09-09-2008, 07:20 AM
"Say, ya think those storm clouds in Escambia are headed eastward?"........
ESCAMBIA COUNTY - A budget dispute at the Escambia Sheriff's Office may result in dozens of deputies being taken off the force.
Outgoing Sheriff Ron Mcnesby says it boils down to the commission cutting too much money out of his budget.
Channel Three's Dan Thomas joins us in the studio with more on this story, which you'll see only on Channel Three.
Sheriff Mcnesby says he thought he knew what his budget was going to be 2 months ago.
The county is asking him to cut about 3 million dollars... He says he can't do it without firing deputies.
Sheriff Ron McNesby/Escambia County: "It concerns me because you know I'm sort of a lame duck and I hope that they're not trying to take advantage of this agency because I'm a lame duck. I may be a lame duck but I'm not a dumb duck."
Sheriff Mcnesby planned to cut his budget by 921 thousand dollars.
He found out last week, that wasn't going to cut it.
The commission wants to see the sheriff's office get by with 76 point 6 million dollars...
The sheriff says he needs 79 million 53 thousand dollars or deputies will have to go.
Ron McNesby/Escambia County: "In all honesty, I think that there was so much confusion at the board meeting the other night that they just didn't understand exactly what they were doing. I hope that's the case."
But County Commission Chairman Gene Valentino says that's not the case.
Quote: "I don't know how to tell (the sheriff) To manage his budget". Unquote.
A budget that's gone up 10 million dollars over the past 4 years.
Sheriff Ron McNesby/Escambia County: "I don't know how anybody can do it with any less because there are so many things that people don't understand that go on here every single day."
Ron McNesby/Escambia Sheriff: "We've got more deputies on the street than we've every had before because we've been able to fill a lot of those vacant positions. So now if I turn around and have to lay them off, then it's definitely going to have an affect on the citizens and that worries me an awful lot."
As for why Mcnesby is taking this action after he lost the election...
He says if it happens on his watch, then it's his responsibility and he didn't think it would be fair to a new sheriff to have make layoffs his first day on the job.Possible Escambia Deputy Layoffs
ESCAMBIA COUNTY - A budget dispute at the Escambia Sheriff's Office may result in dozens of deputies being taken off the force.
Outgoing Sheriff Ron Mcnesby says it boils down to the commission cutting too much money out of his budget.
Channel Three's Dan Thomas joins us in the studio with more on this story, which you'll see only on Channel Three.
Sheriff Mcnesby says he thought he knew what his budget was going to be 2 months ago.
The county is asking him to cut about 3 million dollars... He says he can't do it without firing deputies.
Sheriff Ron McNesby/Escambia County: "It concerns me because you know I'm sort of a lame duck and I hope that they're not trying to take advantage of this agency because I'm a lame duck. I may be a lame duck but I'm not a dumb duck."
Sheriff Mcnesby planned to cut his budget by 921 thousand dollars.
He found out last week, that wasn't going to cut it.
The commission wants to see the sheriff's office get by with 76 point 6 million dollars...
The sheriff says he needs 79 million 53 thousand dollars or deputies will have to go.
Ron McNesby/Escambia County: "In all honesty, I think that there was so much confusion at the board meeting the other night that they just didn't understand exactly what they were doing. I hope that's the case."
But County Commission Chairman Gene Valentino says that's not the case.
Quote: "I don't know how to tell (the sheriff) To manage his budget". Unquote.
A budget that's gone up 10 million dollars over the past 4 years.
Sheriff Ron McNesby/Escambia County: "I don't know how anybody can do it with any less because there are so many things that people don't understand that go on here every single day."
Ron McNesby/Escambia Sheriff: "We've got more deputies on the street than we've every had before because we've been able to fill a lot of those vacant positions. So now if I turn around and have to lay them off, then it's definitely going to have an affect on the citizens and that worries me an awful lot."
As for why Mcnesby is taking this action after he lost the election...
He says if it happens on his watch, then it's his responsibility and he didn't think it would be fair to a new sheriff to have make layoffs his first day on the job.Possible Escambia Deputy Layoffs