Letters to the Editor

Sardis chief responds

Editor:

I am writing in reference to the Over the Fence comment from the person thinking that Sardis police patrol other counties.

Law Enforcement agencies across the country are very short staffed. From Augusta to Savannah Law Enforcement is very short handed. Few good people want to enter this under-paid, under-appreciated career. The Sardis Police Department cannot pay the kind of salary that the larger agencies pay.

Through the leadership and forward thinking of the current mayor, city council and myself, the City of Sardis has a fully staffed, professional police department.

While we provide the officers the benefit of take-home patrol cars (as nearly every agency does), we are being fiscally responsible and operating within our budget. Some of our officers commute to Sardis from neighboring counties - and this, I imagine, is what the reader mistook for patrolling areas other than Sardis.

This is much more responsible than being short of staff and spending thousands of hours of overtime (exceeding the budget) as Sardis has had to do in the past.

As always (as of the last few years), the Sardis Police Department is operating fiscally responsibly while providing the best service and protection for the Citizens of Sardis.

John. D. Finley

Chief of Police, Sardis

Police Department

Thanks, Burke Medical

Editor:

We want to thank Burke Medical Center for the excellent care my husband received while a patient recently.

He spent more than a month in an Augusta hospital and received good care, but the care at Burke Medical far exceeded the others.

The doctors, nurses and other staff members rendered excellent care and made our stay as comfortable as possible.

We have a fine medical establishment here in Burke County and we should all be proud of it.

We also want to extend a special thanks to our family physician, Dr. Lamar Murray, for his care and concern.

Ed and Frankie Taylor

Waynesboro