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| Lee County sheriff's promotions stir debate |
| By news-press.com - Gabriella Souza |
| Published: 06/01/2011 |
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Since his election in 2004, Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott has added 60 ranking officers to his staff. Those promotions and the $3.7 million Scott used to fund them came about although he placed the rest of his 1,500-employee staff on a wage freeze in 2008. Lee’s sheriff’s office has had the biggest jump in the number of ranking officers when compared with sheriff’s offices in five counties similar in size, area and demographics to Lee — Volusia, Sarasota, Polk, Pasco and Collier. Scott has added 60 sworn officer positions and increased ranking officers by 36 percent. Collier County’s ranking officers have risen 6 percent since 2004 with 18 sergeant and two chief positions added. The advancements were necessary, Scott said, to supervise road and corrections deputies, who have grown by 34 percent since he became sheriff. And a 94,000-resident, or 23 percent, upswing in Lee’s population since 2004 prompted growth in his agency, which Scott said has created safer streets and a 23 percent drop in crime. Scott’s decisions created resentment among employees, and prompted a county commissioner and heads of taxpayer groups to clamor for more cuts and oversight of the sheriff’s hiring policies and spending. “This is not a battle zone,” said Ron Pure, head of the local Taxpayer Action Group. “Nevertheless he has equipped his department as if he were in Detroit, Newark or some parts of Manhattan.” On Wednesday, Scott will release his budget proposal to the county commission. This precedes workshops, in which he will discuss his budget, set for later this summer. A third of the county’s operating budget funds the sheriff’s costs, which have doubled in the past decade. Each county resident pays 67 cents a day for the sheriff’s office’s services. The sheriff has said his budget will be less than the $152.5 million Lee County paid this year, which funds road patrols, the jail and court officers. He sliced 4 percent from his 2009-10 budget last year. Read More. |
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