1 headline next to another: It’s all in the timing

Sallie Satterthwaitea has been a resident of Fayette Co. since 1971. She is involved in politics and the development of the community, and now a semi-retired housewife and grandma.

By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE
sallies@juno.com

One thing emergency workers have in common with news people is that they often marvel at the timing involved in what they do.

A fire/rescue unit can go for weeks with nothing worse than a dumpster blaze or a sprained ankle. And a reporter tries to “sell” his editor on yet another front-page spread on a doggy park because nothing more dramatic has surfaced for this week’s paper.

All right, I’m exaggerating about that part of the scenario. But the following is no exaggeration at all.

Suddenly comes an uncharacteristic and unseasonable tropical storm complete with power outages, lightning-spawned attic fires, and a search for a missing son. Two good men die in the storm, both apparently intent on helping others.

And a little weekend newspaper has four front-page stories, four photos, plus more of both on the inside, any one of which would have made a compelling front-page story by itself.

I didn’t know Thomas Allen Hurlbert, Jr., 54, before he died Wednesday night, but I feel as though I know him now. By all accounts he was a dedicated, nearly 20-year, veteran with the Rockdale County Fire Department. His brothers-in-blue from as far away as British Columbia planned to be there Saturday, to honor the fallen firefighter.

Firefighters from metro Atlanta staffed the Rockdale stations to free up all of Hurlbert’s friends to attend the funeral.

Henry Argo was Hurlbert’s chief, and if he was a good guy in Argo’s book, he must have been a good guy indeed. He was the first to die on duty in the department’s history.

This father of five, grandfather of four, was behind the wheel of a pumper when he was felled, apparently, by a massive heart attack. Reports say that no one was hurt and the truck was undamaged.

It was Hurlbert’s 15th call of the night.

I didn’t know Thomas Allen Hurlbert, but at 54, he wasn’t out there in that storm hot-dogging. He had stayed past his shift, one surmises, because he was needed. Undoubtedly he loved his job, but I can’t help reading between the lines that his department, like so many, may be understaffed.

The editorial staff of The Citizen were similarly heroic Wednesday evening, getting soaked so you got the whole story.

I’m very proud of them; they did a superb job. The above-the-fold story on the front was of the tragic death of a young man who seems to have exemplified everything good. The storm filled the middle of the page, and a murder was reported at the bottom.

The inside pages were mostly full of jumps from page one, but three new stories started in there. Two reminded us of the snafus of the I-85 exit ramps and changes in traffic patterns on Ga. Highway 54.

But what caught my eye was the story headed, “Police, fire positions axed from preliminary ’05-’06 budget.”

Next to a picture of rescue workers probing the culvert where Danen Clarke died, John Munford’s neat prose makes a complicated issue clearer.

But not that clear. There seems to be a perfectly logical explanation for every cut and reduction, yet I still don’t see it.

To my eyes, however, that graphic picture is mere centimeters from where it says the city planning staff recommends up to $2.3 million in debt financing “for specific capital improvements, including a new senior citizens” building

We’ve read before that the library expansion is around a million, or was before a design error ran the cost higher.

And I’ve forgotten how much the “Gateway Bridge” across the western entrance to the city on Hwy. 54 was going to cost. Seems like that was right around another million.

So both the police and the fire department are “axed” again.

It always seems as though the PD is doing its job well with what it has, and I’d like you to believe this is also true with the fire department.

Alas, however, the staffing increase the fire department is asking for would not bring the roster up to where it was supposed to be two years ago in order to meet national standards.

Read that again. National standards say that Peachtree City’s staffing is less than that recommended for a city of its size, and has been for several years. Should there ever be a death that could have been prevented by adequate personnel, the city is wide open for a wrongful death suit.

Look, we’re senior citizens and Dave is probably the library’s most faithful patron. We really don’t mind if you put off capital improvements for a few more years if you’ll direct to the public safety departments the funds they need.

It’s really too tempting to say if your house starts to burn or you have a wreck in the city, call the senior citizens and the librarians, so I’d better stop before I do.

With leadership of the quality we have now, I’m sure someone will remind us in front of every camera he can muster that “there are certain things you shouldn’t be doing in severe weather.”

And one of them is to cut the budget of the very departments that could make a difference.