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May 7, 2004
NORTHERN NYE CRITICAL OF MOVE Dispatch won't be centralizedDEMEO'S GOAL TO STREAMLINE 911 BRANCH OF SHERIFF'S OFFICE SHOT DOWN BY COMMISSION
By HEIDI J. BERTOLINO
DeMeo pled his case that northern dispatch positions could not be filled and Pahrump and Beatty dispatchers were called upon to fill the vacancy costing the department extreme overtime expenses. Eastley refuted DeMeo's statement, saying that dispatch employment ads had only been run in the Tonopah Times-Bonanza newspaper twice in a year's time. She also said the ads were not routed through county human resources and did not fit normal county criteria for employment advertisement. A telephone call was placed to SBC representative Pat Irwin, who expressed the advantages of having a centralized dispatch center. He also said it did not matter where the central point was located and the need to have consistent mapping throughout the county to have the system work efficiently. Eastley asked if SBC had an interest in being awarded the contract being discussed and Irwin admitted they did. DeMeo said he did not intend to lay off the Tonopah and Beatty dispatchers but would transfer the positions to Pahrump. He also stated that other counties within the state had centralized dispatch including Lincoln County, which is the most comparable size to Nye County. Eastley argued that Lincoln County had only one population center and counties as large as Nye, such as San Bernardino County in California, did not have centralized dispatch centers. San Bernardino County is 300 square miles larger than Nye and has three dispatch centers. Commissioner Candice Trummell questioned the quality of communications for the sheriff's department, saying the advanced communications system and radio frequencies had been promised many months ago and still had not been secured. She and Chairman Henry Neth said that when the department had all its communications issues resolved then they would entertain the funding request for dispatch trunk lines. Many northern residents stated their wish to keep the northern dispatch office open, including former sheriff Wade Lieseke. Lieseke said it was bad public policy and bad for public safety to put all your eggs in one basket. Lieseke attempted to centralize dispatch during his last term in office, but backed off after strong public resentment surfaced. Emergency service volunteers from Round Mountain and Beatty expressed the view that communications were sometimes difficult in the current situation with Tonopah, and routing calls further to Pahrump would be detrimental to hazmat volunteers, sheriff deputies, and fire and ambulance volunteers. Other residents said the personal service of having a resident dispatcher was a public safety issue. Still others offered examples of how having a localized dispatch center had increased effectiveness in responding to emergency calls. Some criticized the Pahrump dispatchers who were not familiar with the area and left emergency responders scouring for the emergency once dispatched. Dirk Pearson stated the necessity to provide emergency dispatch from Tonopah in the event the proposed Yucca Mountain trains or trucks hauling high level nuclear waste came under terror attack. The residents filled the commissioners' chambers and applauded when commissioners voted unanimously to deny DeMeo's request. |
