No layoffs, furloughs, 4 Clayton commissioners say

No Clayton County workers will be laid off or placed on furloughs, four county commissioners vowed Monday.

Commissioners Wole Ralph, Sonna Singleton, Michael Edmondson and Gail Hambrick issued a joint statement Monday, saying they would vote against a proposed 2010 budget that calls for mandatory two-day furloughs for all employees and some layoffs.

Last week, Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell issued a budget that calls for a 14 percent cut in the money budgeted for personnel. Bell said the county must mandate furloughs for all of the county’s 2,042 employees or raise taxes.

The four commissioners’ statement released Monday did not say whether they support a tax increase.

“In our opinion, by recommending layoffs in addition to furloughs of all full-time employees — including those in police, fire, sheriff and ambulance services — the chairman’s proposals increase the risk of loss of life and property,” the statement reads. “Therefore, we do not intend to support the chairman’s call for across-the-board cuts in personnel.”

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. The commission is scheduled to vote on the budget June 30.

Ralph, Singleton, Edmondson and Hambrick did not immediately return phone calls Monday.

Commission spokeswoman Jamie Carlington, who issued the statements, said the four agreed to vote against the furloughs and layoffs after receiving hundreds of calls from residents concerned about public safety.

Bell said the commissioners did not publicly speak about the furloughs, which would mean they met illegally. Georgia law requires the commission to advertise meetings at least 24 hours in advance.

Clayton County Sheriff Kem Kimbrough said the safety of his jail staff and inmates is already at risk because of understaffing.

“I can’t meet my statutory responsibilities with Bell’s proposal. I already operate the jail on overtime because I can’t safely staff it with the deputies I have,” Kimbrough said. “Our liability goes through the roof.”

Under the chairman’s budget proposal, the sheriff said he would have to stop deputies from serving warrants and every courtroom would no longer be assigned a deputy for security.

“I guess we will be another Atlanta and shut down fire stations and take police off the streets. Then when citizens call 911, they will have to wait,” Kimbrough said. “We can’t make this county economically viable if we aren’t safe.”

The four commissioners said they plan to work with county staff to develop a budget that does not require layoffs or furloughs. The commissioners said they are looking at ways to increase revenue, along with increasing employees’ contributions to benefits and cutting some of the C-TRAN bus service.

Bell’s $158.9 million proposal is $9.6 million less than the 2009 budget. The personnel cuts will save the county $13.5 million, Bell said.

The budget cuts are necessary because of a 3.6 percent decrease in the tax digest, Bell said.

Bell said he is still looking at all options in the budget, but doesn’t see many alternatives to staff cuts.

“Unless they live in a vacuum, options that we are weighing now are no different than options that have been made by state government. Many state agencies have laid off and are on furloughs, along with county and city governments,” he said.

Bell called the commissioners’ statement “divisive” and “political posturing.”

“The commissioners were well aware that I would have to make some tough recommendation, recommendations that they did not have the political will or the courage to do,” Bell said in a statement. “It is much easier to hold the darts than it is to be the target.”