Wake County to take control of shooting range from Sheriff’s Office
This story was updated at 5 p.m. Friday.
Wake County will take control of the county’s firearms training center away from the Wake County Sheriff’s Office.
The
county will determine the “appropriate balance of use between the
public and law enforcement,” according to a memo sent to Sheriff Gerald
Baker Friday afternoon from Wake County Manager David Ellis.
“We will work with you and your staff on a transition plan to ensure law
enforcement has the appropriate use of and continued access to this
facility for training purposes,” the memo said.
“We
will work with you and your staff on a transition plan to ensure law
enforcement has the appropriate use of and continued access to this
facility for training purposes,” the memo said.
The Sheriff’s Office abruptly ended its contract
with Range Safety Management (RSM) because of the company’s “lack of
profitability” and cash handling concerns, according to a Wednesday news
release from the Sheriff’s Office. RSM manages the part of the center
that is open to the public.
More than 5,000 people signed a petition to keep the center open to the public.
Moving too quickly?
The
chairman of the Wake County commissioners says Sheriff Gerald Baker
acted too hastily in announcing a plan to close the county’s firearms
training center to the public.
“It’s
important to note that the county owns the facility, and the Sheriff’s
Office operates it,” Commissioner Greg Ford said in a statement
late Wednesday. “Based on this joint partnership, it’s reasonable to
assume that we would reach an agreement on a decision of this magnitude
together before making an announcement. That was not the case
(Wednesday).”
There
was a 2008 agreement between the county and the Sheriff’s Office
stating the sheriff would oversee the management of the firearms center
even though the county owns the property. Friday’s memo states the
county will now oversee the management of the center.
“The
Sheriff’s Office is, essentially, a tenant of the building the county
owns and given the tenant has canceled the contract with the vendor, and
is not acting in good faith as a partner with the county as intended,
we are reviewing all options,” Ford said Wednesday.
The Sheriff’s Office had agreed to honor classes for the public through Jan. 5.
“It
is never helpful when you are in a relationship or partnership and one
party is making a significant decision and not letting the other member
of that relationship know about it in advance or even discussing it with
us before making an announcement,” Ford said. “This is not about party
or politics, this is about public service.”
Conflicting statements
The
Sheriff’s Office’s news release stated county staff “agreed with the
decision, after reviewing what amounted to a lack of financial
stability, resulting in the sheriff’s office subsidizing the private
company’s sustainability, for the past seven years,” according to a WCSO
memo.
Ford said that is not true.
“The
sheriff’s statement clearly says there was collaboration between his
office and Wake County government staff and that is, unfortunately, not
the case,” he said.
No
Wake County staff members who “would normally be involved” were
contacted or knew closing the center to the public was a possibility,
Ford said.
In
a phone call Thursday, sheriff’s spokesperson Eric Curry said the
statement’s reference to “the decision” that county staff had agreed to
was actually about the county’s awareness of the financial concerns.
“In
the statement, it was (that) the county staff was aware of the
accounting inconsistencies, but in regard to the decision making, (the)
decision of canceling the contract was solely the sheriff’s,” Curry
said.
When
asked if county staff knew the center would be closed to the public
before the news release was sent out, Curry said the sheriff made the
decision with input from his senior staff and staff members at the
training center, but he wasn’t sure whom Baker spoke with
Ford also called the “findings” about handling money insignificant.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article238560118.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
These comments will be submitted to the Wake County Board of Commissioners at their Jan 6, 2020 meeting. Please be respectful. Remember - we're the class act here!