Two additional Barrow County department managers have resigned. Robert Post, the chief of Barrow County Fire and Emergency Services, resigned Wednesday, one day after returning to work from a one-week suspension.
In addition, Nicole Smith, the director of Leisure Services, also resigned this week. Now filling her role is athletic coordinator Kurt Cooper. Smith's resignation was effective Wednesday and she has departed the position, sources said Thursday morning.
Post told the Barrow Journal on Tuesday that he was glad to be back at work. But when contacted Thursday morning, he said he had decided to resign.
He did not disclose what led to his unexpected decision, saying he signed a confidentiality agreement with the county that could affect his ability to receive the payout of accrued benefits. His last day is Friday, March 27.
Board of commissioners Chairman Danny Yearwood could not be reached for comment early Thursday morning. The BOC did hold a closed-door session at its meeting Tuesday night to discuss "personnel," but it's not known if that is related to either of these resignations.
The departures bring to seven the number of county department managers who have vacated their positions since Yearwood took office Jan. 1.
The others were chief administrator Keith Lee, assistant administrator Michael Fischer, planning director Guy Herring, animal control manager Stephen Eades and stormwater manager Jennifer Toler.
Hard decisions have to be made to prevent this county from falling. Fall in people.
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And what we have is a dictator gone wild.
Yes, the budget needed to be balanced, but that could be almost accomplished by collecting all the past due taxes.
Yes, there were (and still are) a few people who needed to go. I take issue with promoting an Administrative Assistant (secretary) to department head, unless of course she has the education and experience (outside her prior county position) to hold the post.
I take issue with the suspending the fire chief. As far as I'm concerned that was overstepping his bounds.
He should look at all other areas and LEAVE the public safety departments ALONE.
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And what we have is a dictator gone wild.
Yes, the budget needed to be balanced, but that could be almost accomplished by collecting all the past due taxes.
Yes, there were (and still are) a few people who needed to go. I take issue with promoting an Administrative Assistant (secretary) to department head, unless of course she has the education and experience (outside her prior county position) to hold the post.
I take issue with the suspending the fire chief. As far as I'm concerned that was overstepping his bounds.
He should look at all other areas and LEAVE the public safety departments ALONE.
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And what we have is a dictator gone wild.
Yes, the budget needed to be balanced, but that could be almost accomplished by collecting all the past due taxes.
Yes, there were (and still are) a few people who needed to go. I take issue with promoting an Administrative Assistant (secretary) to department head, unless of course she has the education and experience (outside her prior county position) to hold the post.
I take issue with the suspending the fire chief. As far as I'm concerned that was overstepping his bounds.
He should look at all other areas and LEAVE the public safety departments ALONE.
With the departure of Chief Post, Barrow take another hit on the effective services that the county is mandated to provide. Who will be next supervisor to pack up and leave? Stay tuned sports fans....................I'm sure there is more drama to come..................
DuWayne R. Anderson
Winder, GA
What we need is a BOC that looks at the long term big picture for the future of the county.
The current posturing of management style by Mr. Yearwood and his supporters, continues to have a negative effect on those employees who remain in place just trying to do their jobs.
Quite frankly, there is enough required stress in each of our daily lives, without having to deal with repressive "keep you under my thumb" mentality, of those who are supposed to be positive examples of leadership.
The "My way or the highway" style of management that Mr.Yearwood clearly embraces, went out in the 80's. It is neither productive or desired by anyone who is just trying to do a good job each and every day.
Instead of taking charge of the budget issues, the budget issues have taken charge of Mr. Yearwood. This is a clear sign of his inexperience in matters of precise management planning and implementation.
I am not sure how Mr.Yearwood runs his car business, but based on what I have seen of his car lot in Winder, the plan seems to be based on having a big lot, with 1 car on it. Look for more firings of staff at the BOC in the near future. It appears Mr. Yearwood feels he can run the entire county government by himself, and doesn't need any help. This arrogant attitude will do nothing to enhance Barrow County's fiscal responsibility image in the region or the state. He was voted in to run the BOC, not each and every dept. Until he wakes up and figures that out, it will continue to be a very, very, very long 4 yrs. for the citizens of Barrow County.
DuWayne R. Anderson
Winder, GA
So for the present, we are, like it or not stuck with the present-day Chairman...
So I propose we educate him...
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.
(Proverbs 29:18).
Blindly obliterating the County’s infrastructure, slashing the budget and eliminating jobs will only promote more hardship.
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head: that’s assault, not leadership”
(Dwight D. Eisenhower).
Your methods of controlling the employees by holding their jobs over their heads every day is an affective way of hemorrhaging the work force. Competent, well seasoned and essential professionals are beyond heavy-handed tactic and are looking elsewhere while continuing to professionally do their jobs.
"You have to enable and empower people to make decisions independent of you. As I've learned, each person on a team is an extension of your leadership; if they feel empowered by you they will magnify your power to lead. Trust is a great force multiplier."
(Tom Ridge)
STOP Micro-managing! Enough said.
"No executive has ever suffered because his subordinates were strong and effective."
(Peter Drucker)
“The departures (Post & Smith) bring to seven the number of county department managers who have vacated their positions since Yearwood took office Jan. 1.” (Barrow Journal, online). Is this leadership or the inability to work with others? If the Chairman has better knowledge of the day-to-day needs and operations the respective departments heads he has vacated, I will be amazed.
"Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish."
(Sam Walton)
Give the County Citizens and its employees the opportunity to build Barrow County back up. Empower us; disempowering the strongest asset this County has will only exacerbate the current conditions.
"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it."
(Andrew Carnegie)
Mr. Chairman, greatness and ego are not synonymous.
And Finale:
"Absurdum est ut alios regat, qui seipsum regere nescit."
(translation: It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.)
“”RECALL””
"Jake, baseball slang meaning a lazy player or a half-hearted effort, i.e. "He jaked that play."
Not sure I would be wanting someone defining myself in such a way
"Jake, a slang term of high praise for a fireman or a police officer"
Ignorance will get you no where, but thanks for playing!
Jake may also refer to:
* "The Jake," the former nickname of the Major League Baseball stadium once known as Jacobs Field, now Progressive Field
* Jake brake, a particular brand of engine brake
* Jake, a slang term in the United States for Jamaican ginger extract.
* Jake leg, Jake walk; partial paralysis of the limbs, caused by an adulterant, tricresyl phosphate added to Jamaican ginger during Prohibition
* Jake, a slang term in Scotland for someone uncouth
* Jake, a slang term of high praise for a fireman or a police officer
* Jake, a slang term used in Discordianism to describe a prank, often celebrated on Jake Day
* Jake / Bot2, one of the ROVs used during the filming of the documentary Ghosts of the Abyss
* Jake, jazz era slang meaning "great", as in "everything's jake" or "it's all jake."
* Jake, baseball slang meaning a lazy player or a half-hearted effort, i.e. "He jaked that play."
* Jake the Alligator Man, an oddity on view in Long Beach, Washington
* Less Than Jake, a ska punk band
* Jake, a slang term in England for rough cider
"To the victor belong the spoils."
Chesty Arthur, 1881
The quote is directed toward not the spoils of combat, but to the spoils of the political system (or the “Spoils System”) and the practice of playing favorites…
Sounds eerily similar to the “Good Ole Boy Network” to me said the “gadfly”…
And thank you for further reinforcing our cause by allowing me to point out this; that after the assassination of Garfield, the newly elevated President Arthur was forced to react to a nationwide public outcry over the “spoils system”, resulting in a sweeping reform to civil service… Fitting too, do you not agree!
Perhaps a more appropriate quote would have been: “Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.”
(Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
So, “It's not going to happen.” We will see said the “Gadfly”, 06.29.09 is coming…
Anyway, when is Barrow County going to get rid of Chief Financial Officer Beth Horacek?? The county's financial status wont change until she is gone...