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Crime Statistics for Union County:
2004
2005
2006
To the employees of the Union County
Sheriff’s Office
Recently, it’s been brought to my attention
that individuals with a clear agenda have been distorting facts about
changes that I may or may not make at the sheriff’s office. Some of these
individuals, in desperation, have also been saying that I have no law
enforcement experience. I personally find this amusing and shameful. My
law enforcement experience is well documented and has been printed in the
newspaper and on my website for anyone to read. I realize that sheriff
races can be very stressful. I have lived through several of them myself.
I also know what it’s like to try to stay out of the middle of an election
and at the same time do your job and go home. I know it’s natural to worry
about your future. Stop worrying! You have my word that I have nothing but
the best intentions and I firmly believe in employee rights. By electing
me to be the next Sheriff, you are casting a vote for your rights and a
more secure future for yourself and your families. I will work hard to
improve your working conditions and your benefits. It is too bad that an
election cannot be just about facts and the issues. Usually, the person
spreading the rumors has the most to be worried about. My campaign is and
will continue to be about facts. Don’t be taken in by lies. Always
consider the source.
I am looking forward to meeting each and
every one of you. If you have any questions, please call or email me. All
communications are confidential.
NEWS
As part of an ongoing effort
to prepare for the upcoming Sheriff’s race, I have been gathering
important information by way of the Georgia Public Information laws, about
the Union County Sheriff’s Office. I will make this information available
to the public throughout the campaign on this website and in local news
papers. This information has been gathered so that the citizens of Union
County may have a better picture of the workings of the Sheriff’s Office.
It should be noted, that all of this
information is available to any citizen via Public Information Laws. I
would encourage all concern citizens to verify these facts independently.
I have received professional cooperation from all local government
offices.
I have scanned these documents so that they
can be reviewed in the manner in which they were provided to me.
This first set of documents is the Union
County Sheriff’s Office 2007 budget. In the 2007 Sheriff’s Office budget,
the Sheriff was granted $ 2,987,056.00 dollars for the year. The
Sheriff spent $ 3,316,289.00 dollars. The Sheriff went over his
budget by $ 329,233.00 dollars. This means that the Sheriff was running
over budget
$ 27,436.00 per month. Now we all know that
a Sheriff’s Office will sometimes run over budget, especially when we have
unexpected emergency, but how does a Sheriff under estimate his budget by
well over a quarter of a million dollars?
The 2008 budget for the Union County
Sheriff’s Office is $ 3,117,012.00 dollars. This is an increase of
$ 129,956.00 dollars from the 2007 budget, but even this increase
would fall short by $ 199,277.00 dollars of what the Sheriff actually
spent in 2007.
One item that I feel needs a closer look
is the overtime. In a twelve month period, the Sheriff paid out
$ 185,397.00 dollars in overtime or
approximately $ 15,449.00 per month. This one issue alone illustrates the
need for a Sheriff that is well rounded in law enforcement and management.
The Sheriff has budgeted $ 186,305.00
dollars for overtime for 2008. If the Sheriff’s Office is so under manned
that officers are having to work this much overtime, would it not be
cheaper to hire more officers, I know it would be safer for the officers.
What is going on in the county that causes this much overtime?
Please note, that all this overtime is
for the Sheriff’s Office Operations only; this does not include overtime
for the jail or Drug Task Force.
Scanned documents:
2007 budget
page 1
2007 budget page 2
2007 budget page 3
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Join Our Volunteer Team
We currently need volunteers for the following
positions.
Precinct Captains
For the following area:
Blairsville, Coosa, Choestoe, Jones Creek, Owltowe,
Ivy Log, Suches, Track Rock, Dooley, Gumlog, Pat Colwell.
Sign Location Manager
Sign Construction
Fund Raising
Coordinator
If you can help in any of the above areas or would
like to just volunteer, please contact me at the
Contact section of this web page.
Thank You.
Tom Jones
Great News!
Tom Jones for Sheriff Campaign promotional items are
coming in soon. The items that will be available are:
Campaign Frisbees
Campaign T-Shirts
Campaign Bumper
Stickers
If you would like to have one of these items, please
e-mail me from the contact section of this web
page.
Thank you for continuing support.
Tom Jones
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