditiontreeservice80@gmail.com D
Georgia Arborist Association Member
Josh Bail
C: 678-848-1751
H: 706-253-0122
Departments
Providing
EMS
Transport
Services
Department FF
FF/EMT-B
FF/EMT-A
Annual
FF/Para
Annual
Dawson County*
$15.91
$16.75
$48,910.00
$18.71
$54,633.20
Lumpkin County*
$15.00
$16.00
$44,096.00
$19.00
$52,364.00
Fannin County 15.00
$15.40
$16.00
$46,720.00
$17.30
$50,516.00
Cherokee County*
$15.95
$46,581.00
$17.59
$51,356.00
Gilmer County*
13.80
$41,717.40
$17.75
$53,658.25
Pickens County
$13.56
$39,595.20
$15.19
$44,354.80
Chart/Pickens Fire & EMS presentation
A chart presented by Pickens Fire Chief Tim Prather shows where Pickens County
ranks against other north Georgia agencies who operate ambulances like Pickens. Aster
isks show counties that have incentives in addition to base pay.
certified/certified); Gordon,
$42,000/$48,000; Dawson
$42,000/$48,000. Counties to
the south pay even more.
“How do you compete
with those guys?” Craig said.
“...I’m not losing guys to
north Georgia counties, I’m
losing folks that are going
south. I’ve said this for years,
but I believe the citizens in
this county deserve the same
attention and quality of per
sonnel whether it be fire, law
enforcement or anywhere
else that any other county
has.”
Pickens Commission
Chair Kris Stancil said dis
cussions have come up in re
cent talks/retreats about using
American Rescue Plan Act
funds in public safety budg
ets, which many counties are
choosing to do. He would
like to find a way to retain
employees with a more com
petitive pay scale.
“From my perspective we
definitely need to try to sit
down and look at how close
we can get to compete,” he
said, adding that they have
been in touch with the Asso
ciation of County Commis
sioners of Georgia regarding
alternatives to retirement as
well.
Fourth Annual
September 10th
At Lee Newton Park
Jasper, Georgia
2022
Veterans Memorial Park
Rollout: 12:00 (Noon)
04 2L
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FREEDOM WHEELS
□ f Pickens County
Ride leaves from Pickens Veteran Memorial Park
and heads up to Blairsville Memorial Park.
Ride back to Pickens Memorial to
pick up your Freedom Wheels T-shirt.
Cost is $35.00 per Jeep and
includes one free tee shirt and
decal.
Ride is subject to changes do
any adaptations needed for the
public’s health safety. This will be
a patriotic highway ride (not a dirt
trail ride)
$
t
¥ AMERICA ¥
This ride is open to: SJ, TJ, LJ CJ,
YL, JK, JL, JT, DJ or any other
Dang Jeep that resembles a Wrangler
1776 'cT-s
Trophy awarded
to top 3 Jeeps with
best Patriotic theme
(We want to keep the spirit of the willys jeep service)
No other makes of Jeep allowed (Liberty, Cherokee, etc.)
Registration can be done on site
the day of the event. Registration starts at 11:00 AM
This Ride is a Sons Of The American Legion event.
2022 JeepFest Agenda
Thursday, September 1
Check In & Registration 5 PM - 7 PM @ Revolution Church Jasper
Night Trail Ride Line Up 7:30 @ Revolution Church Jasper
Friday, September 2
Check In & Registration
The Venue at Sharp Mountain
Grandview
J-19 Adventure Park
Cruise-In/ Show & Shine
Saturday, September 3
Check In & Registration
Vendor/ Sponsor Fair
Obstacle Courses
General Raffles
J-19 Adventure ParkJ
The Venue at Sharp Mountain
Grandview
Sandy Bottoms
Bounty Hill Challenge
Car Crawl
Sunday, September 4
Prayer Breakfast & Service
Check In & Registration
Grandview
Sandy Bottoms
Vendor/ Sponsor Fair
Obstacle Courses
Mud Pit
Mud Pit Challenge
SHERIFFSJEEPFEST.COM
@crawlforthekids
@ pi eke nss he riffsj ee pf est
9 AM -4PM® Home Base
10 AM -4 PM
10AM-4 PM
10 AM - 4 PM
Line Up in Downtown Jasper begins @ 5 PM
Judging begins ® 6 PM
Live Music 7 PM - 10 PM
8 AM -5PM® Home Base
9AM -6PM® Home Base
9 AM - 5 PM ® Home Base
9 AM -6PM® Home Base
9 AM - 5 PM
9 AM - 5 PM
9 AM - 5 PM
9AM-5 PM
5 PM - 6 PM ® Home Base
6 PM Auction ® Home Base
8:30 AM - 9:45 AM @ Home Base
1 0 AM - 1 PM ® Home Base
1 O AM - 3 PM (Gates close @ 3 PM)
1 O AM - 3 PM (Gates close ® 3 PM)
10 AM -3 PM
10 AM -3 PM
10 AM -1 PM
1 PM -3 PM