From Bob Schwartz, City Manager
→ GMA District Meeting – It’s time for the GMA fall district meetings. Here’s our invitation.
I’ll be driving up to Commerce for this meeting. Please let me know if you want to ride together
and I’ll RSVP for you.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013 TO: City officials in GMA’s 5th District
FROM: Keith Burchett, GMA 5th District President and Mayor Pro Tem, City of Commerce
RE: Fall District Meeting
Please make plans to attend the Georgia Municipal Association’s 5th District Fall Meeting to be held on
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at the Commerce Civic Center in Commerce, Georgia. The meeting will begin
at 6:00 pm and conclude by 8:00 pm. Dinner will be provided. There is no charge to attend, but we request
that you RSVP by Friday, October 25 to Becky Taylor of the GMA staff to let us know how many will
attend from your city.
This year, the program for Fall District Meetings will focus on GMA Programs and Services. GMA’s Executive
Director, Lamar Norton, members from GMA’s marketing and services team, and governmental relations staff
will provide updates on activities and legislative issues, and the meeting will conclude with roundtable discussions
focusing on how GMA can improve services to your cities. The Fall District Meetings are a great way for city
officials to connect and catch up on what is happening in our District, while also learning more about what GMA
is working on statewide.
We also want to give the House and Senate members in our district an opportunity to participate in this discussion,
so I would encourage you to extend a personal invitation to your legislators to join us for the meeting.
→ Police Department – The Police Department has had a particularly eventful week. Here’s how Chief
Harvey summarizes it.
This week has been a rather busy week for the police department.
After leaving a dispute call, officers noticed a suspicious person in a vehicle parked at a home where a wanted subject
was known to frequent. Although the wanted subject was not at the location, the suspicious person turned out to be
wanted in a nearby county and the vehicle that the person was in was stolen from a different county. The stolen vehicle
was recovered and the suspicious person charged and taken to jail.
On a different day, an officer was patrolling another location where a wanted person with a felony warrant was known
to frequent and had actually escaped out the back window on a previous arrest attempt. The officer noticed the vehicle
parked in the rear of the house and actually saw the wanted subject walk outside. The officer called for assistance and
the wanted subject was located in a locked room inside the house. The subject was arrested and taken to jail where
the nearby agency that had issued the warrant picked him up.
One citation was issued for an animal running at large after reports of a lose pit bull were called in.
The police department was honored to have had the opportunity to take part in the funeral service for Councilman
Frank Davis Wednesday. Councilman Davis will be missed and our thoughts and prayers are with the family.
→ Grounds Maintenance RFP– We’ve completed work on the RFP. We are advertising for bids with the bids to be
received November 6. My goal is to review the bids in the November work session and make an award in the December
council meeting. The proposed contract would be for a year and would start January 1. We’ve attached the Grounds
Maintenance RFP(here) and the map(here) of the lots where we trim the right-of-way.
→ Safety Coordinator – Here is an article from the Sunday edition of The Covington News.
Oxford puts focus on safety
 | By Gabriel Khouli gkhouli@covnew.com 770-728-1409 |
No, not the upset citizens — at least not physically — but criminals, electrical lines and heavy equipment all
carry varying degrees of risk.
Oxford City Clerk Lauran Willis is taking on the additional duty of being the city’s safety coordinator to focus
on improving safety among all employees and to allow the city to eventually get up to $6,000 each year to buy
new safety equipment such as safety vests and defibrillators, City Manager Bob Schwartz said.
Schwartz said the safety coordinator position was recommended by the city’s insurance carrier, the Georgia Interlocal
Risk Management Agency (GIRMA), which is an insurance cooperative used by multiple cities through the Georgia
Municipal Association. GIRMA told the city hiring a coordinator could improve safety and cut down on Oxford’s
insurance claims.
Oxford has 13 employees, including three employees who work on the city’s electrical systems and water and sewer lines.
Those employees already attend monthly meetings with the city of Covington’s utility workers, but the city’s other
employees don’t attend regular meetings. As safety coordinator, Willis will hold monthly safety meetings.
As an incentive, the city can then earn up to $6,000 each year from GIRMA for safety-related supplies and equipment.
"Police officers have a dangerous occupation, electrical workers have a dangerous occupation and water and sewer
workers have a dangerous occupation. Even the guys who pick up leaves and brush and run the chipper, often do their
work on the street and have to be aware," Schwartz said.
Willis will attend three GIRMA training sessions to become certified as a safety coordinator.