UPDATED: 911 consolidation vote coming

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Seconds are everything in an emergency, and the question remains if merging the City of Fort Wayne’s 911 call center with the Allen County 911 Dispatch center would really shave time off when getting a responder to an emergency call.

That very topic was discussed with high-up city and county leaders Monday morning inside the County Commissioner’s Office, and the meeting quickly got heated.

"This should be torn up and you should start all over," Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries said.

That feeling of disagreement with the proposal was echoed by Sheriff Fries throughout the meeting. He isn't fired up about the idea of a merger, but instead, the way the new center would likely be operated.

“I believe there will be delays in place throughout this process that some 911 calls won't get answered or that there will be delay in place that somebody won't get the help they need when they need it,” Sheriff Fries said.

Mayor Tom Henry feels differently.

“You don't have to transfer from the city to the county and that lapse of seconds can mean life and death and you can't put a price tag on that," the Mayor said.

Sheriff Fries says the two systems already operate on a streamlined basis. For example, county dispatchers often answer spill-over city calls.

In the meeting, Sheriff Fries and Mayor Henry discussed – and disagreed with each other.

"Information is gathered just as if [city and county call-takers] were a call taker sitting in the same room with them. The information is gathered and sent over to city dispatch and then they transfer the 911 call,” Sheriff Fries said.

“But they don't need to do that under this projected model. They could just go right to it and go directly. They don't need to transfer it,” Mayor Henry said.

“It would be the same thing,” Sheriff Fries said.

“I respect to disagree with you Sheriff,” Mayor Henry said.

“It's exactly the same thing, there's just no wall in between them,” Sheriff Fries continued.

The potential merger wouldn’t really be a difference in cost if the two merge. The bigger issue remains is if time savings can really be proved in this new method.

The Mayor said he'd sign off on that proposal, and urged the commissioners to do so, saying the city's police and fire chief agree.

The Commissioners could vote on it this Friday.

 

More on the proposal:

It would set up an operations board with three members appointed by the Mayor and three by the County Commissioners. A seventh member is jointly selected by the six members already appointed.

Under the proposal, the operations board would be responsible for selecting the agency’s executive director. The City’s controller will handle the accounting for the partnership. The executive director would compile an annual report that would cover things like the number of calls received, number of runs dispatched, speed of response and budgetary efficiencies. A cost-savings estimate, if any, has not been calculated for this proposal.

The plan calls for all current City and County dispatch center employees to become partnership employees. The operations board will select a benefit package equivalent to the City or County’s. Existing employees will not suffer any reduction in pay or benefits.

A final agreement requires approval from the Mayor, City Council, the Allen County Commissioners, and the County Council. A timeline for implementation would be established after approval.

 

This all comes just two weeks after former City 911 Communications Director Tina Taviano was removed from that position. They mayor said that's purely ironic.

As NewsChannel 15 first reported Friday, she was reassigned to a short-term role in the city controller's office.

She has a business degree from 1982, years of public safety work, and a brief stint in education. Yet, Mayor Henry told NewsChannel 15’s Matt McCutcheon on Monday that she'll work as a consultant, offering software support for the finance and HR divisions of city government.

“How specifically is that possible given that her training is in public safety and not necessarily in business,” McCutcheon asked.

“Well she's also an educator and she has a master's degree so it hasn't all been in public safety,” Mayor Henry responded.

“But what about some people who say maybe she isn't the most qualified for that position and that someone else may be,” McCutcheon asked.

“That's my call! I made that call,” a very agitated Mayor Henry said.

The city still isn’t releasing why they re-assigned Taviano.  Read more about that by clicking here.