MAHONING COUNTY Council OKs idea to look into plan to merge 911 centers

A separate 911 center drains the city budget, councilman says.
By ROGER G. SMITHand BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- The seemingly annual notion of merging city and county 911 functions has taken a step forward.
City and Mahoning County officials say they are willing to explore whether such a consolidation is feasible. Police Chief Robert Bush Jr. and Finance Director David Bozanich approached county commissioners a few weeks ago.
City council approved a resolution Wednesday supporting the exploration into joining the two 911 centers.
The idea comes up almost annually, Bush said, but a tight budget and need to cut costs prompted the city to formally approach the county. The city has 15 civilian call takers and four supervisors.
Mayor George McKelvey said council would receive the information it needs to make a decision on consolidation, the goal of which would be to "realize significant cost savings while providing comparable or improved service.''
The savings could be derived "from the economy of scale," he said. Major 911 systems, such as those serving New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, are "seamless" systems despite the large populations they serve, McKelvey said.
A comparison
All of Los Angeles County has a single emergency dispatching center, he noted. "It's probably strange that a city the size of Youngstown has two dispatch centers within 200 yards of each other," one run by the city and the other by the county, he observed.
"I think it was a mistake for us to go to our own 911 center," said Councilman Rufus Hudson, D-2nd. When the city was part of the county system, it contributed about $300,000 a year toward that system, but the city is spending about $1.7 million a year on its own system housed at City Hall, he said.
"It's a drain on our budget. We need to go back to only being a participant in the county system, rather than trying to have our own. We just can't afford it any longer," he said.
The idea is that the city workers would become county workers. In return, the city would pay the county for its share of 911 costs.
The city also has a police officer behind the microphone who actually dispatches patrols on the streets, and that wouldn't change in any consolidation, Bush said. Having an officer dealing with other officers over the radio in critical situations is vital, he said.
Study is needed
Somebody will need to study the financial effects on personnel and communication equipment to see if a consolidation makes sense, Bush said. That hasn't started yet and he isn't sure who would do that.
Mahoning County Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock said the timing is right for the county to explore a dispatching consolidation with the city.
"It's been a goal of ours to do as much consolidation as possible," Sherlock said.
Sherlock said any consolidation would affect only those county dispatchers who work in the communication center in the county administration building. The county system has satellite answering points in Boardman, Austintown, Canfield and North Lima, but they will not be impacted.
After the 911 issue is explored, the mayor said he'd also like to study consolidating the city and county health departments.
XCONTRIBUTOR: Staff writer Peter H. Milliken.