Pleasant Hill council hears plan to move 24/7 dispatch to Cass County as staff cite staffing, cost and technology strains

City staff presented an informational report on July 13 about the sustainability of Pleasant Hill’s in‑house dispatch and a possible move to consolidated services with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

Shukla, identified by staff as the city’s new chief, told the council that the city operates one of five public safety answering points (PSAPs) in Cass County and has suffered chronic staffing shortages "since 2013," forcing overtime, off‑shift coverage by supervisors and lengthy training for new dispatchers. "We have been short staffed consistently since 2018," Shukla said, noting training takes three to four months and new hires require two people in the console while learning.

The presentation listed call volumes and explained duties dispatchers perform beyond answering 911, including processing walk‑ins, notifying public works after hours, sending animal control, monitoring the department security system and transferring fire/EMS calls. Staff emphasized the operational strain when officers or supervisors must cover dispatch shifts, saying that substitutes in dispatch remove supervisors from field duties.

Chief Lopez, speaking for the South Metro fire district’s experience, described prior consolidation steps his organization took and said consolidation cut their EMS ‘‘drop time’’ — the time from a 911 call to unit dispatch — from about 8 minutes to about 2 minutes and 13 seconds. "We saw the benefit in efficiency and in rerouting tax dollars for 911 efficiency," Lopez said, explaining that technology now allows calls to be transferred by keystrokes rather than verbal handoffs.

City staff presented a financial comparison: the city’s in‑house dispatch runs about $420,000 annually (about $56 per call by their calculation). The sheriff’s office provided an estimate that included a base fee and an estimated $12 per call; staff said the sheriff’s estimate around $110,000 was likely an upper bound when accounting for the city’s call profile and possible reductions in non‑essential calls. Staff warned the tally depends heavily on which kinds of calls are counted and whether routine patrol/administrative entries would continue to be created.

Multiple council members and residents pressed staff on operational details and public‑safety implications. Council members requested a written plan that would address: how overnight in‑building presence or lobby walk‑ins would be handled, jail monitoring and the frequency of in‑person checks of detainees, guaranteed response times, redundancy/backups if central systems fail, staffing levels the county would maintain for municipal traffic, and cost modeling that clearly matches the city’s recorded call volume.

Several members of the public stressed the human role dispatchers play. "Eliminating dispatch will eliminate that — there will not be someone in the building 24 hours a day," said Dana Rogers, who urged the council to consider the dispatchers’ broader liaison duties. Residents raised pay and overtime concerns and asked whether the city could instead increase wages and IT support to retain in‑house services.

Staff acknowledged employee impacts under consolidation would be significant: the current model would eliminate the city’s dispatch positions unless the city repurposed jobs. They said the alternative to consolidation is a commitment to higher dispatcher pay (staff suggested targeting parity with neighboring agencies, roughly $60,000+ in wages and benefits per position) and to dedicate more IT resources and subject‑matter expertise to support the record management/911 systems.

No vote was taken on July 13. Staff said the conversation was informational and indicated they would return with a written operational plan and a contract package for council consideration; staff also discussed a potential October 1 switchover date if the council chose to pursue consolidation. Council members asked staff to include clear proposals for retaining a staffed lobby presence for walk‑ins and for jail monitoring if the city moves forward.