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Dispatchers and city employees urge council to address pay, staffing and aging radios
Summary
Multiple city employees and union leaders told the Simi Valley City Council on June 23 that low pay, chronic vacancies and outdated radio equipment are stretching public-safety and maintenance services and increasing costs for the city.
Madam Mayor and members of the Simi Valley City Council, community members and city employees urged the council on June 23 to address low pay and staffing shortages that they say are harming public safety and municipal services.
Speakers said the city’s dispatcher ranks are short, radios are failing and turnover is costly. “In the 1 year I've been here, 7 people have left the department due to the low pay, the mandatory overtime, and the constant pressures of being over understaffed, underpaid, and overworked,” Simi Valley Police Department dispatcher Paris Murphy told the council. Murphy said each departed hire costs the city “approximately $50,000 to hire and train.”
The appeals came during the public-comment portion of the council…
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