One of the issues that convinced me to run for Marion County Sheriff is the manner in which financial and manpower resources are being used. As a part of the Senior Command during the economy crash starting in 2008, it was evident we were in for some hard times. It was time for some significant changes in how we had been doing business. We agreed to put everything on the table, except existing employee positions. We committed to do everything we could to save employees from the trauma of job loss or to jeopardize public safety. Oddly enough Chris Blair was at those meetings, and had input, but post-election he “didn’t know things were in such bad shape”.
The taxpayers, business owners, county commissioners and the state of the economy necessitated these changes. It was not the fault of one entity or person. When it crashed it crashed for everyone.
What were some of the significant changes?
One significant change was to depart from a “replacement plan” for major items such as cars. Adjusting salaries to stay competitive in the market was put off for years. Another big ticket item was updating or replacing computers. Needless to say, when these things are put off, wear and tear occurs and increased maintenance is needed. Whoever became sheriff was going to have to fill these holes and the holes were going to be too deep to refill them all at once.
Here we are in 2015 and depending on who you talk to we are either still in recession, coming out of the recession or recovered from the recession. There is a lot of finger pointing going on to affix blame for the budget woes. It has become embarrassing.
As we move forward with this campaign I’m looking forward to sharing Kerry Crawford’s organizational plans for dealing with these problems. Stay tuned!
Thanks for viewing!
Kerry
