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COUNCIL OKS DRUG TASK FORCE FUNDS

"We're sorry we need you; but we do!" Those words from Mayor Johnny Smith seemed to echo the sentiment of the entire city council during Monday night's meeting.  The comments came in response to a request made by the Calhoun/Cleburne County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and a subsequent plea for maintaining financial vigilance where the task force's work was concerned.

"That seems to be what we hear from all municipal leaders these days," said Randall Sanders, a supervisor with the drug unit, who traveled to the council's meeting to personally address the members and urge them to continue supporting what he sees as a necessity to city survival.

"A lot of counties in the state are probably not going to be able to keep their task forces in operation because of the cutbacks in Federal funding," continued Sanders, "and that is a shame.  I implore you, however, if you can afford to do so, then you need to keep the task force working to clear the streets of drugs and the violence those drugs bring into a city.

"Think about it this way.  If I am going to build a meth lab, and take a chance on blowing the neighborhood up, where am I most likely to do it.  Am I going to open one in an area that has a task force in place and has a united front against this type of activity? Or, am I going to head on down the road to a county that does not have a task force? I think the answer to that is pretty obvious."

The council agreed with Sanders' statements, as they voted unanimously to approve a $24,313.93 payment to the task force for next year's operations.  This amount is up from the $6,500 they shelled out last year for the same purpose.

The reason for the increase comes at the hands of the Federal government, who recently stripped away a large chunk of the funding that had been going to drug task forces nationwide.  That money was redirected to help revamp the nation's Homeland Security program.  In the past, the Federal government has shelled out funds that forced the task forces to make a 25 percent match in funds to the 75 percent that the government paid.  Now, that matching amount has jumped to 50 percent.  The match could go even higher, forcing even more counties to shut operations down, if the president has his way.

"President Bush," explained Sanders, "is currently asking Congress to do away with the funding all together.  If that happens, it will make the municipalities who are served by the task forces to foot the entire bill, and I have a hard time believing many can do that.

"Too me, however, it makes no sense.  I understand that homeland security is important, but so is the war on drugs.  Yes, over 3,000 people lost their lives on 911, but more than 3,000 in the United States lose their lives every month because of drugs and problems associated with drugs.  As a nation, unfortunately, we have gotten numb to the problem of drugs.  If we keep ignoring, however, it will only get worse; it won't go away."

The total amount of local funding needed to operate the task force during fiscal year 2006 is $250,052.91.  That money is being paid by: Calhoun County Commission, $54,925.68; Anniston, $65,129.59; Heflin, $24,313.93; Jacksonville, $24,313.93; Piedmont, $24,313.93; Weaver, $2,500; the DA's office, $39,821.13; and CCDTF Condemned Funds, $14,734.72.

If the federal government pulls all funding from this program, then the price for each of those individual funding sources will double.  Jacksonville's cost will skyrocket to $48,627.83, not taking into account inflation or other things that could make the total budget climb.

Rather than simply ask them for money based on the fact that they have done so in the past, the task force presented the municipal leaders with a 2006 status report, showing what they have done, what they are designed to do, who they are and why they need these requested funds.

According to their report, statistical information from the last 18 months, shows that the task force has handled 2,112 cases, making 1,708 arrests.  They have closed down 71 meth labs.

Drugs seized by the task force, in the last 18 months, and their estimated street value, included:

- - 522,975 grams of marijuana, valued at $5,229,750;

- - 1,072 grams of crack, valued at $128,640;

- - 10,632.60 grams of cocaine, valued at $1,275,912;

- - 4,949 dosage units of prescription pills, valued at $37,117.50;

- - 3,907 grams of methamphetamine, valued at $976,750;

- - 1,392 dosage units of opiates, valued at $41,760;

- - 376 dosage units of hallucinogens, valued at $3,760; and

- - 30,131 marijuana plants, valued at $60,262,000.

The total street value for the drugs seized by the task force in the last 18 months alone equals $67,955,689.50.

"The problems the task force was initially formed to address are essentially the same as they were when we were founded in 1988," explained the report.  "While the types of drugs we have seen most frequently has changed in time, and the methods of delivery and production have constantly evolved, the same basic problem exists: the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs and the corresponding violent and property crimes those drugs cause has had and continues to have a devastating effect on the families and communities they affect.

"Methamphetamine continues to be the biggest drug threat in our area.  Our investigators have initiated an intensive intelligence and enforcement effort to identify drug traffickers involved in Meth importation, manufacture and distributions.  As has been the case throughout our seizure of meth labs, we continue to see attempts to manufacture Meth by cooks that have no concept of the danger of the chemicals they are using result in residential fires and serious injury to the ones attempting to manufacture the drug.  The danger to the community is not only the distribution of this highly addictive drug but the risk of explosion or chemical exposure to local residents makes it mandatory that upon report of a possible lab, our investigators respond immediately and in force."

The report also noted that a new threat has been confirmed in our area that is related to Meth.

"Through our close affiliation with the Birmingham DEA office," the report indicated, "we had been made aware of a new trend across the US of Mexican Cartels becoming involved in distributing large quantities of meth to areas heavily populated with persons addicted to meth.  Due to the quantities at their disposal, these Cartels are able to sell their product much cheaper than local manufactures.

"We gained first hand experience in this trend this fiscal year when we discovered a local Meth dealer was receiving his product from such a source.  With the assistance of the Birmingham DEA Field Office, one of our investigators was able to purchase Meth from this subject and his source of supply.  The source of supply was a Hispanic male in Cedartown, Georgia that is believed to have supplying up to 100 pounds of Meth a time to the North West Georgia, North East Alabama Region."

According to the report, other drugs that continue to be problems in this area include marijuana, cocaine and pharmaceuticals.

"Jacksonville is only paying about nine percent of the total program cost for this service," said Mayor Smith.  "Personally, I believe we are getting a very valuable service at a relatively small cost, especially when you consider the alternative.  I hate we need their help, but as long as we do, I am glad that they are here."

After some intense debate over the last few weeks, the council approved job descriptions for the finance department and requested the civil service board approve this action.  The positions approved included a finance/revenue specialist ( Range 33 ), a revenue administrator ( Range 35 ), and a finance accountant ( Range 38 ).  Mayor Smith acknowledged that he was not complete convinced of the need for these positions but sided with the majority on the issue, bowing to their view on the matter.  Councilman George Areno, however, cast a no vote.  He insisted he wanted the record to show that this was not something the council had come into easily and that the debate continued to rage concerning the necessity of this move at this time and place.

"My no vote," said Areno, "is just to say that we had a lot of discussion and disagreement on this matter and that they should not come back to us anytime soon asking us to change things again."

In conjunction with this approval, the council place Serita Abbott ( finance/revenue specialist ), Sandy Salisbury ( finance/revenue specialist ), Karen Tierce ( revenue administrator ), and Sandra Marion ( finance accountant ) into these positions.

Additionally, the council approved job description of account clerk/multi-functional, account clerk I/revenue administrator, revenue director and chief account clerk for the finance department; and street and sanitation assistant superintendent, street and sanitation records clerk, equipment operator II, equipment operator I and animal control officer, for the street and sanitation department.  They placed Clois Boozer, Constance Nation, John Wayne Andrews, Lamar Bas, Paul Turner, Greg Morgan, Albert Jarmon, Boyd Hodges, Donald Clark, Jimmy Harrell, Gregory Harrell, Roy Watson, William Wells, and Chester Edwards into these positions.

In other actions, the council voted unanimously to:

- - amend the minutes of their May 9 meeting to correct the step in which firefighter/paramedic/EMS coordinator Randall Childs was placed from Range 35-B, Step 12 to Range 35-B, Step 11;

- - award the bid for police department records software to Southern Software, Inc., of Southern Pines, NC, for $25,845;

- - award the bid for a zero turning radius mower for PARD to Talladega International Tractor of Talladega, for $10,085.10;

- - award the bid for the 2005 street improvements project to Logan Construction of Jacksonville, for $45.33 per ton;

- - authorize the mayor to sign a contract with Metro Mail Services or Anniston to provide for the printing and distribution of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management required 2005 Annual Water Report to all Jacksonville water customers, for $1,085;

- - authorize the mayor to sign a contract with B.R.  Kennedy to set up the file conversions for the new computer system in the city clerk's office, for $1,500;

- - approve purchases over $2,000, including $5,00 to Auburn University for payment due on Small Town Design Initiative; $3,413.25 to Glass & Son Flooring, Inc., for installing vinyl tile on the first floor of the police department; $3,025 to S.J.  Patterson Company for gas fittings; $2,678.70 to S.J.  Patterson Company for gas fittings and a tap; and $3,284.17 to Siberton Fence Sales, Inc.  for chain link fencing; and

- - approve $4,822.01 in travel expenses.