Teresa Williams
THOMASVILLE — The City of Thomasville plans to pick up the community service program dropped by Thomas County Board of Commissioners last week.
“We are currently working on a strategic plan to improve the image and cleanliness of the city,” City Manager Steve Sykes said. “This is at low cost and an effective way to clean up the city.”
Sykes does not expect the city to incur a lot of cost by picking up the program.
He estimated the city would have to pay $5,000-$6,000 a year because the only things it should have to pay for is supervision and some small supplies.
“That is worth the benefit we are going to receive, about 2,000 hours of litter detail inside the city limits. We are estimating that crews will work at least 40 Saturdays a year, eight hours each day. The detail officer would be about 320 hours, not a full-time job.”
City staff was asked to research the idea in order to determine whether or not there would be enough work for the city should the county decide to resume the program, if any special vehicles would be needed for the service and whether the city would have any costs for training and certification.
Sykes said there should be enough work, the city should not have to purchase any special vehicles and it is already certified and licensed as a community service site provider for probationers by the state probation office.
Sykes brought the item to Thomasville City Council at its Wednesday workshop to get its opinion.
“One of the eight strategic planning initiatives we are working on right now is improving the image of the city,” he told the council. “The city now has the opportunity to pick up some community service detail work since the county does not plan on using it.”
The council was receptive to the idea, but asked some questions about liability, help and locations.
Councilman Max Beverly asked about risk management and insurance.
Sykes said the city would not be liable; the workers would be covered by the state.
Councilman Roy Campbell thought it was a great idea, but questioned whether the city would be able to find a trustworthy supervisor.
Part of the plan is to utilize the city’s police force, officials said.
“The suggestion is not to hire a full time officer, but to give officers a chance to earn a little overtime,” Sykes said. “This will be cheaper and will mean that those with law enforcement backgrounds will be on site. They should know how to handle any wayward community service worker.”
Thomasville Chief of Police Ellis Jackson said using officers is definitely being looked at for the program and would provide a measure of security to the community.
Campbell also asked if workers would be able to go into neighborhoods or just state right-of-ways.
Sykes said, as long as it is public property, workers can be there. He also said they would mainly be picking up garbage so no skilled laborers would be required.
“I think it is a win-win,” he said.
City officials said there is need of an outlet in the community for the service.
“We have a lot of people come through our court system who are put on probation or community service as their sentence,” Jackson said. “I think we could benefit by having them do things inside the city, such as pick up paper on side of road, to help beautify our city.”
Jackson has been involved in the strategic planning process, specifically in discussing ways to clean up the general appearance of the city.
The city manager also spoke with personnel at the local probation office and with Harry Jay Altman, chief judge of the Southern Judicial Circuit, and said both expressed interest and support of the city’s using the detail.
“This gives them an outlet,” Sykes said. “Rather than putting someone in jail, persons can repay the community through service.”
The Times-Enterprise contacted Altman for comment on this story but he said, since he had no idea what was discussed at the meeting, he had no comment.
Altman previously wrote a letter to the county citing the importance of the program, which the Times-Enterprise used in the story about the county’s decision to cut the $35,000 program from its budget.
He wrote, in the letter, that community service provides an impetus to defendants to change and to become acquainted with personal responsibility and to develop a work ethic.
Thomas County has used more than 12,300 hours of community service work, which, based on minimum wage, amounts to more than $80,000 worth of labor, according to the judge’s letter.
Plans are already underway to get the program rolling inside the city limits, Sykes said. City staff will meet with the probation office to begin coordinating when community service work could start.
“One thing I’ve heard from the community is it wants the city to be cleaner,” he said. “This is a chance for us to focus on our roads, streets and parks and clean them up. I don’t think there will be an issue with us spending a small amount for the reward we will receive from it.”
