SHERIFF, CHAIRMAN SWAP FINAL PRE-VOTE DIGS

Decision Today On 2002 Budget

Wayne Hill and Butch Conway managed to get in one last biting exchange
before today's showdown over staffing of the county jail and Sheriff's
Department.

The County Commission is set to vote today on a $1.4 billion budget for
2002, that, based on Chairman Hill's recommendation, would give Sheriff
Conway, four of the 54 new employees he is requesting.

On New Year's Eve, Hill sent a letter reiterating his stance on the budget,
but offering Conway some alternatives. One would put the onus on Conway to
pick his funding priorities: new positions or pay raises for his current staff.

"We would expect you to accept full responsibility for the consequences of
your decision," Hill wrote.

Conway shot back a letter calling Hill's offer "unconscionable, illegal and
mean-spirited.

"In other words, the answer is . . . when hell freezes over!" the sheriff
wrote.

Hill also proposed relieving the sheriff of responsibility for an anti-drug
program aimed at fifth-graders and for after-hours security at the Gwinnett
Justice and Administration Center. That might help "with your staffing
demands," Hill wrote.

"It would free up eight deputies, but it would tie up eight county police
officers, which would get us nowhere," Conway said late Monday.

If the commission does not amend the proposed budget, Conway said he will
consider legal options, such as suing the county or bringing the dispute to
an arbitrator.

"Anything before the [budget] vote would be premature," he said. "I'm still
hopeful that the district commissioners will amend the budget to give me
these critically needed positions."

Conway maintains that his 392 employees are stretched dangerously thin. He
said the jail has 1,400 inmates in a facility built for 580, the backlog of
warrants has hit 22,000, and deputies are burning out.

Hill and other county officials point out that the sheriff's budget has
grown more than most other departments, adding 68 employees since 1998.

The county cannot afford to create a lot of new government jobs because $10
million to $15 million has to be spent to make the salaries of current
employees more competitive with the market, Hill said.

"We can fund the employees' pay raise or we can fund other additions to the
budget, but we cannot afford both," he wrote to the sheriff.

Because the job of sheriff was created under the state constitution, Conway
has the power to file suit against the County Commission over funding and
staffing.