Newspaper Page Text
4TH JUDGE NOT LIKELY IN '09
Rep. Benton Says Funding Won't Be Available — Page 5A
EAGLES SOAR
EJCHS men's team turns in pair of victo
ries last week — Page 1B
Vol. 133
No. 49
22 Pages
2 Sections
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
State Of The
City: In A
Recession
By Mark Beardsley
The state of the city of
Commerce is a recession.
Mayor Charles L.
“Buzzie" Hardy Jr. traced
the decline of the econ
omy as indicated in city
revenue during a “state
of the city" presenta
tion last Wednesday to
the Commerce Business
Association.
His talk has become an
annual event for CABA
Hardy said 2008 was a
“unique year."
Pointing to January of
that year, Hardy noted
that Commerce was $1
million in the black, its
sales tax revenues were
up over the previous year
and “everything (revenue-
wise) was going up."
By July 1, while the term
“recession" was being ban
died about on the streets,
it wasn’t showing up in city
coffers. Hardy pointed
out that at the beginning
of the current fiscal year,
the city was $1.8 million
in the black, thanks to a
hefty ($687,000) increase
in sales tax revenue, a
Please Turn to Page 5A
cmm
THURSDAY, JAN. 22
Sunny: Low, 33; high, 53;
0% chance rain
FRIDAY, JAN. 23
Mostly cloudy: Low, 45; high,
60; 10% chance rain
SATURDAY, JAN. 24
Few showers, 32; high, 60;
30% chance rain
SUNDAY, JAN. 25
Sunny: Low, 35; high, 53;
0% chance rain
Percipitation this month
3.52 inches
Percipitation This Year
3.52 Inches
INDEX
Births 9A
Church News 3B
Classified Ads 4-6B
Calendar 3A
Crime News 6A
News Roundup 2A
Obituaries 7-8A
Opinions 4A
School News ,.8A & 9B
Sports 1-2B
Social News 9A
The Rev. Annie Dukes read the “Barack Scripture,” taken from the book
of Judges during Sunday’s ecumenical service at St. Paul’s Baptist Church,
Jefferson. The Rev. Ivey White is also pictured. Photos by Jana Mitcham
King Birthday Event Part
Praise, Part Celebration
James D. Pittman Sr. (L), Commerce, received
the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award at Sunday’s
MLK celebration. Pittman’s has operated his busi
ness, Pittman’s Transmissions, for 38 years. He is
pictured with MLK board president the Rev. R.E.
Cooper.
BJC: Layoffs
'Necessary'
For Survival
45 Laid Off As Medical Center
Tries To Trim Costs By $2 Million
By Jana A. Mitcham
Clapping hands, swaying
bodies, tapping feet and
voices raised in song.
Jackson County’s 25th
annual Martin Luther King
Jr. celebration started with
song and praise Sunday
afternoon, and ended that
way in the evening.
St. Paul’s Baptist Church,
Jefferson, was filled with a
standing-room-only crowd
soon after the Poplar
Springs Baptist Church
Senior Choir began a mini
gospel music concert, and
the Rev. R.E. Cooper, pre
siding officer, welcomed
guests with words of exul
tation.
“Neighbor, we are here
to celebrate!" he cried out.
“Amen! Amen!"
As always, honoring the
late Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., Sunday’s program was
also held in honor of pres
ident-elect Barack Obama,
with the Rev. Cooper call
ing for all on hand to “pray
for him, work with him."
An addition to the annual
program was a reading of
the “Barack Scripture," a
passage taken from the
book of Judges and read by
the Rev. Annie Dukes.
Commenting on the
change ahead for the
nation, Jackson County
state court solicitor Don
Moore read an excerpt
from Dr. King’s “Letters
from a Birmingham Jail."
“What kind of extremists
will we be?... for hate ... for
love ... for injustice or jus
tice?" Moore read. “Perhaps
the nation and the world
are in need of extremism,"
he added.
Anita Brown-Jackson
gave a tribute to Obama,
as well, noting that he is
“climbing the ladder," and
that his taking the oath
as 44th president of the
United States will affect
“all colors, all cultures."
‘Change’ The Word
Of The Day
Willie E. Burns, mayor of
Washington and keynote
speaker for the event, also
commented on Obama and
the “big word" of the day as
“change."
“I hope my African-
American sisters and
brothers understand what
change means," Burns cau
tioned . “Since Barack got
elected, has change really
happened? He’s just one
man."
Burns also noted that
Obama’s background — he
hails from an African father
and a white mother of the
Midwest — is different from
that of his own family in
Washington, GA, where his
grandfather was called “boy"
by “the other community,"
and where his grandmother
had “blue eyes and long
straight black hair."
Burns said he isn’t quite
clear what his own DNA
would reveal — traces
of some African coun
try mixed with Native
Cont. on Page 12A
By Mark Beardsley
Officials at BJC Medical
Center are couching
the Jan. 15 layoffs of 45
employees as difficult but
necessary adjustments
to assure the survival of
the hospital and nursing
home in a weak
economy.
“There is no
easy way to
explain or to try
to paint a pretty
picture about
what happened
last week," con
ceded Charles
Blair, who chairs
the facility’s gov
erning authority.
The layoffs, 75-80 per
cent of which were termed
“managerial" and 20-25
percent “clinical," are
expected — in conjunction
with scheduling changes
and elimination of over
time — to save about $2
million a year, according to
Ray Leadbetter, the facil
ity’s interim chief finan
cial officer, who predicted
that the facility could be
“very close to running in
the black" by the end of
February.
“Guys, it’s like this all
over society," added mem
ber Jimmy Hooper con
cerning the layoffs. “I’ve
seen grown men crying,
throwing up their hands
and slamming doors. It’s
dire out there."
“The initiative is to reduce
our operating expen
ditures by an amount
equal to 20 percent of
our expenditures for the
first six months of the
year," explained CEO Jim
Yarborough. He called the
experience “the most dif
ficult time in my 30 years"
and said the decisions
“were the most difficult
I’ve ever had to make."
It was more difficult
for employees, most of
whom had no warning
until they were summoned
to meetings attended
by Leadbetter, Marilyn
Anglin, director of human
resources; and their depart
ment manager. Leadbetter
explained the reason for
the layoffs, employees
were handed a severance
notice and a last paycheck,
informed of the potential
for filing for unemploy
ment compensation, told
to turn their badges in and
escorted out of the facility.
No severance packages
were offered.
The layoffs were
across the board
in the hospital
and nursing facil
ity, but most heav
ily in managerial
roles, as opposed
to patient care,
Yarborough said.
Senior manage
ment met with
all department
managers to
determine how to achieve
the 20 percent cost reduc
tion “with minimal or no
impact on the quality of
service," Yarborough said.
“Our volumes, patient
visits, admissions, radiol
ogy procedures, lab proce
dures, etc., are down," the
CEO continued. “When
you look at the downturn
in the overall work load, we
should be able to do that
work with less people.
“We focused on the
expenses of each depart
ment, and of course a
big part of the expense is
always staff, so staff is a
big part of the reduction. I
can’t overemphasize how
difficult the decisions have
been."
Management had been
on four-day weeks (with
commiserate reduction in
pay) since August, said
Henry Slocum, among
those laid off in spite of 48
years of service with the
hospital.
Other measures aimed at
reducing costs or increas
ing income were also insti
tuted or being considered.
The facility implemented
a “point of service" col
lection system designed
to trim bad debt in the
emergency room that
Leadbetter estimates will
improve cash flow by
$300,000 annually. It termi
nated some contracts and
entered others, has begun
serious discussions with a
firm to get a “temporary
Cont. on Page 3A
Correction: NES Remains Open
A story in the Dec. 31 edition of The Commerce News
incorrectly listed Norcross Electrical Supply, Maysville
Road, among a number of businesses that closed dur
ing 2008.
NES remains open.
“We have not even discussed closing at all," noted
owner Jan Mathis.
The electrical supply company, headquartered in
Suwanee, has been in business for 20 years. Its
Commerce location opened about three years ago.
Commerce Drops Idea Of
'Motor Carrier Compliance' Unit
By Mark Beardsley
The city of Commerce has
decided not to form a spe
cial police unit to enforce
safety standards on large
trucks.
Mayor Charles L.
“Buzzie" Hardy Jr. made
the announcement last
Wednesday to members
of the Commerce Area
Business Association.
Forming a “motor carrier
compliance" unit was pro
posed by the police depart
ment as a means of slowing
Please Turn to Page 3A