Public Servants

The Jasper County Commissioners heard from numerous citizens Monday about their concerns of public safety dollars being cut. They would have heard from a lot more, but the meeting outlasted many of the people.

An ad was placed in this newspaper and flyers were circulated with information about the cuts to public safety and the impact on emergency services. The information may or may not have been totally accurate. It was produced by concerned citizens using what they thought were accurate numbers.

In retaliation, possibly, someone developed some handouts criticizing Emergency Services Director Ed Westbrook.
Members of the County Commission have a difficult job. In these tough financial times, cuts must be made, and some are going to hurt. The commission determined the amount of cuts and directed the county manager to inform each department of the cuts, so the department head or elected official could determine what line items in his or her budget would be cut.

The tax maintenance office immediately released an employee. All offices were to have their cuts in to the county manager by last Friday.

Ed Westbrook wasted no time in following the county’s directive. He found where he could make some cuts, but could not find as much as the county wanted cut.

So he sent an e-mail to the commissioners expressing his concern that the cuts could not be made without drastically reducing services. He asked if someone would meet with him and go over his budget, suggesting another set of eyes might see something he missed. He said he was not comfortable reducing services that much without making the commissioners aware.

Mr. Westbrook’s attitude was clearly one of compromise. He wants to follow the commission’s directive but he also wants to provide necessary services.

Most employers would appreciate Mr. Westbrook’s attitude. If all county departments were so willing to acquiesce, the county might not be in the mess its in.

But apparently the Jasper County Commissioners feel differently.

After the meeting adjourned Monday, four of the commissioners were overheard conversing, and basically saying they would not waver on the public safety cuts.

They sounded just like the school board members did last month…they’re going to dig their heels in and stick to their guns no matter what.

What have we elected? What happened to representing the people?

Maybe the cuts can’t be changed, but when so many people are concerned, are the elected officials so out of touch with the electorate that they won’t even pretend to care what the populace thinks? Is totally ignoring the public the way to make decisions? It seems when persons get elected to office, they want control. They forget they are there to represent their constituents.

A most discouraging factor is that on the safe in the commission meeting room where the public is provided copies of the meeting agenda, there were two handouts berating Mr. Westbrook and his supervision. The county manager and county clerk say they did not know about the handouts and do not know where they came from. The handouts were not signed.

Mr. Westbrook is a capable, dependable employee, who has been asked to wear many hats. He is director of the Emergency Management Agency, a role he accepted during the flood of 1994. EMA takes over when there is a major emergency, like a flood, a tornado, a train wreck. But, it is just a part time job. So, when he became director of the 911, it was agreed he could remain EMA director. That was no problem…overseeing 911 and EMA.

But, then when the Emergency Medical Service and volunteer firefighters were experiencing some organizational concerns, the commissioners asked him to be in charge of those. After some arm twisting, he agreed to be Emergency Services Director.

Mr. Westbrook has taken on each job without complaint, happy to serve the county he loves. And, he does them to the best of his ability. And what he lacks in ability he makes up for in hard work.

Before hiring him as Emergency Services Director, the county had budgeted to hire a full time fire service coordinator, and had an EMS director…along with Mr. Westbrook overseeing 911 and EMA. Then the county had the brilliant idea to have Mr. Westbrook do it all.

Notice each position is a 24-hour job, so Mr. Westbrook does not get off work and go home and relax and forget about the job. What if an employee gets sick in the middle of the night and can’t complete his or her shift? What if an ambulance breaks down?

Yes, he works with the volunteer firefighters and responds to most emergency calls, but his role is not limited to the occasional fire or serious wreck in the wee hours. He can be called out at any time while the rest of us relax or play or whatever.

What thanks does he get? He gets an ample salary…slightly more than the recreation director who has worked for the county for two months; considerably less than the county manager. Rarely, he is thanked for his hard work.

And, Monday, someone crossed the line of what is acceptable and what is not. The two handouts criticizing Mr. Westbrook’s performance are downright slanderous. And, since the papers were sitting on the safe with county papers, it certainly appears the county was the entity responsible for their placement.

A lesser man might file a libel suit against the county. Some would encourage him to do just that.

Not Ed Westbrook. He will calm his family members and supporters who are very upset about the attack, and let the flack roll off of him and continue being a man of integrity, doing his best as a public servant.

Perhaps the commissioners could follow his lead.