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Board approves four full‑time call‑taker positions for the 911 communications center
Summary
The board approved hiring four full‑time call‑taker positions for the county 911 communications center, with staff saying funding can be found for the remainder of the fiscal year and that the positions are intended to reduce training workload and overtime for dispatchers; the motion was moved by Miller and seconded by Jorgensen and passed by voice vote.
The board voted to approve adding four full‑time call‑taker positions at the county 911 communications center and to proceed with recruiting and hiring. Mitch (finance/communications staff) and communications staff told the board the funding appears available for the remainder of the fiscal year and that a budget amendment could be considered in the next cycle if needed.
Staff described the hiring as a strategy to reduce attrition and training costs for dispatcher positions. One staff member said the training pipeline is expensive and failure rates are costly: "it costs, you know, a $150,000 to get someone trained up to get them to their telecommunicator 3 slash dispatcher," the staff memo said. Board members discussed staffing levels (authorized positions, current incumbents and those in training) and asked staff to monitor overtime and the training pipeline as hires occur.
A motion by Miller, seconded by Jorgensen, to approve hiring four full‑time call takers (step grade 300) passed by voice vote. Staff said they would post the positions as soon as possible and return to the board once the telecommunicator 3 positions and call‑taker positions are full so the board can evaluate staffing results.
