Not only did the commissioners give their staff pay raises up to 34% per year, they are now rehiring members of their staff who took advantage of early retirement.
Margaret Britton, who is mentioned in the video, was and is again, Commissioner Larry Johnson's secretary.
Commissioner Lee May is quoted as saying "It's basically an option from a bunch of bad choices, but we had to make the best choice that we could at this moment,"
Listen up Mr. May, you and the rest of the commissioners were elected to make the best choice from a bunch of good choices. You continue to show your idiocy.
Oh, did we mention we're being furloughed?
Monday, September 20, 2010
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41 comments:
It's always tough to make stupid decisions isn't it dumbass BOC. Lets get $30 million from the dumbass pension fund to impliment the early retirement package and then hire them back so they can dip into both....You gotta be friggin kidding me...way to go pension board. The pension board and the BOC...braintrusts for our future. Who is watching the foxes that are watching the hen house? No wonder retirees can't get a cost of living increase.Stupid,stupid, stupid.Time to get upset guy's.
This place is f&cking amazing. I'm sick of not being taken care of and watching the undeserving get everything they want. How do I get in with the kool aide gang?
It would be interesting to see the racial division of who got those jobs back. Can anyone tell us?
I'm gonna catch it in the coat... And smack it with the hammer!!
No wonder we are going to 12 hour shifts to help the budget.
They using drug money to buy police cars. We still have assign cars to ICP. While we have to stand by the gate and wait on a car to come in.
I bet they are people who work for the BOC. These are secretaries that no one can replace. Good Grief, give me a break.
This is sickening. You mean to tell me that a currently out-of-work, well educated person (regardless of sex or race - and Anon # 3, you are spot-on) couldn't "hold down" the responsibilities of answering the phone for these Commissioners and adjusting their calendars - at $90,000+ a year??? Are there are other magical abilities that this glorified secretary must have in order that DeKalb County continues to "function"?
To Ellis and the Board of Commissioners: C'MON NOW. Do you HONESTLY think the public buys this bullsh*t? And do you honestly think that WE buy this bullsh*t? C'MON...
I knew Margaret Britton when she worked for Physical Plant Management as executive assisistant and she resigned under a scandal of some sort. Margaret was not one of my favorite people, I didn't dislike her but too many times I had to bust my ass to provide services for users that her department had fracked up.
You could not imagine my surprise to find her a year later working for a commissioner with her previous scandal and resignation mysteriously forgotten. I actually got along better with Margaret as a commissioners assistant, she was business like and fairly efficient, and didn't give me any trouble.
However to bring her back as irreplaceable and necessary for the county to function is ludicrous at best.
No one is irreplaceable in government. The county has muddled through the loss of 500 plus valuable and experienced employees for the last three months. The county did not fall apart and no major malfunctions made it to the news media or this blog.
I dare any of the news media to stand off for about three more months, and then investigate what retirees were rehired by whom and for what positions. Are the positions rehired political in nature or do they provide a vital service to the county and its citizens? Anon3 has a valid observation on the demagraphics of the rehires. Of course it is not politically correct for the media to report on minority bias in government hiring so I assume this is a non starter.
FYI I burned my bridges when I left the county. I will never return to DeKalb government.
Best of luck, mates!
If I was as dumb as the BOC, I'd try to hide it but these guy's seem kind of proud of it. Or they don't know the difference.
Wow, The BOC is truly a bunch of retards. Always trying to justify their actions, yet sounding like a bunch of morons. (Don't forget I'm only responsible for Distict 1's budget, yet it is in DeKalb County that last time I checked). What a bunch of B.S. from the elected ones. I say the BOC should sell DeKalb County to the Chinese. The BOC should then the tell citizens and the employees we are screwed up and corrupt. Everything will be better now that we are not running the County. They should also see about registering in a Georgia funded Pre-K, due to their lack of doing or getting anything done right. We the people and our families continue to make sacrifices for this BOC and the citizens. Where is the American dream, not in DeKalb County unless you are an elected official or a criminal (sorry I repeated myself).Also to everyone that talks about the economy being bad there are other places that are hiring, so stop with the B.S.
The commissioners will tell you. We need more people in management positions (that do not do anything). Yet the real people that get the job done is the workers. We the workers continue to be punished, along with our families. The commissioners have seriously sold out the citizens and employees of this county. This county should be audited and placed in control of a federal entity.
In my best Cleavon Little voice, "Hey, where the white women at?"
I am a police officer and a voting resident for Dekalb County. I have a wife and 2 children. My wife has had to stop working to take care of our kids due to rising child care costs. I am now the soul provider for my family. I was just informed by my command staff that I work to many part-time hours based on my job requests and have to cut back. I also have to survive 4 more furlough days. I have to survive who knows how many furlough days next year. I just fell behind on my car payment in order to keep paying my house payment. I can't afford to quit working at Dekalb to get another job someplace else. I am stuck here. I just got back from the doctor's office where I refilled my stomach and migrane medication. Both of which I have developed over the last year. I use to run 3 miles every other day... now I'm 25 lbs over weight and I'm just happy if I have time to see my children before I go to bed or leave for my next job. The secretary in this article at half pay still makes more than I do as a 7 year veteran with the police department. I am not happy.
***Dekalb County CEO and BOC need a 1013 for real. Giving away large amounts of high pay salaries to a few people is not helping the 4,000other employees who are already working here for less and the increasing population of perps running through DK making this county a poorer, ineffective county to live, work and & play. No wonder other counties are flourishing than us.***
Life is tough but it's tougher when you are stupid. How can the BOC members in this clip say these things with smiling faces. I'd be wearing a mask in public if I was this dumb. I wouldn't want anyone to recognize the face that went with the empty head.
I say we go on strike on our furlough days picket with signs holding up right at the CEO office.
This is so f-ing stupid! This woman was overpaid in the first place. Now, they hire her back at half her salary for part time work! They could very easily find a recent graduate with a master's degree in look of work that could do her job 10 times better for the same salary or less as a full time employee! But noooo! The BOC decides to bring back this old buffon at half her salary for half the work load! They could have hired a full time person for less than they hired this idiot to work part time!!
Lets see.....I cut off my cell phone, cut off my cable, cut of some other non essentials. Hopefully that will keep my family a float until I get through these furlough days?
My understanding of it is, and I may be wrong, is that the county let people retire early so the pension fund would be paying them. So, now the county is only paying them part-time if they want to come back and saving money while still getting their services. Do I think some clerk deserves that kind of money? Absolutely not. Can we still use the services that the early retirement mass exodus cost us? Absolutely. Who knows though. what a mess.
Oh and by the way,to the officer who was told he is working too many extra jobs...Its probably because you are working too many. You are an officer first and should never, let me repeat never, base your bill paying and style of life on your extra jobs. Its called not living above your means, which it sounds like you are doing. You know the pay when you get into this job and obviously you chose to supplement your income off of extra jobs. You chose wrong to do that. I am sure that I will be attacked now for saying that...
Now our insurance is next?? How much more will the employees have to endure??
Can we bring Fannon back as Public Safety Director?
Do I understand this right? The BOC gets Thirty million dollars from our pension to help with the early retirements, to get the people off the county payroll and budget and then rehires some and we have to wonder why the retirees can't get a cost of living increase. I blame this stupidity on the pension board for falling for this and putting extra burden on a pension that can't affore COLA. We need our own attorney to protect us from the pension board.Stop thanking these people for answering a couple way over due questions. They don't need our thanks. We need a watchdog.
Alright Anon 7:35, I've got a bone to pick with you and I am not the one you are referring to as "living above your means". First, I'll say that policy should be followed pertaining to part-time employment to include defined limits. And though I previously encouraged amongst us to cease the in-fighting, I feel compeled to respond to your warrantless attack...
The officer said his spouse had to quit her job due to the rising cost of child care. You can't possibly know nor should you presume, especially based on limited information, that the officer is "living above [his] means". I find it disrespectful of you to judge another person when you can't possibly know all of this officer's unique circumstances, regardless whether a person, generally speaking, is an officer or not, as to the necessity to work part-time jobs in order to make ends meet. Times change. Circumstances change. If people have to adjust, then so what? Is it not more admirable of a person to do all that they can rightfully to take care of all their obligations rather than to neglect their responsibilities? Or expect someone else to bear their burden?
If you are the sole provider for your family and you do not have to do this, congratulations. Provided, however, you have a family at least equal to the officer's with equal earnings and obligations without the necessity to work any part-time employment at all. But, don't preach to others about "living above [their] means". It's called survival and again it is not unique to just law enforcement officers. And I believe you owe the officer an apology.
AL
The only person rehired that has had to buy sunblock at one point in their life is Richard Stogner, the same Richard Stogner who helped Vernon Jones further his racist agenda in DeKalb County. Maybe we need another lawsuit, because nothing seems to have changed.
Can anyone tell me me about the ins they voted on at the last boc? looks like our choices are kasier and cigna ppo? can anyone confirm or shed some light?
Insurance premiums going up 15 percent next year.
AL,
You realize you're argument doesn't make a whole lot of sense? First, it is the departments duty to tell an officer when he is working too many jobs. Your job as a DKPD officer comes first, not second like some people think. Extra jobs are not a right they are at the approval of the department. The department allows you to work over 20hrs a week on extra jobs. If you are regularly working more than that just to make ends meet then you ARE living above your means. Secondly, you are correct about not knowing each persons situation, however if you spouse quits a job because of child care cost then it should be a wash since you no longer have to pay the child care cost. Many families have gone through situation and it's definately not unique to police work.
What other officials are giving their staff ridiculous increases? How can these departments afford all these overpaid people... oh, that's right take it from us merit employees. How many of us officers are they going to drive away from the county so they can give all their friends fat salaries?
The officer who works a lot of extra job could have situations that you are not aware of...such as children that need extra medical attention....wife....himself? who knows...he knows what he needs to do to provide for his family. My dad worked every extra job he could get because his family need it. Knock it off Know it all.The enemy is not your fellow officer.Also, some of you give this blog a bad rap on the color crap. Knock that off too. Keep blog credability.
Who are they bringing back from early retirement? Their buddies who really did not do much of anything when they were full time.
Why bring them back? Same reason they paid Sheila Edwards and Keith Barker nearly $150k in hush money when they were fired. Hush money to people who know things.
4 letters - DKSO
If it makes ya feel any better -Just when I thought Dekalb County was a steaming pile of corruption, incompetence, and ignorance that couldn't be beat, read up on Fulton County in peachpundit.com.
Looks like there's some serious competition in the "County with the Biggest and Bestest Septic Tank" contest! Where do these people come from????
To the commenter who doesn't like the "color crap" - pretending it doesn't exist won't make it go away. Confronting it, acknowledging it, on all sides, can help change it. As stated by a commenter in the following article in:
http://www.peachpundit.com/2010/09/20/fulton-county-we-are-investigating-fraud-allegations-brought-by-warren-and-colon-so-quit-bothering-us/#comments
"Racism is just under the surface of our daily lives; the rage, the disdain, the hate, on both sides. Racism is stupid, tiresome, counterproductive, inefficient, embarrassing and un-American."
But it IS prevalent, no question about it. Let's try to understand it, address it, and fix it, not sweep it under the rug.
I decided years ago not to have children thus living beyond my means when I saw the housing market collapse coming due to inflated prices and bad loans. This is NOT the generation standards of our parents and people had better start acting more responsible as the worst is still yet to come.
Don't give me this crap about "oh you don't know his situation, and "oh he may be supporting dying family members" BS, Don't take this stuff so seriously. This is an anonymous blog. I am simply saying don't rely on extra jobs so much, and if you can't live off of the salary alone then get another job and quit blaiming everyone else for you financial circumstances.
Anon 12:28,
Apparently you missed my point. Did I not say follow policy (to wit, "limits"? Yes, I did. It is our duty to follow policy like it or not. The department doesn't need to tell any officer if the officer is working too many jobs. An officer is presumed to be able to read the policy. It's right there in black and white. It appears perhaps the officer in question was not so the department so informed him in whatever manner they saw fit.
The real issue here is that it is a shame, a sad and damn shame, that any of us should have to work a part-time job(s) but it's reality. This line of work doesn't pay a whole lot but most of us, including me, didn't get into it expecting to get rich. But, I don't think it is unreasonable for any officer, or employee working in the United States for that matter, to expect fair annual cost-of-living adjustments to augment inflation or for expecting the county to uphold their end of their own pay scale when they hired us.
You specifically attacked the officer who posted his story and drew a conclusion without having all of the facts and my point is that was disrespectful of you. Sure, you are entitled to your opinion, but can you not articulate it with generalization? You would be a much more effective speaker if you would. What would you say to an officer, for example, who found themself in the unfortunate position of a divorce, especially without a working spouse? First of all, this does not apply to me. But, there are many who have and this state rapes them in alimony and child support. And this is not unique to officers, mind you, but to every Georgia citizen. Many have no choice, none, but to nearly work themselves to death to earn just enough to get buy because their whole paycheck, every one of them, goes toward alimony and child support. So, you see, wouldn't it have been more appropriate and effective to have voiced your opinion without targeting someone specifically. Just be respectful and show some tact.
Now, to get back on topic, we need to communicate to the BOC that public safety is vastly important in DeKalb County and they need to show it by paying us as they should and as they have said they would in the past. They need to be held accountable. I strongly encourage any officer who has not yet joined the FOP to do so. The FOP has been speaking for officers in this department, both members and non-members, since February. No other entity has. Even the media now seeks out the voice of the FOP for its take on what's going on with the BOC. The FOP is our voice. Lend your support and join. Do yourself a favor. I'm glad I did.
Thanks,
AL
Anybody know where Run Burgundy is? Just when we could use some of his "good" humor he's no where to be found. Hope nothing happened to him after the scathing (but honest) open letter he sent to Burrell.
50% of pay working 50% of 40 hours is not really half pay, but full pay with less time on the clock.
Anon #3 here again...also, are these re-hires part of that 33 percent that the work study released this year said we could do without? Why isn't Tough Questions looking into that?
Slamin' Ethel has been MIA too...Your humor is missed very much!
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