ALFRED — Some recently laid-off and current York County government workers and a handful of supporters rallied Monday, emphasizing the toll they say the lay-offs will take on public safety and other county services.
About a dozen former workers marched in front of York County Courthouse and along the sides of Route 111 to draw attention to the cuts. They said residents will feel the effect.
“We feel the safety of York County was put at risk,” said Janine Nichoalds,laid off from her job as a victim witness advocate in the District Attorney’s office Sept. 14. “The victims of crime won’t be served. The county management needs to set down and devise a five-year plan to get the county out of this mess ”“ it’s down on its knees.”
Twenty-four workers ”“ including seven sheriff’s deputies, five clerks in the district attorney’s office, seven in the registry of deeds, three in probate, a sheriff’s office clerk and a clerk in the finance office ”“ received word early in the afternoon of Sept. 14 that they were laid off immediately. By the end of the day, they were gone.
Hoisting signs that proclaimed “York County Deserves Better,” and “Get out of Jail Free,” the workers handed out flyers to folks headed inside the courthouse, waved to motorists, and talked to the news media. They were joined by about six supporters.
Off duty Kennebunk Police officer Christopher Russell said he attended to support the workers. He said the layoffs will affect crime victims whose cases will be slowed because of the layoffs at the district attorney’s office and pointed out that delays might also effect defendants’ due process rights. As a police officer in a town near Arundel, which relies on the Sheriff’s Office for patrol service, he said he also worries about the ability of deputies or state police to respond quickly in an emergency.
While York County Commissioners had indicated two weeks before the layoffs that workforce cuts were coming, department heads have said the abrupt way in which the layoffs were handled meant they had to scramble to avert immediate difficulties. The county is facing a $1.3 million shortfall.
District Attorney Mark Lawrence, whose clerical staff has shrunk from 20 to 12 since last December, said the desks of workers were stacked high with cases in process. The office handles 14,000 criminal cases annually and at any given time, 10,000 may be open cases in various stages of processing.
Lawrence said the staff was able to handle the crisis in the short term, by closing offices to the public some days and shifting workers from one office to another, but said in the long term that isn’t a solution.
“Where we go from here I don’t know,” said Lawrence, Monday.
The rally was organized by the county’s clerical workers, members of the Maine State Employees Association local 1297.
Local 1297 president Rachel Sherman said the county needs to explore new revenue streams and develop a long term plan. She said ideas to find revenue include raising the amount the county is allowed to retain from real estate transfer taxes, the bulk of which is currently retained by the state.
Rep. Jim Campbell, who represents Alfred, Limerick, Newfield and Shapleigh, said he’s agreed to co-sponsor legislation addressing county government in the coming session.
“I came out to see what’s going on, not to do any fingerpointing,” said Campbell. “I support the sheriff, the unions and (the) union and non-union workers.”
Campbell said he also wanted to send the message to the county commissioners that while the legislature may have passed the jail consolidation legislation, which is blamed in part for the shortfall, “We seem to be the only county with a problem.”
Until the consolidation, counties used revenues from prisoner board to offset other county expenses, but a new provision in the law means that revenue must be dedicated to jails. County Manager Richard Brown estimated that means a loss of $932,000 for 2010, and that, combined with health insurance rate increases and contractual raises, means an overall $ 1.3 million shortfall.
The county is working with Sens. Richard Nass (R-Acton) and Barry Hobbins (D-Saco) on legislation, said Brown last week, including a provision that would mandate jail construction debt be taken form the $8.677 million cap the county is required to pay through consolidation, that jail revenue earned from prisoner board be allowed for general use and to allow the county to charge the jail for the cost of payroll processing.
Brown was ill and not in his office on Monday. This morning, he said he hadn’t seen news reports about the rally and couldn’t comment because he was about to attend a meeting.
In previous interviews, Brown has said the budget cuts were necessary. He said the only other alternative would have been to do nothing, a move which he said would have resulted in shutting down county services sometime next year.
— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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