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Fozmez Environmental
Coordinator Field Says
He Was Intimidated
Most details of next year's Athens-Clarke
County budget have been agreed upon, but
cutting back on firemen is a bridge too far for
some. Citizens (and two firemen} objected last
week to a budget proposal that would elimi
nate three firefighters; several commissioners
said they may try to find the budget savings
somewhere else. Cutting one ladder com
pany (ACC has three) would save the county
$134,000 in a tight budget year.
Jeremy Williams, president of Professional
Firefighters of Athens-Clarke County, warned
that ladder companies are already under
staffed, and are used not just for high-rise
building fires. (All three ladder trucks were
used for the Georgia Theatre fire, another
fireman noted.) Such appeals concerned
commissioner Kathy Hoard: Tve never had
firefighters come and
ask for help' in 18 years
of serving on the com
mission, she said. The
proposed cuts were sug
gested by ACC Fire Chief
Iby George; stilt several
commissioners wanted to take another look.
Eventually, said Commissioner Ed Robinson,
'we will probably have to start raising taxes.'
Costs like fuel and medical benefits will go up,
added Commissioner Kelly Girtz, 'no matter
how well we manage the budget.'
The budget also doesn't include formulating
a master plan for downtown, observed Melissa
Link. 'Athens is in the crosshairs' for develop
ment she told commissioners, because it has
weathered the downturn better than other
places. A master plan could 'put all our ideas
together and make sure that this town grows
in a way that benefits the entire community,
not just lining the pockets of big developers
and big insurance and big banks.'
"I seldom told them about
conversations. That got me
into trouble many times...”
"I do believe we are going to have a
downtown master plan,' Commissioner Kelly
Girtz later responded, but it doesn't need
to be funded as part of the general budget.
Commissioners must approve a final budget
. June 5; they appear on track to continue
night bus service and to hire ar environmental
coordinator (a job Mayor Nancy Denson had
proposed eliminating) in January.
The role of the environmental coordinator
as a kind of watchdog within the govern
ment has not meshed well with the top-down
management structure of ACCs government
The job was created at the suggestion of local
environmental groups, and the elected com
missioners have wanted the coordinator to
attend public meetings, respond to citizen
and commission concerns and roam freely
within county departments. But such a vision
was never welcomed by the manager's office,
says local activist Dick Field, who was the
first to hold the job, beginning in 2064. Field
told Flagpole last week that his six years on
the job included'intimidation' by Reddish
and Deputy Manager Bob Snipes, who 'never
wanted the position [to
exist]-—and for good
reason. It could iden
tify failures or missed
opportunities.'
Despite 'several
directives from manage
ment,' Field said by email, county depart
ments didn't contact him about environmental
matters and "I had to work myself into every
thing that was going on.' He was expected to
inform his superiors about conversations with
the public or 'especially' with commissioners
or the mayor. "I usually copied them on my
email responses to commissioners,' he wrote,
'but I seldom told them about conversations.
That got me into trouble many times... Such
intimidation probably dampened my enthusi
asm and would have ruined a less confident
individuaL' Other county employees are also
required to notify their department heads
about any conversations they may have with
elected commissioners.Mayor Heidi Davison
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'had created the position and steadfastly pro
tected it and me,' he said. 'Heidi's protection
lasted for one year after I left, but manage
ment contrived to keep the position vacant for
most of that time... I lost track of the number
of actions I initiated, many with Mayor and
Commission support, that died on [Snipes']
desk. The wetland mitigation bank was one.
The latest incumbent in the position was
essentially chained to his desk and told not
to make any phone calk!' Field wrote. "They
didn't even give him a vehicle.'
Since Field retired from the job in 2009,
two different people have briefly held the job;
it is presently unfilled. ACC commissioners dis
cussed the role of the environmental coordina
tor last November, with Commissioner Mike
Hamby saying he wanted the coordinator to
be 'more proactive' in vetting environmental
aspects of upcoming commission decisions.
"I just would like for him to be more visible,'
Commissioner Kathy Hoard said of Eric Blair,
who then held the job, and Commissioner
Alice Kinman said she had 'not yet seen this
person.' Reddish denied at the rime 'that we
are hiding him somewhere."
Field believes the position should be "rede
fined as the ACC Sustainability Officer, and
placed in the manager's office. It should be
given full authority to influence actions in all
departments, and communicate directly with
the mayor, commissioners, other agencies and
the public."
Asked about Field's suggestion last week,
Reddish dismissed it. 'Dick has his views," he
said, but declined to go into specifics.
John Hule
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MAY 23,2012 FLAGPOLE.COM 5