Fire chiefs all oppose 911 oversight switch

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County’s 25 fire chiefs are unanimously opposed to switching the oversight of the county-operated 911 answering point from the county commissioners to Sheriff Randall Wellington, as he suggested late last month.

That opposition was announced in a Wednesday letter from fire Chief David C. Comstock Jr. of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District written on behalf of the Mahoning County Fire Chief’s Association, to the county commissioners.

The joint fire district serves Poland Township and the village of Poland.

In that letter, Comstock noted that a consultant told the commissioners in 2000 that the proposed 911 answering point built into the county jail, which opened in 1996, has a computer floor, but it isn’t big enough to be the everyday answering point.

That room, however, could be a backup emergency answering point, the consultant, RCC of Chicago, said.

The consultant also observed that relocating the regular 911 answering point, now in the county administration building, to a large jail building poses security concerns.

That consultant recommended that the county build an independent, stand-alone, county emergency-communications facility.

In his proposal, Wellington said the county could save more than $500,000 a year by reducing waste and duplication if he takes over the county’s 911 center and emergency management agency.

Comstock said, however, making such a move before a local committee exploring 911 improvements and consolidation finishes its work could be wasteful of tax dollars.