WILL THE 9-1-1 PUZZLE EVER COME TOGETHER?

Right now it is a mess, that is the plan to centralize Stark's 9-1-1 operation.

From the beginning it has been plagued with fits and starts. What have the problems been?

First and foremost has been a funding modeling. That's until Commissioner Todd Bosley came up with the idea of imposing in 0.50 sales/use tax which he talked Commissioners Jane Vignos and Tom Harmon into supporting.

But this problem is not yet solved. A group known as Stark Citizens for the Right to Vote Committee apparently are busy collecting signatures to put the imposed sales tax up for a vote in November. However, the SCPR is somewhat skeptical of the groups' ability to get enough signatures. We will know for sure in 42 days because August 20th is the day the the nearly 14,000 valid signatures are required by law to be filed with the Stark County Board of Elections.

Another problem has been township/city turfism and the ego of at one of Stark emergency services officials.

A leading representative of turfism is the city of Alliance. Alliance's safety director Blaser is still hedging on a reconstructed Stark 9-1-1 as to whether or not Alliance will join the centralized unit. Nimishillen Township is bulking mainly because of the ego of Fire Chief Rich Peterson. Peterson was not selected as the head of the centralization project and therefore is resisting and so far has his trustees on board.

Nimishillen brings another problem that makes its participation in a countywide 9-1-1 system problematical. It has a fire station and 9-1-1 equipment to pay for. If it is not one of the dispatch centers, how does Nimishillen meet these payment obligations?

It probably can't. However, Commissioner Bosley is working on a plan to purchase the Nimishillen equipment which raises two additional questions: How will Nimishillen pay for the lightly used fire station itself and if the county purchases its equipment will the equipment be "state of the art" as promised by project manager Joseph Concatto?

Still another factor and probably the largest is money. Villages, townships and cities are strapped for cash with the downturn in the economy. Some of these entities are arguing that they were promised immediate savings (cash payments in the run up to the full fledged centralized dispatch) when the sales/use tax increase produced revenues which it has been doing for six months now to the tune of $2.2 million. (Who promised what with 911 dispatching costs - 07/08/92 - Kelli Young of The Rep).

Was a promise made?

The commissioners deny that such was the case. Various village, township and city officials disagree.

The SCPR has a theory about those who say the county made a promise.

Take the city of Massillon and city official/RED Dispatch Center board member Mike Loudiana. He is one of the leading proponents of the position that the County did make promises of early release money.

Undoubtedly, being the square shooter he is, Mike believes the commissioners made a promise. Maybe, just maybe, his recollection has been clarified by the need by Massillon to have money - right now money.

Massillon faces a $2.25 million budget deficit in 2009 (to avoid laying off safety forces, so says Auditor Jayne Fererro) and the mayor (Cicchinelli) is proposing to borrow the money by issuing a short-term bond to be repaid at the rate of $440,000 annually over five years. (Mayor: Borrow now and tax later, Massillon Independent, 06/29/90, Rink)

Where would the repayment money come from?

Between now and when centralized dispatch gets up and running in 2011 from cash payouts to Massillon from sales/use tax collections? And after that, from monies saved annually ($900,000 or so) in what Massillon pays the RED Center for police and fire dispatch services?

This scenario may help explain Loudiana's position that the villages, townships and cities of Stark County were promised early money from the county coffers.

There is enough equivocation on this matter for there to be a difference of opinion.

But the best approach is to follow the Plan A articulated by project manager Concatto and hold the money to ensure that centralized 9-1-1 has the necessary funding for the capital side of building the system.

Once Stark localities see how well Stark's centralized system is put together and operates, many of the local objections will evaporate.

DISCUSSION: MARCH 3, 2009 - MOST IMPORTANT DECISION FOR STARK'S 9-1-1 TREK TOWARD A COUNTYWIDE SYSTEM

The STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report) has learned that over 100 applied for the newly created position of 9-1-1 Project Manager.

Today, the Stark County Council of Governments 9-1-1 Governance Committee will interview six finalists for the Project Manager position.

The person selected with have the responsibility of paring down the current 11 9-1-1 dispatch centers down to one, with - in all likelihood, a back up.

The political career of Stark County Commissioner Todd Bosley could hinge on how well the reorganization of 9-1-1 goes. Democrat Bosley ran in 2006 on fixing 9-1-1 and, in the opinion of The Report, won on the issue. His opponent, Republican Richard Regula, fell completely on his political face in hem-hawing around on his failure to repair the broken system.

Bosley took political risk by convincing fellow commissioners Harmon and Vignos (now retired) to vote for a increase in the county sales/use tax part of which increase is to be used to fund the 9-1-1 rehab.

Stark County safety forces were surprised by this bold move. Though a number of village/city and township safety officials are into protecting their respective turfs, the sudden prospect of having money available put them in a spot of not being able to say no. Especially in light of the additional financial fact that the creation of a countywide system relieves most localities of dispatching expense. Money that the subdivisions need to apply to other local government functions.

Now to the candidates for Project Manager:

Mark Busto is one of two of the six candidates who has the most direct experience managing a 9-1-1 dispatch operation. He has been with the Regional Emergency Dispatch (RED) Center since 1989. Busto is a guy who has worked his way up through the ranks. This attribute has to warm the hearts of everyday Stark Countians. He is now the Executive Director of RED and has been since 2008.

Joseph Concatto wants to come out of retirement to be 9-1-1 Project Manager. Up until Republican Janet Creighton-Weir was defeated by Democrat William J. Healy, II in November, 2007. Concatto served the Creighton administration as service director, safety director and chief of staff. Pre-political involvent, Concatto was Fire Chief of Canton. Moveover, he had been a member of the Canton Fire Department since 1969. His relevant experience to the 9-1-1 Project Manager position is centered in his management responsibilities. He did oversee the construction of a fire station in Canton. And he oversaw the move of Canton's dispatch center from city hall to 30th Street.

Tim Kerstetter comes out of private enterprise. His current employer is Diebold (since 1995) where he is Director of Corporate-wide Safety Wellness operations. At Diebold he has managed large operations. For Stark Countians who are interested in a "fresh face," Kerstetter might be an attractive alternative.

Tom Nesbitt is an interesting candidate. Most of us Stark County political observers fell off our collective chairs when we found out Nesbitt (Safety Director for Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II) was applying for the 9-1-1 Project Manager position. His move was the first "public" sign that all is not well with the Healy administration. Again, here we have a candidate who has generalized management experience. Nesbitt came here from Nebraska where he spent years with the Nebraska Highway Patrol working in and managing Nebraska's statewide communications system.

Rich Peterson of Nimishillen Township Fire Department (NFD & CenCom Dispatch) is almost a mirror image of Mark Busto. Peterson is also Service Manager at Kempthorn Motors. He has been with the NFD since 1984 and the head of CenCom 9-1-1 Dispatch which is located at a newly constructed fire station in Nimishillen Township.

Richard Tenan has a curious history. His current employment is with communications consulting company GeoCom. GeoCom was hired by the Stark County Council of Governments to do a study of Stark County's 9-1-1 system of eleven dispatch centers. So Tenan wants the opportunity to fix a system he had a hand in critiquing. He has management experience in setting up and operating 800 megahertz communications systems which is the system that Stark's 9-1-1 wlll use.