FOR THE COST of the full year’s salary the City has agreed to pay outgoing City Manager Stephanie Cutter after her replacement, Rob Hernandez, starts next month, we could fund about five more police officers for that year instead.
For the cost of the Coastal Empire Fairgrounds purchase, we could fund about 85 more police officers.
For the cost of the housing intended for that site, we could probably fund 50 more.
For the cost of the non-budgeted improvements needed for the Westside Arena project—not including the cost of the arena itself—we could probably fund about 100 more police officers.
And that would put us where we need to be: 800+ officers, not the 600-some odd fancifully quoted as a fully staffed Metro police department.
Hell, for the cost of a month’s worth of that goofy orange barrel circus on Bay Street we could hire one officer for a year.
Want to bump it up to 1000 police officers? Add in the $1.5 million that each City Council member receives out of SPLOST revenue to spend in their district with almost no strings attached. That’s about another 250 officers right there.
Oh, not a big fan of police, you say?
Education, not law enforcement, is the answer to the root problems that plague Savannah, you say?
Fine, I don’t disagree. How ‘bout this:
For the cost of the latest round of E-SPLOST money going to build new school buildings and only new school buildings, we could adequately compensate each and every current teacher in Chatham County and adequately staff the classrooms of each and every school, with enough money left over to fund more afterschool programs to keep kids off the streets and in school through graduation.
The money’s out there. Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.
I’m hesitant to use the phrase “tipping point” for what Savannah faces after the recent savage murder of gallery owner Kevin Reid while walking with his wife down East Waldburg.
We seem to have a lot of things in Savannah that writers like me are fond of describing as “tipping points,” but not much ever seems to really tip. Not a lotta tippin’ goin’ on.
It’s become an old Savannah trope that crime only gets people’s attention when it’s a certain type of person who gets killed.
My feeling about Mr. Reid’s death has much less to do with race or class than with the symbolism of what he represents:
Someone from literally the other side of the world who fell in love with Savannah and decided to stay here and make a difference in local arts and culture.
That in a nutshell is the new Savannah dream. A dream destroyed in seconds by three guys with guns.
Reid’s murder is a microcosm of our particular time, in this particular place.
If Eddie DeLoach loses the mayor’s gavel in 2019, it won’t be because of this one murder, but because of the total volume of deaths — as was the case with Edna Jackson and all the other politicians who lost their offices just last year.
In any case, we don’t have time for the same tired old argument anymore.
If the murder rate continues to skyrocket, deciding the winner of the argument will be a moot point anyway.
Right now what matters is A) the short-term allocation of resources to the one problem which is the most immediate threat—crime; and B) the long-term allocation of resources to the one problem which is the most pervasive threat – piss-poor education.
I know there’s a ton of money out there in Savannah to be had.
I know this because we find the money to help politically connected developers build new parking garages.
I know this because we find the money for Broughton Street streetscapes.
I know this because someone is patronizing all those new restaurants and bars with long lines to get in.
I know this because of the number of nonprofit directors making huge salaries in a town with 26+ percent poverty.
I know this because of all the public school administrators making huge salaries in a school district that ranks near the bottom of one of the worst-performing states in the union.
Don’t tell me the money isn’t out there. It’s a question of priorities, not money.
I admit it’s pretty unrealistic, possibly even stupidly juvenile, to propose stopping all spending that isn’t on crime. The real world doesn’t work like that.
We should be able to prioritize and allocate our resources to where they are most needed.
We should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
But apparently, we aren’t.
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2016.
So well stated and documented. Indeed there is plenty of money sloshing around at City Hall – just not focussed on the primary function of all government – to provide some sense of law and order. Time to refocus priorities indeed and quit wasting money things like all the fancy pavers and cross walks I’m seeing constructed all over.
I am getting tired of crime in a city with priorities askew. Building more hotels seems like the number one priority around here. Thus far (9 months in) the new council isn’t much different than the old council. Walk and chew gum? Naw, that’s too difficult in this city.
So well said!! Agree 100%!! I can’t understand why they are building something like this on the Westside?? Waste of Money, you will probably end up shot going to! This city is a disaster, more ways than one! Sad!
I agree we need more police officers and children need education. However, you missed the most important group – parents. We have parents, who love their children, but are unaware of the developmental needs of their children. So children arrive at school without the basic tools to succeed. Police and teachers cannot raise children, only parents. There are high quality evidence based programs that assist parents with understanding how to be successful and get children ready for school. That is an investment worth making.
Jim Morekis, you echo so succinctly and clearly what my innermost thoughts are.
Thanks so much for your insights. Greatly appreciated and so needed.
You are not allowed by law to fund operating costs of any form of government -school or municipal/county with SPLOST funds. Those monies can only be used for capital purchases-buildings, land, infrastructure, big equipment to use on those properties. So you cannot move funding from the arena to hire more officers. You can however use the money to pay Ms. Cutter’s severance, or the Bay. St. mess. That money comes from general funds. A great idea but laws prevent certain actions.
If there is plenty of money sloshing around at City Hall, I wish some of it would slosh over to the 3rd District for a crosswalk so children could get over to the playground on Forest Acres. When watching the news reports on the local television stations and reading the daily newspaper, one would believe this city is crime ridden, no more and no less than other cities. It would be refreshing to read and hear about workshops and programs to strengthen parents. Truth be told, the day of one breadwinner and a stay at home mother went out of style with Ozzie & Harriet along with Leave It to Beaver. This is 2016 and American society has not retrofitted itself for the 21st century yet.
Excellent, and a cannonball of reality blasting through the incessant, mindless statist bullshit we so often hear about “budget constraints” and “budget cuts” (what a JOKE!) at one level of government or another.
The money is ALWAYS there, thanks to the bottomless pit of fleeced taxpayers. ALWAYS there.
The next time you read any journalist making lame excuses for ineffective and nearly-always corrupt politicians citing a lack of funds, remember this piece. The problem has always been how these cretins SPEND our money, not that there isn’t enough of it.
And now, in Savannah, this corruption has deadly consequences. Clearly, there aren’t enough police. Start spending OUR money wisely and hire more.
I’m sure if the police rounded up 20 of the most well-known criminals in town and they all coincidentally committed suicide in custody overnight (aww…sob) it would be even better and drop crime immensely and immediately, but that probably won’t happen.
So it shouldn’t be too much to expect these pathetic, self-serving politician scum to start spending our money wisely and HIRE. MORE. COPS.
Maybe if we stopped liberals from PAYING single uneducated teenage mothers to have MULTIPLE chilRENs for a paycheck,, then we could start rebuilding the two-parent family with a father in the household that stresses Education and Work Ethic !!
Jim you are a much needed voice in Savannah. Thank you for keeping it real, and not being afraid of complicated topics. I hope everyone on city council, and every business person in the city takes note of how you connect the dots between crime, poverty, education, the economy, etc. Oversimplification of this network of problems seriously reduces the chance they will be adequately addressed.