Burrell has thrown his full support behind Wiz Miller. Shock.
Ellis is also hoping DeKalb citizens will fall for an “interim” 1.5-mill increase for six months. Huh? Raise taxes for 6 months then take it back? We have to laugh. When is the last time any government decreased taxes?
If taxes are not raised, then according to Ellis, "There will be will fewer officers on the street and slower 911 response times,” He also said election workers will be furloughed for 18 days. Really? Exactly what do election workers do for 2 years while waiting on an election to come around? If they are furloughed, so what. Next election is not until November 2012 anyway. Hell, furlough them till then..
Will the commissioners fall for this ploy? Probably.
The madness continues.
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Friday, March 4, 2011
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19 comments:
To CEO Ellis and the commissioners, what does it take for any of you to realize that the county needs to downsize and reorganize? The GSU study offered some very logical and sensible ideas to make cuts in the county operations and employees with least loss of services to the citizens.
The study was about 80 percent correct, and for the dirt-cheap price of fifty grand, that's about as good as it gets. Burying your heads in the sand and requesting a tax increase or the generic across the board 9 percent decrease in departmental funding is the lazy way out of fixing the problem of an over-extended local government in a major recession.
I would advise that you get your heads out of your ass and start leading instead of coming up with lame excuses and mediocre ideas.
You and your staff are paid way too much to keep coming up with these crappy ideas.
A child could come up with better solutions than the CEO and BOC offer. You need to get to work and actually think about serious reorganization and consolidation. The average citizen makes a lot less than you people and they live within their budget by making the tough choices and setting correct priorities for their income. I suggest DeKalb government do the same.
He has let everyone else go why not the Director of Public Safety?
This is his buffer between Police and Fire and the real world.
I guess this is the Buddy System at DeKalb Government.
Look at all the raises and do these people already employed by this county need a raise?
Let them suck it up like everyone in police and fire do for the last 5 years.
This guy waste more taxpayer money than the previous CEO. He is just another corrupt politician rewarding his friends.
Do we need a Public Safety Director...the answer is no.
Trim the fat Mr. CEO.
Please note that the 2011 DeKalb County Budget "the substitute" passed Feb 23,2011 was "balanced" by adding 35M to property tax collections for 2011 above the 245 million collected in 2009. Fat chance!! This will have to be made up at mid year with a tax increase. How to get out of a hole....Quit digging.
Rhea
The GSU study is a politician's dream..... they can make cuts without taking the blame. We didn't want to make the cuts.... the study said we needed to. It has the built in "blame someone else for my actions" defense.
As the Regular Guys say FOFF!!
Ellis is not only an idiot, but like the President, he is very much confused. Now he is stabbing at straws to get a partial tax increase passed, and still wants to retain a high paying buddy in his staff.
What kind of crap is this? The "pie is just one size", but Ellis wants to put layers on top to make it bigger, but the pie can only hold so much weight before it sinks.
Ellis must think that the taxpayers will go along with every lie that comes out of his mouth. Its getting so that this idiot is getting dangerous to everyone around him.
What was so important in going to Washington DC at a time when money is scarce, and what was accomplished? I am sure that he did not stay in a MOTEL SIX or BUDGETEL, but some fancy MARRIOTT OR WYNDHAM HOTEL.
Ellis is a carbon copy of Vernon Jones and is definitely lining his own pockets as we speak.
And the beats goes on.......
The guy doesn't do a thing! The first time anyone saw his face was at that officer involved accident that took place the day after he found his job was in jeopardy!
Well said LoFlyer...here is how DeKalb County Government thinks...CEO proposes to raise property tax rates and asked the County Commission to implement an “interim” 1.5-mill increase for six months.
For six months? Surely, you don't think this is going to balance the $33.6 million cuts that was proposed 2 weeks ago.
In response to that, here is a quote from the chairman of the budget committee “We need to talk to him [Ellis] to make sure it’s just an interim increase because I think it’s a really shortsighted approach,” May said.
You commissioners and past 2 CEO'S have been shortsighting approach the DeKalb citizens for the last 8+ years. It's called over spending in the DeKalb government office! Salary increases to your staff, to the commissioners a few years back, $49K INCREASE to some moroon who doesn't see this a problem.
I much like the idea from LoFlyer "A child could come up with better solutions than the CEO and BOC offer."
The CEO cannot get rid of Wiz Miller because of back room political promises made and the old fashion you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours....the CEO has money for the people, programs, trips, etc. that he likes and supports, it is the rest of you that can "go to hell".
Attention DeKalb residents / taxpayers, now is the time to demand that this position be eliminated. Have you not flipped on the news during the tenure of this Public Safety Director. The Police and Fire Departments have been both brought to new lows. Morale sucks, equipment sucks, staffing sucks, and so on and so on. This man has not sent out one new guideline or implemented any changes to improve either department. No one can ever find him being that he is never in. He has surrounded himself with his honeys and then gets them promoted. Ask to meet with him yourself and see what the reaction will be. This is a $300,000 a year office created by Ellis to do his dirty work. The commissioners have made it clear that they do not support this position. We were just fine before this office was created. Demand answers people! Ask why that during his tenure every news story has been negative regarding the police and fire departments. Just a big favor at your expense. The chiefs can manage their departments without this position.
LoFlyer, You apparently have NO idea how the County works.
The BOC ( who cmmissioned the GSU study)Would love to reduce the size of County Government, reduce the work force and elimante some positions and departments that serve no core service.
The asked for the CEO to provide a budget that listed the CEO 's priorities.
They got nothing back
They do not hire
They do not fire
They do not control the funds once a budget is approved.
So your comment about generic across the Board cuts is off the mark.
It was the only way to bring the CEO to the table and deal with the real problems.
Since a child can do it
What is your recommendation?
Don't be cute and say get rid of the CEO and all the BOC becasue that would only eliminate 4-5 million and you are still faced with a 28 million shortfall
So Lo Flyer before you stick your head up your ass, lets hear what your child like mind can come up with.
Anon 7:38, Here it is: Be careful about what you wish for....
Just in case the rulers in charge of DeKalb government cannot figure out the priorities. I will lay it out in order of highest priority:
Police Services
Fire Services
Sheriffs Office
Water and Sewer (Watershed Mgmt)
Sanitation
Critical infrastructure departments,
IS/IT, Telecommunications, Facilities Mgmt, etc.
Tax Assesor/Tax commissioner
Court Systems (courts/DA/Solicitors office)
Roads and Drainage (Public Works)
Non-critical infrastructure
Finance, HR, Risk Mgmt, Purchasing, Medical examiner, Voter Reg, GIS, etc.
Library System
Parks and rec
BOC/CEO/political offices
The politicians will be dissapointed that they are at the bottom of the list. The county can pretty well run itself with no input from the politicans. Abolishing the CEO's office and going to the Commisioner/ County manager form of government would reap large savings with no loss of services to the citizen's.
No doubt I left out quiet a few departments and sections for the sake brevity, but y'all can get the gist of what is important and what is not in County operations.
Departments or sections that can be discarded with virtually no loss of services to the citizens:
Extension Service
Economic Development
Homeland Security
Keep DeKalb Beautiful
Natural Resource Mgmt
Office of sustainability and planning
One DeKalb initiative
Departments available as candidates for consolidation:
Police Services, Sheriffs office.
This doesn't include the easy pickings of evaluating and terminating the bloated management staffs (Asst. Directors and associate Directors that mushroomed over the last decade with few duties and high salaries.)
As can be clearly seen there are many ways to easily downsize and consolidate DeKalb government for little or no loss of government services to the citizens.
Generic budget cuts, furloughs or a tax increase are not the answer to DeKalb's financial problems.
Best of luck mates! KenC
Nice reply KenC.
KenC,
Do you live in Dekalb?
Good try Lo Flyer
You get a cookie for listing the obvious.
Now how do you budget them. That is the hard part
No one disagrees with your listing of priorties.
The CEO would not even list them on his first budget submission.
So everything else gets guts except police and fire?
Try working a little harder and subtract 34 millon dollars, maybe more
Agan cutting your lowest priority CEO and BOC only save 4 million.
Cut the liraries to the bone and shit them down. Tell your kids that
Close all the rec Centers That will teach them
Health services, we dont need that.
Meals on wheels
hell let them starve.
Planning and development,srew them they are not building anyway.
And by the way, fat chance of merging Police and sherrif, good luck with that trying to eliminate a State Constitutional Oficer and his department
I figure you are retired on the fat pension that you earned as a cop. Easy to be an armchair, Monday morning quarter back when you live off the very system you now condem.
Ken your a D.A. Miller's already disbanded Homeland.
Wow I've been keeping tabs on this blog for awhile thinking i may possibly want to wrk in dekalb and I can't believe how the Officers are being treated, I wrk for the Macon police dept and I thought we had it bad, I will take the current pay I'm getting now because it seems if I wrk in dekalb I'll be making less with all the cuts and furlough days, I pray for the men and women who continue to do this job with an enormous amount of stress lord knows it's a Hell of a distraction, job 1 make it home, job 2 feed thou family dekalb should be ashamed
Its time to abolish the office of CEO, COO and all of the headlining crooks of this totally sad, mismatched, underfunded, undermined, stupid, and dense idiots that "run this county" into the ground.
What was once the richest county in the state, has become a cesspool of those who fled other countries, invited by the former CEO and his cronies to nest here and drain the county of valuable resources and money. Simply put.....This county has turned into a dump. The landfill in the south part of the county smells a hundred times better than all of the county, and will do so until the is bullshit is gone and makes the county smell better. There isn't enough FEBREEZE in this country to freshen the air here.
Lets call ROTOROOTER and get rid of the CEO and his bunch !!!
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