I was thoroughly impressed last week when I met Crestview’s newest city councilman, Charles Baugh. I wasn’t the only one who’s been impressed with the energetic retired Air Force sergeant.

Entering the job in mid-term, Councilman Baugh, wasted no time getting a feel for the job. To him, that means getting a thorough understanding of the services the city offers its citizens.

“To the guy who reads the meter to the guy who busts the bad guys, I want to see what they do,” Baugh said. For him, the best way to understand the different tasks of Crestview’s civil servants is to join them on the job.

Friday morning found Baugh patrolling the streets of the city with Crestview Police Sgt. John Cook.

“We rolled at 6:30 and got five calls in the first hour!” Baugh said. “Our police has a group of highly dedicated people taking care of the citizens of Crestview.”

Baugh expressed his praise of the city’s police chief. “Brian Mitchell is doing a great job and has brought innovation to this department,” Baugh said. “He leads by example. He is making sure they have the equipment they need and the leadership they need.”
Baugh’s on-the-job training will benefit the city in many ways, he feels.

“It helps me understand better when a department comes before the council,” he explained. “To be a city councilman, we are the stewards of the city. I want to go out and understand what each department does.”

Sgt. Cook was impressed with his partner for the day.

“I appreciate that Mr. Baugh would come out and ride with me today,” Cook said. “What impresses me the most is he wants to get out here in the trenches. That says a lot about his character.

“He wants to see behind the scenes,” Cook continued. “He wants to get out here and literally get in the trenches with the people who are working with him and for him.”

On Saturday Councilman Baugh joined the Crestview Fire Department for a day of observing and learning. He had previously visited two of the Fire Department’s stations.

One thing he discovered was our fire department only has one infrared gun to share between the three locations. The $20,000 device is an important tool that allows firefighters to “see” through smoke and flame before entering a burning building to ascertain if anyone is trapped inside.

Baugh realizes that tough economic times preclude the purchase of the additional IR guns, but he already has an idea how they can get ‘em. He plans a community fundraiser toward the goal.

“Just $2 per Crestview resident would put an IR gun in each fire station,” Baugh said.

“Mr. Baugh asks different employees, ‘What resources would make your job easier,’” John Cook said. “That’s a big concern of his, getting the right tools and resources into the right hands to make our jobs easier and more effective.”

Baugh’s mentors are the late councilmen Sam Hayes and Brenda Bush, whose term he is fulfilling.

“Every day I’m serving on the council, I know Mrs. Bush and Mr. Sam are looking down and watching me,” Baugh said. “I hope they give me the nod so I know I’m doing the right thing.”

After watching him carefully observing our community’s civil servants hard at work, I feel pretty confident that Bush and Hayes are smiling and nodding enthusiastically.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.