MOUNT VERNON — Knox County Sheriff David Barber delivered a verbal blast from his office Monday evening in an interview with the Mount Vernon News, refuting comments that were aired by the county commissioners in a public meeting on Thursday.
“I wasn’t aware that the commissioners wanted to talk about any budget issues until I read about it [in Friday’s News],” Barber said. He said that recordings of incoming telephone calls prove that commissioners’ secretary Rochelle Shackle has not called his office monthly. He said the only record he had of Shackle calling regarding his budget was on Wednesday, Nov. 12, when she spoke with administrative assistant Jan Wasiluk. According to Barber, Wasiluk said the sheriff would be out of town on Thursday, Nov. 13, and that Wasiluk asked if the commissioners wished to reschedule, or if the sheriff should call. According to Barber, Shackle said that wasn’t necessary.
Barber was incensed about Commissioner Robert Wise’s statement that they hadn’t seen him in four months.
“That’s totally untrue,” Barber said. He then listed a number of occasions where he and the commissioners crossed paths: A meeting on Aug. 11, the post-windstorm meeting of county officials on Sept. 18, a Sept. 29 meeting about Issue 6 in the then upcoming election, CORSA training for county employees on Oct. 2, and finally at The Alcove Restaurant on Nov. 4, where the Republicans were awaiting election results.
“Nothing was mentioned about any of these issues,” Barber said.
Is it possible that the commissioners are expecting to discuss budget issues at the monthly appointment Barber keeps reserved with them?
Barber said he hasn’t made use of the standing reservation lately because he wasn’t aware of any issues that needed to be discussed and doesn’t see any point in meeting to simply talk.
The commissioners questioned whether they should approve Barber’s latest budget transfer request. Barber wanted to know why this was suddenly an issue, when two weeks previously, they approved a similar transfer. Barber said such line-item movements were common practice toward the end of the year for anyone managing a budget. The sheriff added that he was fully aware of what areas of his budget were state-mandated and which weren’t.
“I don’t need Chip McConville to tell me what the statute says about my budget,” Barber said, referring to Assistant County Prosecutor Charles McConville’s summary for the commissioners. Barber said that he was disappointed McConville didn’t wait for him to be present before having such a meeting, for as assistant county prosecutor, McConville is required to advise and represent Barber as well as the commissioners.
“I certainly take offense to the comment by [commissioner] Allen Stockberger that ‘the sheriff overruns his allocated budget consistently,’” Barber said. “I don’t overrun the budget, the budget falls short, simply because the county commissioners fail to adequately fund the sheriff’s office every year.” Barber said that they run a bare-bones operation, and that he felt County Auditor Margaret Ann Ruhl would back him up on that. He said that the unpredictable elements which hurt them this year were fuel and overtime, which can’t be predicted.
Barber said that the sheriff’s office is a 24-hours per day, seven-days per week, 52-weeks per year operation.
“It’s easy to look at the size of our budget and be critical of it,” Barber said. “I try to work with them, I do my best to educate them, but I don’t think they understand what we do.”
Barber said that comments made by commissioners Wise and Stockberger about bed space proved it.
“I can’t control what 87 other county sheriffs do,” Barber said, noting that he sends out teletype notices twice monthly to all Ohio counties and keeps a permanent post on the sheriff’s office Web site advertising available space. But the statewide shortage has softened lately. Barber said that many other counties have expanded facilities, too, and that even in counties where capacity is full, budgets are tight. Barber said that he was aware of Richland County’s capacity problems, referring to how Wise cut out a newspaper article and faxed it to him about the situation.
“I don’t need Bob Wise sending me newspaper clippings through the fax machine and Allen Stockberger making belittling comments about incentives,” Barber said. He said that he is currently housing 10 prisoners from Fairfield County at $60 per day, which will help defray some shortfalls, though not all. He also cited the $274,000 dollars the city of Mount Vernon pays the county annually for holding city prisoners, pointing out that though he is required to hold these prisoners, he doesn’t get a dime of that money.
The sheriff said that the commissioners’ comments have caused a great deal of turmoil.
“I’m enraged by it,” Barber said. “My staff’s totally enraged by it. We don’t think we’re much appreciated by the county commissioners.”
The sheriff said that he credited commissioner candidates John Booth and Teresa Bemiller, who both took time to come to the sheriff’s office and learn how the facility operates, something which the current commissioners have never done. Indeed, Barber said that he felt the whole matter was timed to hit the headlines after the election.
“If these were real issues, somebody should have been making us aware of it before Nov. 4th.”
Barber reserved particular scorn for what he called Stockberger’s “self-serving” comment about “not having the heart” to not pay Barber’s employees at the end of the year in previous budget shortfalls.
“My employees are my first priority,” Barber said, “Because if I don’t take care of my employees, they can’t take care of this county.”
Can this impasse be resolved? Barber thinks so, and thus will be meeting with the commissioners Thursday.
“It’s not my intention to pick a fight with the county commissioners,” Barber said, “But when false allegations are made about me, I’m not going to sit back and let it go. One thing that we don’t tolerate at the sheriff’s office is untruthfulness.”
