Hiring, equipment purchases, budget issues slow process
By Doug Nurse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Johns Creek probably can’t set up its police department any sooner than January, and the fire department won’t be up and running until March at the earliest, the city manager said.
The news didn’t sit well with some City Council members, who want police and firefighters on the streets well before then.
“I’d rather see police started sooner than January,” said City Council member Ivan Figueroa. “I just want to make sure we’re pushing hard to get the chief of police and fire. We’ve already had one tragedy. We can always do better.”
On May 28, a house fire in Johns Creek claimed the lives of John Callahan of Houston County and firefighter Felix Roberts. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Fulton County by law must provide public safety services through November 2008. Even so, the council expressly ruled out the possibility of pushing back the start-up dates. The county continued providing emergency services under a contract after the city began operation on Dec. 1.
City Manager John Kachmar said that if everything works perfectly, the police department could be launched in December, but there are several issues conspiring to slow the city’s progress.
* The city first must hire police and fire chiefs, but it has only $30,000 set aside for police start-up through September. That amount would have to cover advertisements nationally, candidate visits and salary.
* The City Council must approve a $10 million lease-purchase package to provide start-up money for vehicles, equipment and furniture for police and fire stations. That will be on the City Council’s agenda for Monday.
* City staff and the City Council must resolve such issues as ideal response times, benefits, departmental structure and number of officers and firefighters per shift. That discussion is set for mid-July.
* Perhaps most importantly, there can be significant lag times for procuring equipment. For firetrucks, there’s usually a six-month delivery time after a city places its order.
Kachmar said after the meeting that he had scheduled a 60-day timeline for hiring a police chief, which he described as very aggressive for advertising, interviewing and vetting candidates.
Kachmar said he had slashed the police and fire budgets proposed by citizen task forces before the city became official on Dec. 1. For example, the task force had envisioned starting the fire department with $12.5 million, but Kachmar said $9 million for both departments is more realistic. “The money just isn’t there,” he said. “I think they were shooting for best-case scenarios.”
He said the city could try some creative solutions, such as sharing fire stations with surrounding cities or Forsyth County.
Milton, which also became an incorporated city on Dec. 1, started its police department on May 1 and its fire department on May 18.
Johns Creek has had to focus on dealing with substantially larger numbers of business permits and other processes, and its public safety departments will be two to three times larger than Milton’s, Mayor Mike Bodker said.