Newspaper Page Text
AUGUST 24, 2023
Merged with The Comer News and The Daniclsvillc Monitor, 2006 4 MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
Vol. 40 No. 29* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements $1.00
DANIELSVILLE
SPORTS
Farmers
market
to hold
celebration
The Danielsville Farm
ers Market will host a spe
cial market celebration to
cap off its first market sea
son on Saturday, Aug. 26.
“Thank you for an in
credible first season —
let’s celebrate,” the orga
nizers’ flyer reads. “Your
favorite market vendors
will be joined by local
businesses and community
groups, food and drink, and
music.”
The market will be held
at Memorial Park, 91 Al
bany Ave., with extended
hours from 8 a.m to 2 p.m.
The Chick-fil-A food track,
sponsored by Madison
County Ace Hardware, will
be serving from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m.
The market will show
case local Georgia-made
products and their makers.
The market includes bak
ers, farmers, meat produc
ers, florists, artists selling a
variety of wares and more.
Health and safety events
as well as community or
ganizations and businesses
will be on-site, including
the Danielsville Police De
partment who will be offer
ing car seat checks.
All vendor fees are
donated to the Madison
Oglethorpe Animal Shelter.
So far to date, the Daniels
ville Farmers Market has
donated roughly $3,998 to
the shelter.
For more information,
visit https://danielsville-
market.wixsite.com/farm-
ersmarket/finalcelebration
or the Danielsville Farmers
Market Facebook page.
Index
News — 1-2A
Opinions — 4A
Crime — 6A
Socials — 3A, 5A and 7A
Schools — 3A
Churches — 7A
Obituaries — 8-9A
Sports — 5A and 12A
Classifieds — 10A
Legals —11A
Friday Night Lights return in Madison County
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Photos by Seth Manus
Red Raiders line up for the play.
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The Rowdy Raiders student section brings the energy and leads the crowd to open up the season. See more coverage of the first home game on 12A.
EMPLOYMENT
Contact
Phone: 706-367-5233
Email: hannah@mainstreet
news.com
Web: MadisonJoumalTODAYcom
MAILING LABEL
LABOR UPDATE: Madison Co. not immune to
nationwide employment shortage, vacancies open
By Alison Smith
Since a spike in April 2020, la
bor shortages nationwide are im
pacting services at the drive-thru,
repairs to homes and delays in
manufacturing. Private industries
are not the only ones impacted
by record job openings. Madison
County government faces critical
vacancies in its ability to serve its
citizens.
The latest U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics Job Opening and Labor
Turnover Survey reports over 9.58
million unfilled positions across
the country. Even though that num
ber is the lowest since 2021, the
Bureau estimates that the country
has about 1.6 job opportunities for
every job seeker. Symptoms of that
disparity are revealing themselves
in county job openings too.
Madison County human resourc
es director Tracy Drake recently
reported 13 current or upcoming
job openings within the county
administration office, road depart
ment, EMS and recreation depart
ment. The county currently staffs
185 full-time positions.
The sheriff’s office declined to
disclose an exact number of vacan
cies for this article, but in a Face-
book post dated July 24, 2023,
Sheriff Michael Moore said, “I’m
7 jailers down inside the jail and 4
Deputy Sheriff’s short on patrol.”
That post also explained that the
sheriff’s office had discontinued
inmate labor at the county transfer
station due to a shortage of deputies
to oversee that work.
An opening for the animal con
trol officer has perhaps gained the
most attention from citizens recent
ly. However, the growing impact of
other positions is impacting county
business as well.
Board of Commission chairman
Todd Higdon said COVID has
changed the culture of the work
force and Georgia, in general, is
outgrowing its means of employ
ment.
“COVID brought a new level of
stay-at-home employees,” he said
as he described losing a potential
employee to a remote work position
recently.
Higdon says that the county is
receiving very few applications for
open positions and the unfilled jobs
are a constant stress to current em
ployees, who are often performing
duties of other positions.
“The best employees we’ve been
able to hire have retired from some
where else,” he said. He explained
that even those hires present issues,
because the public sector, small
business and the growing industry
along 1-85 are all competing for the
same labor pool.
Within administrative positions,
Higdon says pay is not the prima
ry issue with the county’s abili
ty to hire. The recent renewal of
TSPLOST funds makes work proj
ects for the road department, for
example, well funded. The county
also completed a pay study imple
mented at the beginning of the year
with the average employee earning
a $4,679 raise.
County 911 director Brenan
Baird said the pay raise in 2023 was
initially a morale boost for his de
partment, but other nearby counties
quickly increased their pay to com
pete with the new wages.
He says the wage inflation and
competition directly impact his
ability to hire qualified applicants.
Baird said that he has seen a $3 to
$10 per hour difference in some
neighboring counties. The 911 Cen
ter currently has two unfilled posi
tions.
Like Higdon, Captain Baird ex
plained that openings are not unique
to the county and competition with
the private sector is tough.
“Our biggest draw is a smaller
town atmosphere with support of
law enforcement,” he said.
Even so, the nationwide percep
tion of law enforcement and public
service has declined dramatically in
the last two or three years, he said.
“The biggest problem is that my
dispatchers are overworked,” Baird
explained. He says he worries about
them being overstressed in what he
said is one of the most important
jobs in the county. Since the 911
Center must be staffed 24 hours per
day, Baird adds that the vacancies
are resulting in extra cost to the
See Shortage, page 2A
o