Alabama Closes Numerous Driver’s License Offices, Atmore To Remain Open
October 1, 2015
Numerous driver’s license offices across Alabama are now closed — including those in Brewton and Bay Minette, while Atmore will remain open.
An $11 million cut in the new General Fund appropriation to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) forced the elimination of travel to 31 part-time, non-state owned, satellite locations. Effective Wednesday, the traveling driver license examiners were reallocated to staff district driver license offices full-time.
Alabama issues an average of 1.2 million driver licenses each year. The Driver License Division is severely understaffed and has 103 vacant positions as a result of past budget cuts and attrition. Analyzing transactions performed in each location throughout the state revealed the combined efforts of the 31 part-time satellite locations accounted for less than five percent of all Alabama Driver License transactions performed by ALEA. The busiest of these 31 satellite locations performed less than 2,000 transactions during 2014.
The schedules for ALEA District Driver License Offices are available online at www.alrenewal.com. Additionally, to help citizens who currently utilize these part-time, satellite locations, ALEA has developed an interactive Citizen Services Locator Map that will identify and locate the closest office and the services it provides. Citizens can access the Citizens Services Locator Map by visiting www.alrenewal.com.
Pictured top: The driver’s license office inside the Atmore City Hall will remain open. Pictured below: List of now closed driver’s license offices. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
No Staff Cuts Yet As Citizens Insurance Sheds Policies
October 1, 2015
Efforts to move policies from Citizens Property Insurance into the private market could eventually lead to the state-backed insurer trimming staff.
President and CEO Barry Gilway told Citizens board members Wednesday that if the number of polices drops far below 450,000 — the number projected for the end of 2016 — lower revenue will also necessitate a change in the insurer’s administrative “model.”
But that won’t be the case when a budget for the coming year is presented in December, he said.
The company, which has been able to amass a financial surplus as Florida has not felt a direct hit from a hurricane in nearly a decade, employs about 1,100 people, and Gilway said that number will hold when the budget is released.
“You won’t see a proposed significant drop in employee count, simply because in the claims areas, as an example, we actually need to add staff to do a more effective job in the water-damage arena,” Gilway said.
When Gilway requested the Office of Insurance Regulation approve a rate hike for Citizens policyholders in August, he pointed to a “disturbing” rise in water-damage claims in South Florida as a key factor in the need for the increase.
However, Gilway said the overall number of Citizens employees shouldn’t grow as the company is able to reduce in other areas through attrition.
“We all know the balance, we have to run an efficient organization,” Gilway said. “But we also have to be in a position that we can scale rapidly in the case of a single event, multiple events, and frankly a change in reinsurance pricing.”
Spokesman Michael Peltier noted after the meeting that while Citizens hasn’t changed its core staff, the company has been able save millions of dollars the past couple of years by reducing about 900 “contingency” positions, which are people hired as freelancers from other companies.
“We’re at this point based upon where we have been in the past 18 months,” Peltier said.
The current low cost for reinsurance — insurance for insurance companies — has been a large driver in allowing private insurance firms to grow and pick up policies from Citizens, including some coastal accounts that present more risk from storms.
Citizens has reduced its number of policies from a high of 1.5 million in 2012, when Gov. Rick Scott pushed to scale back the agency by moving more homeowners into private coverage, to now around 586,000.
Gilway said the company could be in the low-500,000 range by the end of this year, even though reductions through what is known as the private-insurer “takeout” process have seemingly slowed this year.
So far this year, of the 713,336 Citizens policies made available through the process, 141,680 policies have been moved into private hands.
A reason for the overall low turnover is that private insurers typically select the least-risky policies to remove from Citizens. Also, policyholders are allowed to reject takeout offers.
Still, more polices are expected to shift later this year. The Office of Insurance Regulation has approved more than 460,000 polices for separate “takeouts” planned for mid-October and mid-November.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Thin Blue Line, Thin Red Line Flags Now Fly In Flomaton
October 1, 2015
The thin blue line and thin red line flags are now flying outside the Flomaton police and fire station on Highway 31. The flags were purchased by a local citizen to show support for police and fire personnel. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Corrections Department Passes Standards Inspection
October 1, 2015
The Escambia County Corrections Department recently completed the annual Florida Model Jail Standards (FMJS) inspections. Corrections passed both the Jail Standards and Medical Unit inspections, with the inspectors finding no serious violations, according to a county news release.
On August 24, FMJS Inspectors, Lt. April McQueen and Sgt. David Harvey conducted the annual inspection of Corrections facilities including the Main Jail and Work Release Center. During the Inspection only three minor violations were found. These violations are a result of the loss of the Central Booking and Detention (CBD) facility which was destroyed last year in an explosion.
On September 17, FMJS Medical Inspector, Lt. Donna Wainright, R.N, conducted the annual medical inspection of the Escambia County Jail, Escambia County Road Prison and Work Release Center. There were no violations found.
Florida Model Jail Standards are the basic standards for all jails in the state. Escambia’s Corrections Department also holds accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) and the Florida Corrections Accreditations Commission (FCAC).
Dads Head To School At Pine Meadow, Lipscomb Elementaries
October 1, 2015
Pine Meadow and Lipscomb elementary schools took part in “Dads, Take Your Child to School Day” on Wednesday. The day was proclaimed by Gov. Rick Scoot who said that research suggests that when fathers are actively involved in their child’s education, students perform better academically, have few discipline problems and become more responsible adults.
Dads and other male role models, such as grandfathers, stepdads and foster dads were also encouraged to take part.
Lipscomb Elementary welcomed dads to campus with “Donuts for Dads”, and at Pine Meadow, dads had the opportunity to follow their children through their school day.
Photos by Kim Stefansson for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
56 New State Troopers Graduate from FHP Academy
October 1, 2015
There are 56 new troopers in the Florida Highway Patrol, joining 1,800 already patrolling the state’s roadways. The newly graduated troopers went through 28 weeks of intense physical and classroom training covering topics such as human relations, law, firearms, defensive tactics, vehicle operations and first aid. Upon reporting to their duty stations, the new troopers will be placed with a certified Field Training Officer (FTO). Troopers will work in tandem with their respective FTO for up to 12 weeks prior to being released to solo duty. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.