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Saturday, December 13, 2008
Economic hardship not enough to stop retreat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Dec. 1, the Gwinnett County Commission unveiled a 2009 budget proposal that includes a $43 million shortfall in the county’s general fund. To make up the expected shortfall in the $1.4 billion plan, officials will have to curtail spending or dip into the rainy day coffers or raise taxes. They’ve already implemented a hiring freeze, resorted to shorter work weeks in some offices, and shaved about 100 jobs.
But there’s one expenditure the county can’t let go, can’t do without.
It’s the annual three-day planning retreat, held this week in Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris. It’s theme: “The Changing Landscape.” Taped highlights are to be broadcast on TVGwinnett, the local cable channel.
This year’s retreat, attended partially or all three days by 34 county officials and civic leaders, cost taxpayers $15,000, up a couple thousand from a few years ago. Then, like now, I wrote that the county brass should have stayed put, met in any number of upscale hotels in metro Atlanta. Stone Mountain Park, for example, offers beautiful amenities with a natural, magnificent backdrop.
You’d think that in this economic climate, officials would shelve the expense. Stay home. County revenue is shrinking. Budgets are being slashed. A national economic turn-around isn’t expected till late 2009, yet taxpayer money has been spent on a meeting that could have been held just as efficiently at the Gwinnett Place Marriott.
E-mail is the most reliable way to reach county officials, so days ago I sent queries about the retreat to Commission Chairman Charles Bannister, along with commissioners Kevin Kenerly, Mike Beaudreau and Bert Nasuti. Outgoing commissioner Lorraine Green skipped the retreat; commissioner-elect Shirley Lassiter attended, but she’s the new kid on the block.
Only Nasuti responded.
The retreat, he wrote, is not a “perk or getaway.” He views the meeting as a way to focus without distractions on complex issues that involve billions of dollars. Being away, he said, cuts down on buzzing Blackberries, ringing cell phones and other “home-turf” disturbances.
“Despite economic conditions, we still have very important work to do,” he wrote. “If anything, it is probably more important for Gwinnett to carefully deal with issues now than when times are easier. I think anyone covering things would have seen we spent our time working on difficult and important matters. …We are conservative with expenses, and don’t take such expenses lightly.”
Call me a simpleton, but shouldn’t the county be saving money by any means necessary? Some county employees have been asked to work shorter weeks. Departments must do more with less personnel.
Shouldn’t an example be set by the higher-ups in command?
Last month, Gwinnett officials announced plans to cut 93 jobs from two county departments as a cost-saving measure. The cuts came from Planning and Development (79 positions) and Water Resources (14 jobs), for an estimated saving of $4.5 million. These workers took one, so to speak, for the overall good of county operations. If you find nothing wrong with the county retreat, think that $15,000 is peanuts in a billion-dollar budget, then do this: Step into the shoes of one of those entry-level Gwinnett employees unemployed due to cutbacks.
Tell them how its important for leaders to hunker down, unintruded, to discuss county affairs.
Tell them what a wise investment the retreat was.
Tell them.
Then let me know the response you get.
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