Stockbridge Came Close To Not Having Police Services Thanks To Two Commissioners

Watching the Henry County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening was very irritating for my family to watch.  We have all known for years that the reason Henry County was hired to provided police services for the City of Stockbridge is because of the bad police department that existed in the middle 1970’s.  Old Chief Collier and his men were always going after people with out of county tags.  The State of Georgia came down hard on the City and when Rudy Kelley was elected Mayor in 1978 he dissolved the police department with the aid of the Stockbridge City Council and in the process hired Henry County to provide police service for the city.  Now the Board of Commissioners feel that it is time for the city to pay much more money and the city cannot see tripling the price they pay for their service and then let them have a nice precinct building for a low price.  Sounds like the $10 a year rent on that old bank building.  We listened as the
 Commissioners were ready to throw the citizens of Stockbridge out with the bath water.  Commissioners Holmes and Prince were being very vocal about not wanting to work with the city anymore.  Commissioner Barham felt that the police service should not be turned away from the people.  My brother said that the citizens pay enough property taxes to the county to cover any police service that is offered.  He said it sounds like double pay to him.  Mr. Prince made a remark saying that it wasn’t fair to the people of Locust Grove not to have a police unit available because it is in Stockbridge.  He needs to understand that Locust Grove has had it’s own police department all along with over 20 officers at any given time.  And I have a good friend who lives in the Locust Grove area and he said that there are always police and sheriff’s vehicles going to the shooting range outside Locust Grove.  My brother said that Prince needs to do another assessment
 of the situation.  If it weren’t for the begging of current sitting County Manager Cheri Mathews and County Attorney Jaugstetter the commissioners would have taken the police from Stockbridge last night.  Instead they will meet again on July 7th and hopefully the people from the county manager’s office can meet further with the people from the city of Stockbridge and bring a resolution to this matter that will be the best for both parties.  If the City of Stockbridge has to create its own police department then they will likely have to start having another city property tax for the citizens.  This will make many growl because they haven’t had a property tax in years.  The whole matter is using the citizens as pawns in the game that is being played with the lives of those who must be protected.  My father said that our only hope lies with the talks between the County Manager and the City Manager Mr. Harris and hopefully Mayor Thompson.  We live off
 of Flippen Road and in the complex across the road from our home is where the gang killing happened several years ago.  With the influx of people the police will be needed in Stockbridge.  The people are waiting for answers and decisions instead of threats and bickering.  That has gotten old.  It is time for those who are elected to lead to become true statesmen and lay aside petty grievances.

H.B.
Stockbridge


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