County dispatch chief urges 0.2% sales-tax measure to fund Westcom upgrades

Esther Click, communications manager for Westcom (Walla Walla Emergency Services Communications), asked the Walla Walla County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 27 to place a 0.2% sales-and-use tax on the fall 2025 ballot to provide sustainable funding for the county's 911 dispatch center.

Click told commissioners the center answered 23,341 911 calls last year and 60,425 nonemergency administrative calls, for a total of 83,766 phone contacts; dispatchers created 57,378 calls for service in the computer-aided dispatch system. Click said the center currently staffs 15 people (12 dispatchers and three supervisors) and recommended hiring three additional dispatchers so a minimum of three trained staff would be on duty at all times.

"We took 23,341 9-1-1 calls last year," Click said. "I would say we need a minimum of three more dispatchers, which would create a minimum of three on the floor at…