UPDATE: Former Forsyth County Lieutenant Announces Campaign for Sheriff
Piper cites reckless spending and fiscal mismanagement he witnessed in the sheriff's office.
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Pdfs
Update: (Statement from Sheriff Ted Paxton, 11-21-11, 6:30 p.m.)
Duane Piper, a former U.S. Army paratrooper and 25-year veteran law enforcement professional, announced he is a candidate for Forsyth County Sheriff Thursday, Nov. 17, according to a news release.
"I decided to run for sheriff because I believe our citizens deserve a better, more efficiently run sheriff's office, Piper said in a statement. "When I'm elected, I'll stop the reckless spending the sheriff has engaged in during his term in office."
According to the news release, Piper spent the past 16 years as a member of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office before retiring in October to campaign full time for sheriff. During his career, he received more than 2,500 hours of continuing law enforcement training, including all three levels of supervision and management training offered by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Council.
Piper cited the reckless spending and fiscal mismanagement he witnessed in the sheriff's office as his motivation for announcing his candidacy.
"The sheriff's budget makes up 41 percent of the county's overall budget," he said. "If we don't get the sheriff's spending under control, our citizens are going to continue to see their property taxes increase year after year."
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved the 2012 budget on Oct. 21, including the Sheriff's Office operating budget for next year which increases by 35.5 percent, and the overall budget by 4.04 percent (see PDF file above for the summary of fiscal year 2012 budget and page 4 of the summary of fiscal year 2011 budget).
If elected, Piper said he will cut the sheriff's office budget by millions of dollars annually during his first year in office while increasing effectiveness and efficiency.
In response, Sheriff Paxton stated in an e-mail to Cumming Patch,
“I will be running for re-election next year. It has been an honor to serve the people of Forsyth County as their Sheriff. Over the past decade, the Sheriff’s Office has been transformed into one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the State of Georgia. We have received countless numbers of awards from the National Sheriff’s Association as well as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, MADD, and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. We were initially accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies in 2003, received reaccreditation in 2006 and 2009.
As a matter of fact in 2009 we were named a “Flagship Agency” recognizing us to be in the unique category of the “best of the best.” The recognition given to our agency over that period of time is unprecedented and demonstrates my commitment to provide the most professional service to this county as is possible. My record stands for itself.
I will respond to the campaign rhetoric of my former employee at the appropriate time.”
Read more about Duane Piper on his Web site.
Read about Sheriff Paxton on the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office Web site.
Editor's note: Forsyth County budget from fiscal year 2005-2012 can be found here.
William Evelyn Jr.
7:03 am on Monday, November 21, 2011
Can I vote for him now?
Kim
8:55 am on Monday, November 21, 2011
He has our vote. The spening by this Sheriff AND approved by the commissioners has been ridiculous!
Laureen Holt
7:09 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011
Vote 'em out of office if you don't like what they're doing!
That's how it works here!
bruinsfan
7:47 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011
I'm tired of watching the officers ride around in late-maodel, gas guzzling vehicles. It's just one of the wasteful practices by this law enforcement dept. In this regard, they are not doing all they can to truly serve the people of this county. I'd also like to know why we house so many people from other counties in the jail ! sounds like a "money-maker" to me. Where's it all going?
Liz Kennedy
10:52 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011
Dear Patchers - while we always encourage your opinion and/or comments on the stories we publish - what we will not tolerate are two things: inappropriate language and personal attacks on person(s) we write about. Any such comments will be deleted. If you have issue with this stand - write to me personally at liz.kennedy@patch.com - thank you.
Liz Kennedy, Editor, Cumming Patch
Marc
8:41 am on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
ask this publication to look into and print the budget of the sheriffs office. Then we as citizens, tax payers and voters can make our own decisions as to whether this 41% of our budget is well spent or not. At what cost did those awards cost us the tax payer? I would be happy with just a well functional sheriffs dept at a lower cost.
Been Watching
9:01 am on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
It's time for a change and new faces in these roles in Forsyth County!! The reason we house out of county prisoners is so the current Sheriff could claim our jail was full and trick gullible citizens into voting for his new jail system he so desperately has wanted for 8 years+.. Now we get to house even more out of county prisoners to make more money.... so they can claim we're out of room. If we give the current sheriff another 4 years... I'm seriously selling my home and moving to Oconee County where Sheriff Berry WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE!!!
Marc
9:12 am on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
If we have been housing out of county prisoners and that is the reason for our jail being over crowded then the in my opinion constitutes fraud on the tax payer and voters. Part of the reason some of the voters voted for the SPLOST was the belief we had no more room in the jail. If it is true the space is being taken up by out of county offenders than that is a crime into itself. All of our political appointees need to explain this or be ready to stand in the unemployment line next election.It is transparent that our non transparent elected officials have a lot of explaining to do.
Kim
10:03 am on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Sheriff's response reflects the "fluff" and his need for appearance and recognition at the expense of the taxpayer. If he believes his record of awards is what makes our county safe and our money well-spent, he thinks differently than we do! We too are tired of seeing the excessive number of patrol units on the roads and / or parked, visiting with each other for extended periods of time...and horse trailers, golf carts, etc. We are ready for a change and the taxpayers deserve better.
Marc
10:21 am on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Kim,
You hit the nail on the head. Go up and down 369(possibly the most well patrolled road in the state) and you can see 2 or three patrol cars sitting at the BP station at any given time or at the church up the street. And many cars going up and down Mt Tabor road. Now it may sound funny that we are complaining about lots of patrol cars on the road but it only makes a difference if they are doing something. And if we have enough patrol cars to have a constant presence on STATE road 400 then either we have too many or these are wasted resources Let the state patrol the state roads and Forsyth County take care of our own. .
R Weaver
8:57 pm on Monday, December 19, 2011
Can you ask Mr Piper if he will lead a more moral department? I have heard from friends that work there that there is a cover up in the sheriff's office where a night time supervisor was having sex with a teenage girl and he is still supervising people. Wow, great judgement there. Was that ever looked into? How can someone like that still be a boss? Ridiculous in my opinion, and I vote!
Ralph Stepp
11:13 pm on Saturday, February 4, 2012
If you the public are truly fired up by these revelations, plan to attend the Forsyth County Tea Party hosted debates. FCTP will host debates for all sides to see what happens in the light of day. Too much of our County's business is hidden from the voters, If the senior center is too small a venue then we will find a bigger one to accommodate the most important participant in this election -----------AWAKE and INVOLVED CITIZENRY---------SHALL NOT BE CONTROLLED
Kim
7:44 am on Sunday, February 5, 2012
We would love to see debates. I look forward to hearing when they will be held.
Ralph Stepp
8:05 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
Monday night March 19 6:30 to 8:30 at the Senior Center beside the Cumming Library.
Marc
8:32 am on Friday, March 16, 2012
I had just learned that the budget for the Sheriffs dept is $38 million dollars. This is not NY city people! The 2012 budget was increased by 35% yet the fire fund decreased by 2%. You are far more likely to need Fire/Ambulance then ever needing a Deputy coming to your home. The overall budget for the county went up by only 4% so if the Sheriiffs budget was under contro. we would have actually had a decline in our overall budget costs.. Do we really need 2 mobile command units costing in the million? Do we really need brand new large gas guzzling patrol cars every few years? And i was told that the tickets written by our sheriffs dept amount to in the millions if not 10 million a year? If that is true then it seems to me the main job of our deputies is to be tax collector as opposed to deterrents of crime. Just look at all the speed traps on 369. And what are our deputies doing on 400? That should be the domain of the State Patrol.
It is time for Forsyth Co to real in our Sheriffs Depts out of control need for toys and the need to eat up our tax monies. get out their and vote people . time for a change.