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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JANUARY 8. 2009 — PAGE 5A
Dove .cont’dfrom 1A
ing the financial crunch.
“We’ve got a lot of things
we’ve got to provide," said
Dove. “By law, the county
has to provide certain ser
vices. And back then (when
the economy was better), the
state was helping us with
money coming in. I think
we’re fixing to see a change.
What they’re doing is slid
ing it back down to a local
level. And that goes back to
the image that all politics is
local. We’re going to learn
to accept that and deal with
it.”
For instance, Dove noted
that the senior center was
recently informed that the
state will continue to cover
costs for those in the Meals
on Wheels program, but they
will not allow people on the
waiting list to come into it.
“What we’re going to have
to do is look at the ser
vices we have to have and
look at some of the services
we might not have to have
and cut back on those,” said
Dove. “I don’t think you can
cut back on the senior citi
zens’ food. Health is going
to be one of those areas
that will be increased right
now. You’ve got people los
ing their jobs. They’re losing
their health care. They have
nowhere else to go. And as
a society it’s going to be
something that we need to
take care of people health-
wise, because that affects
us all.”
Dove said that since the
state will now expect local
governments to handle their
own engineering work, the
county, the cities and the
industrial authority should
consider joining together to
fund an engineering posi
tion.
“I’ve already talked to the
IDA and we’ll probably talk
with the cities,” said Dove.
“If you go back and look
at the city budgets, they’ve
really spent a lot on engineers
too. It’s getting to where you
can hire a staff for what
we’re paying to engineering
firms. A lot of instances we
need to react quickly, when
bridges go out, and we have
to start looking at environ
mental concerns when that
happens.”
If a local government engi
neer is in place in the county,
that person could help the
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county move forward quick
ly if federal money does
trickle to the county during
the next administration. The
new president is proposing a
stimulus package that would
include considerable money
for infrastructure. Dove said
he favors a stimulus package
that aids local governments
over bailouts for big busi
ness.
“I’d rather see money, if
you’re going to stimulate
stuff, go into infrastructure,
into something that’s going
to be there, rather than a lot
of this propping up differ
ent industries,” said Dove.
“If you bring it in locally,
you’re going to have an
impact, rather than sending
it all to New York and the
Stock Market. Those things
wouldn’t have the impact
of sending it directly to this
county.”
BUDGET CUTS
Dove said that budget cuts
are a fact of life these days
and that he has ideas about
what cuts can be made in
Madison County, but he
declined to get into specif
ics yet.
“Before I say anything, I’d
like to look at all the numbers
and have all the information
available to me,” said Dove.
“We’re going to have to start
tracking budgets monthly. I
want to really get into those
areas, each department, start
looking at them closely, so
that when we start getting
into these budget hearings
next year, we can give the
board of commissioners a
little idea of what’s going
on. I think the administra
tion needs to get proactive in
the budget process.”
Dove sat in on the numer
ous BOC budget meetings
this past year as commis
sioners tried to whittle away
expenses for 2009.
“They were really just
winging it a little bit, at least
it seemed to me,” said Dove.
“They all had good ideas at
different times on the way
to do it. My explanation is
we’ve got to look at the bud
get as a whole before we go
line by line."
In light of recent govern
ment theft cases. Dove also
said he will work hard to
make sure there are proper
safeguards in place in each
department in handling
cash.
“We’ll make sure there
are two signatures on every
thing, make sure everything
is double-checked and go
into each department and
see how they handle money,
make sure there are safe
guards and everything is in
line," said Dove.
WORKING WITH
THE INDUSTRIAL
AUTHORITY
Another one of the chair
man’s duties is to serve on
the county industrial devel
opment authority. Dove said
he favors establishing water
infrastructure along main
roads in the county.
“Do I want to put the county
at risk debt wise? No,” said
Dove. “But some aspects of
the infrastructure have to be
addressed. With the popula
tion increase, we’re going to
have to look at going ahead
and putting water lines down
our main roads.”
Dove doesn’t foresee any
major changes with the
BOC’s relationship with the
IDA.
“My feeling is as long as
they (the IDA) can continue
to operate like they’ve been,
and not taxing any more
than they’ve been, and still
be able to pay the debt, then
I’m all for that,” said Dove.
The new chairman said he
feels Madison and surround
ing counties should work
together on a reservoir.
“I do see us eventually
linking up to get water," said
Dove. “I would like us to
start looking at a reservoir
in the future. In the immedi
ate future I like the idea of
Seagraves Lake, using that
as a water source, and using
some of our watersheds as
possible sources. My thing
is being prepared. And we
have to look at all aspects of
water. We can’t do without
water.”
CONTACT WITH
LEGISLATORS
Of course, the upcoming
state legislative session will
have the attention of coun
ty and municipal officials
across the state. Dove said
he has been in contact with
local legislators and recog
nizes that they will have a
lot on their hands this year,
as the state tries to deal with
a budget shortfall, projected
by some in the $2 billion
range. The new chairman
said this isn’t the time for
each county to push hard
for pork on their plate. But
he said he hopes legislators
will help Madison County
in pushing for non-partisan
elections in the county.
TAX PROBLEMS
Madison County has had
a perennially late digest
and assessment practices
deemed inadequate by the
Department of Revenue.
Dove said these issues
reach back many years and
that many people are to
blame.
"I think it’s been going on
for about eight years," said
Dove. “So I think there’s
enough blame to go around
to everybody and I don’t
leave anybody out of that. I
don’t think it’s one particu
lar person or one particular
area’s fault. It’s a combina
tion of things. And it just got
out of kilter back then and
it’s never got back."
Dove noted that there has
been talk of a total revalua
tion of property in Madison
County.
"If you took a snapshot
right now, we might actu
ally get a better idea of what
it’s actually worth,” said
Dove. “Is it down because
the economy’s down, or is
it just coming back to where
it’s supposed to be? I’m not
an expert on that, but if you
think about it, the budget in
1998 was $6 million and it’s
at $15 million 10 years later.
The values would go up and
you could leave the mills
the same, but it was still
a tax increase. I’ve always
thought that property was
getting overvalued.”
ROAD ISSUES
One primary duty of the
county commission chair
man is overseeing county
roads. The new chairman
will face a real challenge
on road projects, since there
won’t be much money for
paving. State funds for roads
are expected to decline dra
matically. Likewise, there
will be less money for roads
locally in the next few years,
since the BOC allocated
$3.95 million in sales tax
funds for roads over the next
six years, compared to over
$8.4 million for roads over
the past five years.
"The situation now is
the state doesn’t have any
money, so that’s going to
change how we prioritize
roads and how much we can
get out of them,” said Dove.
The new chairman noted
that the county must also
focus on maintaining roads
that have already been
paved.
"An asphalt road or a paved
road has to be maintained
just as much as a dirt road.
If you don’t fill the cracks
and keep the sides, they’ll
disintegrate," said Dove.
NOT CARRYING
RESENTMENTS
Dove defeated Nash in the
Republican primary back in
July. And he’s spent the past
five months studying for his
new role.
"The best thing was going
to the meetings and sitting
back and observing what
was going on,” said Dove,
who says he is looking into
the possibility of putting
video of county commis
sioners’ meetings online.
The new chairman said
he will work hard to keep
personal feelings out of his
decision making.
“We as a county govern
ment, and I hope the citi
zens will take this too, but
we need to start looking at
what’s best for the county
as a whole and not our per
sonal wants, personal agen
das or personal resentments
of somebody,” said Dove.
“Now, my family has been
involved in politics and it
would be very easy for me
to look back and hold some
personal resentments against
some people for that reason.
But I’m not going to do
that. That’s not in my faith.
That’s not in my family, in
my raising. And I have to
come in here and start anew
and try to carry this county
in a new direction and build
a relationship with the gov
ernment and citizens again,
which I think has been very
tainted."
EXCITED ABOUT
THE CHALLENGE
Dove said he is excited
about the challenge of lead
ing Madison County. The
new chairman worked for
many years with his father
and their business, Dove’s
Grading and Landscaping
Inc. And he looks forward to
his life taking a new direc
tion.
“We came into it at a good
time,” said Dove of the fam
ily business. “But as every
thing else, my dad got older.
That was part of what I
enjoyed the most was work
ing with him. I found that I
was just needing something
else. God had been good to
me, but I just thought there
was something else that I
needed to be doing. And this
is where it ended up."
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