Thursday, October 1, 2009

Furloughs are here!

It has just been confirmed that ALL county employees, including Police and Fire will be furloughed 10 hours in November. It will be during the week of Thanksgiving.

Stay tuned for more!

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

never would have happened under vernon

Anonymous said...

During the week of Thanksgiving... cool...I didn't want to get stuck answering those 87's over who drank the last beer anyway!

Does this include ICP, TAC and the NET teams?

Let's go for the trifacta... Dekalb doesn't need the STAR team on a holiday either.

Anonymous said...

Just the icing on the cake. Nothing done to Walker at Recorder's Court, still have every special little unit, and every little "favorite" person with a take home car, Keys has to have a "driver" (??!!) and now furloughs. Enough is enough - I'm out of here! The "Greener Pastures" are calling.

Anonymous said...

if im gonna be losing hours during that week im gonna use vacation for that rest of the week since the county feels that they don't need more officers out.Less officers on the street means more robberies and more drunks killing innocent people visiting families.

Anonymous said...

Haven't we learned anything from what happened when APD did the furloughs? It was so bad, you had officers going public talking about the stress as citizens were angry as well as them. If you think calls will be pending now, just wait and see when you have less officers on the beat. Will we still have a full staff for traffic as that's a big DUI weekend or will some of those officers assist on answering calls? Or how about we take note from APD and let GSP handle interstate policing, giving us more uniforms on the beats.

Of course, we will be told everything is alright as other agencies will assist us if needed

Anonymous said...

WOW! Arent we paying $250,000 per year for the Director of Public Safety and his staff? With Bolton gone we dont need the Director's position.

Anonymous said...

THATS BS...WE MAKE THE COUNTY SOOOOOOO MUCH MONEY WITH TICKET REVENUE... FIRST OF ALL WE HAVE NO RAISES AND NOW THIS....THEN NOBODY SHOULD HAVE A PROBLEM WITH A WARNING INSTEAD OF A LONG COPY..

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess Dekalb County residents had better get ready for higher insurance premiums and a lot more crime. They don't want higher taxes so they cut their Police and Fire protection. What they saved will go towards higher insurance costs and much longer police response times. Sure glad I don't live in Dekalb.

Anonymous said...

Does this include the Sheriff's Department?

Anonymous said...

If Im losing hours I want accountablility because I can bet on it some employee with the county will work 30 hours and not have their pay cut!!!!!!!!!!!! Im sure the owner of the blog can investigate that when it does happen.

Anonymous said...

YOU THINK IT'S BAD NOW...JUST WAIT UNTIL THE BOC TRY AND VOTE THEMSELVES A RAISE IN 6 MONTHS OR A YEAR FROM NOW.....WHERE DOES ALL THIS FURLOUGH MONEY GO? ARE WE JUST ROBBING PAUL TO PAY THE PIPER...?

Anonymous said...

Ok, that's it. Everytime someone sees Judge Walker, say "THANK YOU!!" to her. Thank you, Judge Walker, for failing to collect fines because you wanted to run for Superior Court Judge. Thank you for failing to collect enough money to run the police department for a whole year!! Thank you, Judge Walker!!

Anonymous said...

Well we saw this coming. The county will have to learn the hard way when an officer gets hurt or killed because we furloughed officers and did not have the ppeople to respond and help an officer. How many zeros would you like on that check? Thats what someone will be told by the county when these furloughs hurt or kill a police officer or firefighter.

Anonymous said...

Well how is it that our Director of finance Mr. Mike Bell could not know the revenue from Recorders Court had fallen off. Is it not his responsibility to monitor the cash in flow?
Oh buy the way the furloughs are for everyone in PS not just the beat car. Lets pull together for a change and support each other as brothers and sisters in law enforcement. United we Stand / Divided we Fall. Brother can you spare a dime ?

Anonymous said...

I am a surpervisor and am calling on all officers to do their part, and stop writing citations.
We bust our asses and write thousands of citations that earn a boatload of money for the county.
This money we never see, only to spend more time away from our families at court, just so we can be furloughed.
Mutiny is in questions boys! We did this many of years ago and guess what it worked, im a little pissed when we still have positions that could be eliminated, we dont need damn deputy chiefs. If you have a competent chief he can do wonders. The director is a wasted position if you wanted Miller in power then fire Obrien and choose between the two Ellis.
Personally I would keep Bill myself but I see the big picture and understand the dynamics of the county.

Anonymous said...

word is that there will be 4 furlough days next year and still no raises.............just like the police brochure says "its the place to be in law enforcement"....hahaha

attention future police candidates....DONT APPLY HERE

Anonymous said...

Some officers have already been assigned their "day of fishing". I wonder if this is a one time thing or something we'll see each month.

Merry Christmas. Hope your stocking fund was already funded. We should also be finding out how much the health insurance and pension contributions will be increasing.

There's no where to go but up.

Anonymous said...

This is not only A DeKalb County problem it’s a world problem. We should look at the bright side of things and be glad that we have jobs during theses troubled times. A lot of you have spouses that have been laid off and can’t find work. You have depended on extra jobs and over extended your self. It is time to put your financial house in order. This county is not the only one in trouble. More then half of you don’t come to this county do minimal work and leave. You do this county a disservice and then whine because you are gong to lose a days pay, when there are people not getting one dime every two weeks. If there is a county or city that can make your life so much easier go and apply for a job. And I hope you find happiness there. If you chose to stay, look at the bright side of things and be happy that you have a job and provide the citizens of this county with the service they deserve. Thank you signed a fellow officer and citizen of this county.

Heavy Jimmy Jamma said...

Don't forget, sick checks are gone too........I feel a cold coming on.

Anonymous said...

For a county that is teetering on the brink and having to furlough police officers, DeKalb sure is getting ambitious with plans to spend lots more money that they don't have. This is moving forward VERY quickly, a partnership with DeKalb County, City of Doraville, and a developer to aquire the old GM plant and redevelop it as a stadium. State Representative Jill Chambers, who represents the area, has confirmed this and has also confirmed that DeKalb is trying to deannex that property from Doraville. The real question is, WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO FIND THE MONEY? Looks like Public Safety is going to have to suck it up while DeKalb County directs money that they don't have at projects like this.

From the Dora-Blog

Town Hall Meeting on Doraville GM Property September 29, 2009
Filed under: General Announcements — Joseph Geierman @ 9:44 pm
City council member Bob Roche has sent out an urgent announcement about a town hall meeting this Thursday night concerning the fate of the GM property. His statement is short and sweet:

[There is a] Town Hall Mtg on GM Property, 10/1/2009, 6:30 pm at Fleming Arena

Please spread the word and bring as many people as possible. This may be the only chance the citizens of Doraville and surrounding areas will have to make their wishes and concerns for the GM site known.

Obviously, the reason this is so important is the report, confirmed by Jill Chambers, that Dekalb county is interested in using the GM property to build a football stadium for the Falcons. Oakcliff resident, Susan Crawford, asked me to post this message that elaborates on why a stadium would be so disastrous for our community and why it’s important to go to this meeting:

Please, please please show up on Thursday night and bring all your friends, neighbors, enemies, or whatever! Talk to your friends in Chamblee. Discuss it with people you know in Dunwoody or Brookhaven or unincorporated DeKalb. The LAST thing we need plopped into the GM property is a Falcon’s Stadium. I was talking with one of my coworkers today. She said the Baby Braves Stadium in Gwinnett County, where she lives, has turned that area into one big traffic nightmare – that traffic doesn’t move when there’s a game, that all the neighborhoods are jammed up with overflow traffic cutting through to the stadium, that the county is closing libraries to pay for the stadium (priorities, eh?) The traffic will be awful for us (how will we even manage to get out of our streets?) and will also plug up traffic going THROUGH this area down 85 or 285 East or 285 West to other states! My coworker also pointed out that the Baby Braves Stadium wreaking all sorts of havoc in Gwinnett County is nowhere near the size of what they are proposing here. Basically, if it comes in, Doraville might cease to exist, Chamblee will be a mess, Dunwoody, Brookhaven and the Northcrest areas will become nightmare traffic snarls. If you don’t like to get involved in politics, that is totally understandable, but this is more than politics. This is your home, your future, and the future of Doraville. PLEASE COME AND SPEAK UP!!!! It isn’t exactly my cup of tea to be on the eleven o’clock news either, but I20did it bad hair day and all because they aren’t playing around here. This is a very serious situation, and DeKalb County is very serious about this plan. Again, COME TO HONEYSUCKLE PARK ON THURSDAY NIGHT AT 6:30 TO LET DEKALB COUNTY KNOW YOU DO NOT WANT A STADIUM IN YOUR CITY!!! Shouldn’t Doraville have the right to decide its own future? Shouldn’t we have the right to follow our comprehensive land use plan? We are a small city, but with Dunwoody, Chamblee, Brookhaven and parts of unincorportated DeKalb, we are a formidable group.

Anonymous said...

MORE ON WHY YOUR HEALTH CARE AND PENSION PAYMENTS ARE GOING UP. Again from Dora-Blog


Dave Bearse Says: September 28th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Update:

I wrote Jill Chambers about the GM site, and she responded promptly with the following information. She said:

1 – Stadium discussions have included discussion of possible deannexation of the GM site from Doraville.

2 – Deannexation could be accomplished by:
a – Local legislation during session that requires Jill’s approval,
b – General legislation the entire legislature must approve.
c – City-county negotiations as mandated by GA Code 36-36-22.

The DDA also responded promptly to my inquiry with the following:
“Generally speaking, the Development Authority of DeKalb County meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:00 a.m. at our offices at 150 E. Ponce de Leon Ave, #400, Decatur. The annual exception is October, when DeKalb is responsible for hosting the Joint Development Authority of Metropolitan Atlanta. The meeting on Oct. 13 will be held at 2:00 p.m. at the Marriot Evergreen at Stone Mountain Park. The board will occasionally change its meeting date or place upon a majority vote of the board.

In every case, meetings are advertised in the Champion Newspaper, the official legal organ for DeKalb County.”

Anonymous said...

More on the county directing money AWAY from Public Safety from the Dora-Blog.


DeKalb Pondering a Purchase of GM Site September 20, 2009
Filed under: Bob Roche, City Planning, Dekalb County, GM — Joseph Geierman @ 4:23 pm
Big news about the GM plant site — councilman Bob Roche just confirmed for me a rumor that I heard earlier this weekend that Dekalb county is considering a purchase of the site in partnership with a developer.

The implications of the development deal are big. According to councilman Roche, the city will no longer have any zoning power over the former GM property, and will lose tax revenue from it (several hundred thousand a year). It will be effectively de-annexed from the city (although Doraville will still set closing times and other similar ordinances). The county has suggested that they can patrol the site using Dekalb PD, therefore not taxing our current police forces.

The developer is New Broadstreet, based out of Orlando. The company’s president, David Pace, helped develop Disney’s Celebration USA outside Disney World. The company’s website says it is committed to New Urbanist principles — which include walkable neighborhoods, and mixed-use developments that adhere to the work-live-play philosophy.

I’ll be honest – as things stand right now, I think the prospect of getting New Broadstreet involved in Doraville is a potentially very good thing for city, and could help us achieve some quality development that we have been missing for a long time. My main concern is that the county has not yet announced its intentions and as Bob Roche said: Once they own the property, they could put a smelting plant there if they wanted. For now, though, I am cautiously optimistic.

[EDIT 9/21/2009] Bob Roche just wrote me to say that DeKalb’s main plan for the space would be a Falcon’s stadium, with mixed use as a “Plan-B.” Obviously, a stadium would have major implications for all residents of Doraville in regards to traffic, property-value, and the quality of future developments in the city.

Anonymous said...

i am thankful i have a job...

Better DeKalb said...

Sorry to hear furloughs have hit DeKalb!!!

Anonymous said...

who cares all you little pansies...go work a part time for four hours and make that money up!!!!

Why No Media Coverage? said...

Why Media Coverage?

Has anyone seen or heard any mention of the furlough of Dekalb Police Officers?

Anonymous said...

they told us like months ago they would be taking 10 hours from us...rather have 10 than 40 taken..

Anonymous said...

Rather than Furloughs, they should make the inmates at the Jail fast for 24 hours. Just think of how much money that would save the county.

Anonymous said...

Make Judge Walker fast too.

This is very much her fault.

Anonymous said...

This sucks. The county and everything else being so mismanaged in the past is still haunting us. I'm amazed too. Many days I see lines wrapped around Recorders Court like I have never seen before. And since on my court dates I only see one, maybe two, of three court rooms half full can only lead to a logical conclusion that most of the cases pay out. It appears most who make it to trial lose too. All this revenue, yet no raises, taken away holidays, and now furloughs? Well, just going to have to keep this in mind everytime another ticket is expected to be written.

Glad to have a job. Want to be career minded. But I thought a career was supposed to make one more prosperous over time. Instead, each year, the opposite is true. The longer I stay, the poorer I get.

I know. Don't like it, leave. Bravo, DeKalb. You got another one between a rock and a hard place.

This sucks!!!

Anonymous said...

Quit hating on the specialized units. Most of the people on those teams have proven their work ethic over and over. show some initiative and be a little more pro active and you might get picked to be on one of those teams.

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify things, its 8 hours they are taking, not 10. Your check will show 72 hours on your check Dec. 5th. Also, its all county employees, not just public safety. Atleast we aren't the City of Atlanta, YET!!!!!

Anonymous said...

If the county would allow people to retire with 25 years and no penalties, they could save a ton of money. If they see how much was saved with this one day of furlough, wait till next year!!!!

Anonymous said...

I heard Gwinnett PD has no furloughs..They came up with a 20 year and out full retirement plan..Let the old timers retire, to make room for new, young, officers that can be hired and payed half if not three times less...HMMMMMMM...Oh please that would make too much sense....Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Most of the suburban counties have no furloughs, especially when it comes to public safety personnel (when was the last time you heard Douglas, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Henry and others in the metro areas talking about furloughs). Hell, even cities like Hapeville and Alpharetta even know better. What do these areas do, they cut the fat in other areas, don't get me wrong, cut the fat in public safety as well. We don't need a department with heavy desk sitters when uniform in thin.

As far as tickets go, we all know that money goes back to the general fund for the politicians to play with. Look at all these events the politicans do for the citizens in their feable attempt of showing how much they care. How about someone ask them where the money came from? Many in APD and FCPD have simply said they refuse to write tickets or just do one or two rather than attempting to do five or six per day like the good old days. They know the department doesnt benefit unless your in upper management where the politicans direct most of the raises anyway. They make you do their dirtywork while you get furloughed. Gotta lvoe it!