Atlanta employee Dawn Wintz caught with city vehicle at political event –

You all are complaining about a woman cleaning a vehicle she uses as an emt and because she stopped somewhere? Really? You ever see an ambulance at a store or restaurant? Im sure she has a radio or a pager in case something happened. She would actually respond faster since she didnt have to drive from home. Quit complaining about petty crap and get over yourselves. There’s bigger issues in town than a EMT truck at a political event. Dawn, dont let anyone bring you down with this. You did nothing wrong. Bunch of damn keyboard warriors. Im sure none of you have ever done anything wrong. Perfect citizens hahaha. Atlanta used to be a great town to live in and all you people are whats wrong with it now. Small communities are supposed to look out for one another. What would happen if there weren’t any Atlanta EMT’s? With all the shootings and accidents happening these days, cops hit by distracted drivers. She has to to take the risk of not going home to her family every time a call comes thru. Maybe she made a mistake, so freaking what! Mistakes are made by all of you on a daily basis and if you disagree then youre lying. Leave the woman alone and go on with your lives! Lifes to short for this bullshit!

Funny that in the private sector, no one does this type of thing. There are real strict rules if you are issued a vehicle that you NEVER ever use it for personal use. Not sure what the punishment would be if you got caught, but people in this position understand and are very conscientious about following those rules. Wonder why the political folks think they are so special that they can skirt an issue that calls for integrity. Oh, wait, never mind.

And for all those that think this is all about nothing, I know of TWO state workers that were terminated for use of the state vehicle for personal and political matters. One was a State Prison Review Board member who thought it was OK to drop off his petitions at the court house on his way to work. Wrong. State Terminated him. Private use of the vehicle and doing political matters on state time were key issues but not the only issue. Another one thought stopping at the bar and having a few was OK since it was on his way home. State terminated him for private use of vehicle and I recall a DUI.

The point is, its government property and unless it is being used for government purposes it should not be used at all.

What many do not understand is the fact we report truth and concerns of citizens when there appears to be violations of the rules. Citizens complained. We evaluated the information and by all the info available, to include the persons own admission, we published the article.

The numerous justifications have nothing to do with the rules that were violated.

It does not matter what funds were used to purchase the vehicle. If it is a government vehicle then the same rules apply, no matter how it came into their possession.

Volunteering has nothing to do with this. Volunteering is not a justification to do as you please and disregard the rules. I thank you for volunteering but please stop using that as an excuse to violate the rules.

What is so typical in this situation is how the person doing it deals with it. Rather than simply saying, sorry, I didn’t know, its justification after justification.

When you do something wrong, stop doing it and stop trying to justify it.

While I do not know if these people get paid for there service, I would place a bet they do, meaning they are not doing this for free as has been implied.

I’m just curious, you are aware that the fire dept./ems are all volunteers, right? They are not city paid. This articke is the lowest I have seen you go yet. Just when I think you couldn’t go any lower, you surprise me! This proves you do nothing but try to tear the citizens of Atlanta down and divide the community.

Although she stopped to do something in her personal interest while returning the vehicle, that vehicle is for the gub use and she could have prevented a need for the vehicle while doing her personal thing. To me it is akin to saying, “I only stopped to get a loaf of bread.” Further, “cleaning the vehicle ” sounds a little fishy. Is she a janitor for the premises? Is vehicle cleaning in her job description? If so, how is that specifically written. Does she then submit reimbursement receipts for cleaning supplies? For overtime? Does she keep the remaining cleaning supplies? What insurance coverage applies while she has command of this vehicle? Who is liable if she has an accident while in possession of the vehicle? What provisions are made pertaining to liability when she has the vehicle? Is taking vehicles home for ‘cleaning’ covered in the insurance clauses? Is she one of the people who normally uses this vehicle for official business? How is she responsible for the cleaning, if as she says, after its last use it was “trashed”? The matter of gub’ private use of taxpayer owned vehicles is an issue in many if not all municipalities.

My witty comment is as follows. If the worst you can come up with is an EMT was cleaning a vehicle, for free, using her own supplies to clean said vehicle. Then after cleaning the vehicle stopped to listen to the candidates for city council. Well dang we should just lock her up and throw away the key. Or maybe you should find something else to do with you free time. Being snarky towards a person who saves lives, does things for FREE, and is active in their community. Well what is the world coming to? Maybe you should have asked more questions before you looked for a problem.

We have many city employees who use city owned vehicles for private use. Once a year they reimburse the city an amount they feel is fair for the personal use of the vehicle.

Is this illegal?

Back at you Dawn! You so deserved this! So tell us what we need to do to allow her to face the consequences? Karma Bites!

Why not clean the vehicle where it is kept. Why take it to your home?