Last night as Sheriff Sadie Darnell received the County Manager's assessment of her budget proposal at the Alachua County Board of Commissioners special hearing, the tone quickly went from cordial to confrontational.
Sheriff Darnell presented a budget two weeks ago that was about $600,000 away from what the County Manager recommended in terms of reductions.
There was a showdown at the Board of County Commissioners special hearing last night as Sheriff Sadie Darnell received the County Manager's assessment of her budget proposal. The tone quickly went from cordial to confrontational.
Sheriff Darnell presented a budget two weeks ago that was about $600,000 away from what the County Manager recommended in terms of reductions.
A the meeting yesterday, the County Manager gave figures and comparisons that contradicted much of the Sheriff's data and things got heated.
Sheriff Darnell said, "I can't work with this budget I've got...I need $507,000 more dollars...I'm not a County Manager, wouldn't want to be a County Manager, but I can tell you that when you try to find $6 million in cuts that I've done...i can find it! And I don't need a magnifying glass."
The Sheriff also criticized the Board of County Commissioners' definition of public safety. She said, "I don't feel that my staff are appreciated, I don't feel like they are being recognized for the work that they do and the dangerous work....and if any of yall ever want to get out there and put your boots in the field and work and the jail and see what it feels like....that's really public safety. And that's where the money needs to go because as a government you're supposed to fund public safety first and you're not doing it!"
The Sheriff mentioned options that could provide a compromise, such as using funds offered by the Tax Collector or assigning end of the year revenues to make up the $500,000 difference, but the Board members have not made their decision.
The Alachua County Commissioners will meet again tomorrow to give their final response to Sheriff Darnell.
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