(VIDEO) ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR A "CONSOLIDATED" 9-1-1 STARK SYSTEM?

UPDATE:  11:45 AM

ENTIRE VIDEO  OF 07/11/2013 SCOG 9-1-1 GOVERNANCE BOARD MEETING

VIDEOS

FORMER STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER

JANE VIGNOS

MAKES MOTION 

TO RECOMMEND TO 

STARK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

THE PURCHASE OF A 

CAD SYSTEM & 800 MHZ RADIOS

RANDY GONZALEZ

UPDATES

STARK'S EMERGENCY FORCES

ON

9-1-1 REHAB

JOE CONCATTO

UPDATES

STARK'S EMERGENCY FORCES

ON

9-1-1 REHAB

ENTIRE 07/11/2013
SCOG 9-1-1 GOVERNANCE BOARD MEETING

It was a touch ironic yesterday that former Stark County Commissioner Jane Vignos made the motion requested by Stark County Council of Governments (SCOG) 9-1-1 Governance Board Chairman Randy Gonzalez that SCOG recommend to the Stark County commissioners:

• that they spend some $2.35 million (according to County Administrator Brant Luther) being held by them to purchase a Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) system, for
• a "consolidated," not yet a "regionalized" (see Burgasser correction in Vignos motion video posted below),
• and to apply the rest of the money towards buying state-of-the-art 800 mhz radios for Stark emergency forces who do not presently have them.

Vignos motion - "somewhat ironic?"

Yes.

Republican Vignos was one of three Stark Commissioners (Democrats Todd Bosley and Tom Harmon being the other two) who "imposed" as 0.5% county sales tax which was highlighted as being to fix what was term then (December, 2008) as being a broken Stark County emergency call receiving and dispatching operation.

But the tax did not last long.

Local attorney and civic activist Craig T. Conley soon figured out that the imposed tax was not entirely for a 9-1-1 fix.  Half of the revenues were for the county general fund.  However, that fact was glossed over by the-then commissioners and other county officials who wanted to see the tax remain on the books.

Because of the tax being "imposed" and due to the secretive treatment of the general fund aspect of the collections, voters responded to a Conley put together effort to repeal the tax in November, 2009 with an overwhelming vote to squash the tax.

Nevertheless, subsequent boards of county commissioners including the current one of Commissioners Tom Bernabei (Democrat), Janet Creighton (Republican) and Richard Regula (Republican) have set aside and protected the 9-1-1 fix share of the revenue generated by the imposed tax for 9-1-1 purposes.

The set aside and protection has been necessary because  county government went through a crisis of confidence from December, 2008 through November, 2011 generated by the imposed tax and the revelation that former Stark County chief deputy treasurer Vince Frustaci had stolen upwards of $3 million in Stark County taxpayer funds over several years but undetected by county officials until April 1, 2009.

During the crisis, pressure was put on commissioners to appropriate the $2.3 million to overall Stark County government operations.

It seems to the SCPR that the multiple boards of commissioners have understood that it would not set well with county taxpayers to give in to the pressure.

Back in 2011 it appeared that a countywide, centralized "regional" dispatch system was a "go" for Stark County when out-of-the-blue Canton mayor William J. Healy, II and his then-safety director Thomas Ream became a problem.

Along with the Stark County sheriff's office, the Canton Communications Center are to be the bulwarks (as backups to one another) of any countywide, centralized emergency call receiving and dispatch operation.

The SCPR's analysis is that Healy realized his Canton Communications Center was a key component of whether or not centralized 9-1-1 was going to be a reality and further realizing that Canton would not be in charge of a "regionalized," centralized system, all of a sudden became uncooperative.

All of that is all changed because now it is obvious even to the mayor of Canton that Canton's CAD system is out-of-date and the city can ill-afford to spend the million or so to update its system.

Beyond CAD, there is the issue of having a universal countywide radio system in which all county emergency forces have 800 mhz radios and that a capital fund be built up to upgrade the current radios (which will not be supported by vendor Motorola past 2017) and be part of the wave of the future in which nearly all if not all emergency force radio communications will be done through a state of Ohio system called MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communications System).

So he is all too happy now to join in with the county (though headed up by arch-political-enemies Creighton and Bernabei) and in a sense dip into the county's $2.35 million and thereby solving the need for Canton to find that much money plus to keep Canton's communication's center up-to-date.

SCOG's Gonzalez being the politico he is, to wit:

• Stark County Democratic Party chairman, 
• Jackson Township fiscal officer, and 
• an employee of fellow Democrat Phil Giavasis in the Canton Municipal Court clerk of courts office [CJIS], 

though humiliated by Healy on 9-1-1 (in the opinion of the SCPR), is willing to let bygones be bygones and is apparently overjoyed at the prospect of getting a "scaled down" system which he and others at yesterday's  session  were distinguishing as being a "consolidation" (Massillon Fire Chief Tom Burgasser was most emphatic on this point) and not a regionalization of a rehabbed county system.

Here is Gonzalez (who has worked for over 20 years for a "fixed" Stark County 9-1-1) yesterday updating a number of Stark's police, fire and emergency workers at the Stark County sheriff's training room on the status of Stark 9-1-1 dispatch upgrade.

During the session, Gonzalez said that he believes "it is now or never" for Stark County to get on the track towards regionalization of 9-1-1 dispatch.

Also weighing in yesterday was 9-1-1 Project Manager Joe Concatto who outlined:

• the CAD bids and emphasized that the county would only proceeding IF that the effort at rehabbing 9-1-1 ultimately results in a "regionalized," 
• the transition from a "consolidated" - at the start - to a "regionalized,"
• in a vague sense the costs of consolidation (e.g. historical average of 236,000 divided among 44 dispatchers [from Canton Communications Center, the sheriff's center and the RED center],

So it appears that the Stark County commissioners are willing to spend the $2.3 million for something less than ideal.

Eight dispatch centers will not be a part of a Stark County CAD at least at the start of operations.

Gonzalez, 9-1-1 Project Manager Joe Concatto and others expressed the "hope" that one day - down the road - the eight non-participants will see the light and join in with the "consolidated" system and thereby make the Stark County consolidated operation a true "regionalized" system.

The stark reality that the Stark commissioners now face is whether or not to take the tax dollars paid by "all" Stark County taxpayers and apply it for the benefit of about 75% of Stark's local government units.

The SCPR believes that they will.

It appears that they will buy into Gonzalez's "it is now or never" rationale.

For those SCPR readers who want to see the entire video (53 minutes long) of yesterday's SCOG 9-1-1 Governance Board meeting, here goes.