Mahoning County gets new EMA director
YOUNGSTOWN — Consolidating 911 dispatching and increasing the number of emergency warning sirens from 59 to 65 in Mahoning County are among the priorities of the county’s newly appointed emergency management agency director.
The Mahoning County commissioners promoted Clark A. Jones, 61, of Poland, to the county’s EMA directorship, effective Thursday.
The commissioners named Jones as the agency’s interim director in December, following the retirement of Walter Duzzny, who had been the county’s EMA director for 25 years. Jones supervises a staff of 19, including EMA office staff and 911 emergency dispatchers employed by the county.
Jones said he favors consolidating the county’s seven 911 answering points, ideally into a single secure, centrally located dispatching center, preferably in a new building. Such an arrangement would achieve “economies of scale,” eliminate unnecessary duplication of efforts and save tax dollars, he said.
Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com