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Commissioners reinstate vacation credit and pay for returning dispatcher amid staffing crunch
Summary
Facing recruitment and training challenges in the 911 communications center, commissioners voted to restore prior vacation accrual and forego a 10% training pay penalty for a returning dispatcher with four years' experience.
The communications center director asked the board to restore vacation accrual and bump pay to full-time for a returning dispatcher, citing industrywide staffing shortages and long training requirements. The director said the employee, Ashlyn Pant, had four years' previous experience and had rejoined as full time; staff asked the board to waive a 10% training pay reduction and credit prior service toward vacation accrual.
A commissioner moved to reinstate Ashlyn's vacation time and forego the 10% penalty "since she's got 4 years of experience in this position," and another commissioner seconded the motion. The board voted in favor by voice; commissioners and staff discussed changing handbook language to allow more managerial flexibility for recruiting experienced candidates. The communications director highlighted training costs and time, saying early attrition of recent hires had left the county with significant sunk training costs.
The director also announced that after nearly 2.5 decades, deputy director Kelly Landers will step down to part time and that Carly Holsinger, a 10-year dispatcher and longtime trainer, will serve as deputy director for communications. Commissioners congratulated Holsinger and requested staff follow up with personnel paperwork and any handbook changes needed to provide hiring flexibility.
