Sheriff: civilian jobs could be cut

[News Flash]

Sheriff: civilian jobs could be cut

Sheriff Balkwill noted that he is being asked to cut $1.8 million from his budget -- the same amount by which SCAT spending is going up.

Just before he handed out annual employee-of-the-year awards March 27, Sarasota Sheriff Bill Balkwill issued a warning:

"You may not have the same job you have today, but at least you'll have a jib," he told the roomful of sheriff's office employees.

The Sarasota County Commission recently asked Balkwill, who is retiring in November, to cut his budget by $1.8 million by May 1.

The sheriff said it might seem easy to trim 2% from an $88 million budget, but it's more difficult than it appears.

He said it was hard enough to come up witha budget that didn't increase during the initial budget discussions last summer. "I did them a favor by flatlining," he said.

Balkwill said he is already below the nationally recommended ratio of deputies to citizens -- two officers per 1,000 residents. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office is at 1.6 officers per 1000.

"Do I take deputies off the street?" Balkwill asked.

Balkwill hadn't made his decision as of last week. But if he must cut jobs, he said it would most likely be in the civilian ranks. He also told employees he would work hard to reassign them into vacant positions rather than lay them off.

"I just hat when people talk about layoffs when they can look at things like facilities, reducing rent or other areas," said County Commission Chairwoman Shannon Staub.

Staub and her fellow commissioners asked Balkwill last summer to trim his budget by 2%. He said to do so he would have to eliminate the South County jail, which allows deputies in south Sarasota County, as well as Venice and North Port police officers, to save time by booking and jailing suspects in Venice instead of driving them to downtown Sarasota for processing.

After weeks of debate, the South County jail remained open and the sheriff's budget came in almost equal to that of the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

But Balkwill is again raising the possibility of closing the South County jail.

"Is it my responsibility to maintain that for North Port and GVenice? Or is it their responsibility to bring arrestees here?" he asked.

Balkwill said he's also considering reassigning to street duty the three deputies in the Police Athletic League after-school program and the one deputy assigned to Crimestoppers.

The situation at the downtown jail, he said, makes things harder for him. With 1,066 inmates as of last week, it is over its capacity by 16 prisoners. And Balkwill said, he's 20 corrections offficers short of what he needs to operate the jail.

"Maybe he should listen to these sheriff candidates," said Staub. "They seem to have ideas on how to balance the budget."

The sheriff took note of the increase recently given SCAT buses to operate new evening and weekend service -- $1.8 million.

"I just shake my head," BAlkwill said.

Replied Staub, "It's law enforcement and we want them to be as lean as we are."

Source

Staub is loaded. Why doesn't she forgo her paycheck for the sake of the county.

If you fire the rat Dunk, you could save an enormous amount between his inflated salary and 1300 month Tahoe. Thats about 2 percent of the budget defiecit.

If you fire the rat Dunk, you could save an enormous amount between his inflated salary and 1300 month Tahoe. Thats about 2 percent of the budget defiecit.

This has little to do with Dunk, albeit we are top heavy in areas. And as far as the Tahoes go... Dunk's not the only one with one, but they aren't needed. That is water under the bridge at this point.
However...........
What is with this "Lean as we are" statement from Staub. Are you kidding me? Lean? Where did they suddenly come up with funds to offer the Reds to stay? (Granted it wasn't enough) Why not take some of the hotel tax, that is supposed to go towards tuirism (50% Beaches 25%Transportation and 25% Tourism - I believe) and use it to insure that our tourist are safe. What about all of the capitol improvements currently occupying the budget. They aren't all warranted. Lean? Whatever! You can't tell me that there isn't at least a mil out there which can't be reallocated to the SO. It is rediculous.

Yeah, Jail overcrowded and understaffed by 20 minimum. Comm is making changes and they are still understaffed by what.. 5 or 10... (Do they think the secretarial and clerical employees who are potentially being cut are suddenly going to be interested in working the jail or comm?)
Whatever. Staub needs to remove the high horse from her arse and quit giving lip service to the public. Here at the SO, we are sick of it... and the public isn't far behind.

Replied Staub, "It's law enforcement and we want them to be as lean as we are."

FO, cut your paycheck

Funny thing.. While it may seem miniscule, the Commissioners were sweet enough to grant themselves a 2% increase in budget.
On a larger scale, however, the Tourism Council is going from a net operating budget of $4.4M in 2006 to a whopping $12.5M budget in 2008. Now, I know our county commissioners somehow justified it by claiming the council "ensures the economic tax benefits are maximized for the good of the county residents through the growth of tourism". However, this is pretty substantial.
CP needed for tourism? Marine Units, Air One? Who needs them.. When some yankee flips his RENTAL boat flying over a sand bar in the bay or coast line, our comm center can respond with... "We are sorry you are in a bind, however you will have to wait a few hours for the coast guard, as we were forced to cut our marine units.... and yes sir... we understand you have NO clue where you are in the bay.. but we can't help you. Thank you for visiting sunny Sarasota, Florida!"
Someone will get killed or brutally injured in a crime and the press (HeraldTrib) might even report it, and the SO will look like we weren't doing our jobs. No evening coverage in a zone? What do you mean it took 8 minutes to respond... Oh.. they had to come from another zone, as their was no eve or night unit in that zone....
Anyhow, soap box over......... What can we do about it now??

bye bye crime stoppers you can bet your bottom sb will be in a g&w humping calls :wink:

Did BC see the writing on the wall? Will they leave SB in Crime Prevention then? He does both...So it would be stupid to cut Crime Stoppers. There already get 2 for 1 on that postition.

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Replied Staub, "It's law enforcement and we want them to be as lean as we are."

Source[/quote]

Thats an interesting quote. Shouldn't non essential services be cut before Law Enforcement, Fire etc?

Who cares if you have a late night bus route if it isn't safe to sit at a bus stop after dark!

Can the Marine unit be staffed by reserve officers on the weekend that work for free? This could free up the other guys to work zones?? We should start training the AUX. guys for more stuff and make them work more hours if they want the status?