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Executive Candidates Address Budget, SPLOST
10/23/2008

The Dade County Sentinel has been featuring candidates in state and local races over the past several weeks. This week the Sentinel is covering Dade’s County Executive Race. Running for the County Executive seat being vacated by Ben Brandon, are Republican Ted Rumley, Sr. and Democrat Don Townsend.



Ted Rumley, Sr. is running for the office of Dade County Executive/Chairman. Fifty-two-year-old Rumley has always lived in Rising Fawn where he currently resides with his wife of 34 years, Diane. The Rumley’s have two sons, Dusty and Ted, Jr.; daughter-in-law Emily; and granddaughter Abigail. Rumley owns and operates Rumley Construction and has been in the business field his entire life. His parents started the Georgia Game Park in the 1950s and it was from helping his parents with the family business that Rumley said he learned hard work and management of money. Rumley is a member of Rising Fawn United Methodist Church where he has served on various committees. Rumley was a district commissioner in Dade County from 2000-2004. During his last two years as commissioner, Rumley served as chairman and during the last nine months of his term, he served as acting manager.

“I enjoyed serving you and am looking forward to serving you again if elected,” Rumley said.

Q: What are three of the issues in Dade County government that you feel need to be addressed?

A: The three issues I feel need addressing are: One, the financial condition of Dade County. We, Dade County, have had to open a line of credit at a local bank just to meet our day-to-day operating expenses. This is sometimes necessary at the end of a year when tax notices go out late and the revenue comes in after the first of the year, but it should never happen in the middle of the year, like this year in June.

Two, jobs. The commission needs to reach out and try to entice industry to our area. With the recent closing of Shaw and the lay-offs at other companies, we need to make every effort to bring more industry to Dade county.

Three, trust and respect in the commission office. The commission and chairman need to work closely together and try to regain the trust and respect of the people of Dade County.



Q: What impact do you think the closing of Shaw will have on Dade County’s economy, and does the county need to make any adjustments?

A: Of course it’s going to affect the economy of Dade County in a negative way. Not only are we losing Shaw’s portion of tax revenue to our local government, we are also losing dollars spent in Dade County from the former employees. Now we need to aggressively seek more industry in Dade County to offer more job opportunities.



Q: With the downturn in the economy and Dade County’s budget history, what changes should be made in the budget process?

A: The present commission is finalizing the 2009 budget and this is the budget that will have to be worked with. However, if elected I feel we will have to be more conservative in preparing the next budget because of the economic problems. As many of you know me, you know I will be very conservative with your tax dollars.



Q: Do you think the process to allow Dade County residents to vote for their commissioners at large instead of by district should be started?

A: This should be put on a General Election ballot and let the majority of the people decide.



Q: What should be done if SPLOST does not bring in the anticipated revenue, and what SPLOST items should have top priority?

A:I feel it is going to be very difficult for Dade County to bring in the proposed 18 million dollars in SPLOST. The most important items to me are our Fire and Police protection, our roads and bridges, and water and sewer. The money for the courthouse facility has been bonded by the existing commission; therefore it will be built. If I am elected, you can be assured this building will be built under budget. Also, as many Dade County contractors as possible will be used in construction of the facility. When they speak of using inmate labor from the State of Georgia, that labor is taking away work from our Dade County contractors. We have so many talented contractors in Dade County who are suffering through this economy and this would be a great opportunity to offer work to them, not only in building the courthouse, but in any projects taken on by the county.



Q: Should Dade County wait on the economy before issue the bonds to be paid for by the SPLOST approved in July?

A: This was approved by the commission on October 16th. I personally would have voted to wait to see what the economy is going to do before bonding the money. We are paying the bonding company a little less than two million dollars just to have the money now so some projects, such as the courthouse, can be started immediately

Robert Goff is a lifelong resident of Dade County. He and his wife, Ruth, have celebrated 39 wedding anniversaries. They have two sons, Robert Jr. and Ronny. Both are graduates of the Dade County School system. Robert graduated from Davis and Ruth from Central High in Chattanooga. Goff is retired from United Parcel Service after 30 years of service. He delivered door to door for 23 years and served UPS in management including two years as an human resource manager. Goff and Ruth are active in Trenton First Baptist Church. He currently works as a substitute teacher in the Dade County system, and you will find him helping in any way he can with the Wolverine Football team. He and Ruth are homeowners and taxpayers in Dade County and the City of Trenton.



Q: What do you think should be done to help resolve the issues that inevitably occur when the county has to take over a service from the state or create a new department? (example – the new Planning and Development office)

A: Unfortunately, there are too often unfunded mandates handed to counties from the state and federal government. I think many people are not aware of these, but they are many times a burden to the taxpayers. As the name suggests, they are mandated but the funds are not available to the counties to implement or maintain them. Then there are the created departments you mention that someone seems to think we need. I hope that the state government will someday understand that counties are suffering enough with the economy as it is and stop passing on more projects for us to have to deal with.

The first thing that county government and taxpayers alike need to do is make our district representatives aware of our concerns. Many of these decisions are passed on to us after the Georgia Congress and Senate have voted to pass them on to us.

There are many of the departments that may not even be needed in small counties, therefore, it should be up to the county government and the voters to decide which of these they want or can afford to implement.

Finally, as for the county itself, we have to do all we can to protect the services we currently provide. The next commission will be faced with possibly having to cut some things. We have to have priorities: people’s safety, roads and bridges, clean water and jobs, but we have to be careful not to add more services or programs that not only cost money now but must be maintained for years to come. We simply must learn from what is happening in our nation now as we have watched too much growth with not enough forethought. We have no one to bail us out, we must take care of our own house. We have to remember that if we create more government we have to feed it and its only food is money.



Q: What measures need to be taken to help Dade County with its budget problems?

A: Accountability. There has to be some measure of accountability for each office or, as we know them, constitutional offices. We hear about what auditors found and that everything was, okay. Just because no discrepancies were found doesn’t mean money was spent wisely. If the county commission is going to be expected to set a budget for all offices, then each officer should be expected to account for spending and stay within their budget.

If we should ever be faced with cutting personnel it will be a very tough decision for anyone. If an employee leaves the county's employment for any reason, they should be replaced only if absolutely necessary. The only win–win situation in reducing employees through attrition as opposed to layoffs to reduce the budget. We will definitely face budget problems in the next four years, we just need to act as good stewards of the peoples' trust.



Q: What changes would you like to see implemented in Dade County?

A: I would like to see the county move forward, and believe me, that would be a change. I am not sure we can look at making changes till we have evaluated where we are now. I am not saying we don’t need change, but we have spent almost four years of arguing about who is in control. The people of Dade County deserve to have a commission who listens to them and acts on information gathered from them. I am sure when asked the question you have asked that readers expect some profound answer, but we will not get industry, or gain the trust of the citizens till we first get our priorities in order.

With all this said, however, some things I would like to see are things like, when we are talking about SPLOST, we research needs and don’t make promises to any group if the need or support of the people are not in it. Small steps start great journeys. Change should be gradual in many cases so I hope to be a part of a county government that is willing to take the time to get it right the first time.