…But now the City of Winston-Salem will negotiate with County Manager Dudley Watts instead of Sheriff Bill Schatzman for another $1 million in federal stimulus money.
City Council members are telling Police Chief Scott Cunningham and City Manager Lee Garrity to have stiff spines when dealing with Schatzman:
One council member, Molly Leight, said that Schatzman’s position is blackmail because both agencies forfeit the money if they can’t agree. Another said that perhaps the dispute is a sign that separate law-enforcement agencies are not in the best interests of the county.
“Don’t blink,” Wanda Merschel, the finance committee chairwoman, said to Cunningham.
“We are maybe coming to a point where this community can no longer afford to have two separate law-enforcement agencies.”
….Leight, the city-council member, said she would rather the city forfeit the grant money than give in to the sheriff’s demands.
“It seems to me that this is a case of the tail trying to wag the dog,” Leight said.
Going back to commissioners’ approval of Schatzman’s request to apply for yet another $6 million in fed money, commissioner Richard Linville expressed concern over the stipulation that extra deputies be kept on the payroll for a year after the fed money runs, saying it basically amopunts to an unfunded mandate.
Imagine that. “Stimulus money” turning into an unfunded mandate. Anybody see where this is going? Government’s going to be on the hook for all kids of “stimulus” projects years down the road.
By the way, Linville’s concerns didn’t keep him from voting against approving Schatzman’s application for the money. Commissioners Gloria Whisenhunt and Debra Conrad were the ‘no’ votes.
