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There is a new team we can add to our colorful lexicon to describe the man who currently holds the office as DeKalb’s Chief Executive Officer. Flip-Flopper. That’s exactly what CEO Vernon Jones did to DeKalb’s 1,000 police officers when he vetoed a 4 percent pay raise for the men and women of uniform because he wanted a tax increase to pay for it. Yes, he said he would prefer a tax increase. This turnaround comes just weeks after vowing he would not raise taxes in 2008 to pay for anything in the county budget. And he calls himself a “fiscal-conservative.” I guess we all knew better, especially based on how much our county spending has grown since he took office – a whopping 41 percent. The DeKalb Board of Commissioners did the right thing and took the prudent path this budget cycle by reducing county spending by a mere 1.25 percent to find the money for the pay raise for those who put their lives on the line every day. Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department and those in the District Attorney’s office would have gotten the raise. But that wasn’t good enough for Jones and a few of his friends on the commission who insisted that making our hard-working citizens pay more taxes is the only way to increase police salaries. They will look for any excuse to take money from the people. In December, the CEO said it would have been “irresponsible” to recommend a tax increase while people were struggling through a rocky economy. Our economy is still on unstable ground with gas prices reaching record highs and groceries and other staples costing more every day. But politics always gets in the way, and when the commission did its job and found the money the CEO couldn’t budget for the salary bump, Jones took out his veto pen again. Once again, this shows Jones is more consumed with getting his way than the needs of the county. He lacks any sense of personal responsibility in managing the budget prudently and blames others for this disaster in fiscal management. It was Jones this year who failed to fund additional police officers in his final budget as CEO. He also knew that several libraries were about to open and failed to find the money to staff those libraries. He chose not to give raises to many of our employees, especially the police, yet he continues to have an entourage of bodyguards at taxpayers expense drive him wherever he goes – including on personal outings. We all know DeKalb’s budget can be better managed. The Commissioners did a superb job of working together this year to find money in the budget and give raises without a tax increase. But if the CEO is going to insist on reversing course and increasing taxes, then he has no one but himself to blame for an unhappy electorate and disgruntled employees who are tired of his shenanigans. This time next year, I hope we have a leader in place that will put DeKalb citizens first and check his ego at the door. Boyer, a Republican, represents District 1 on the DeKalb Board of Commissioners. |
