By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
managing editor
KEYSER — Beginning Oct. 1, the dispatchers at the Mineral County 911 Center will undergo a reorganization which will result in increasing coverage to three dispatchers per shift and the development of a hierarchy of power.
Mineral County Office of Emergency Management director Marc Bashoor and 911 director Marsha Sargent presented the Mineral County Commissioners with a chart Tuesday outlining the planned restructuring of the department.
“Having three people on a shift will create more consistency for the dispatchers,” Bashoor said, noting that the commissioners' approval during their Aug. 11 meeting of the hiring of two additional full-time dispatchers, as well as the upgrading of one current part-time to full time, will allow for the reorganization.
The increase in the number of dispatchers is also necessitating the establishment of a chain of command, he said.
“For a long time, they've operated as just a set of dispatchers with one director,” he said. “We're now to the point where you're going to have 14 people under that one director.”
The new structure would organize the dispatchers into levels going from Telecommunicator I to Telecommunicator VI. Initially, the “ranks” will be based on seniority and the present level of duties each dispatcher has already assumed, but eventually they will be based on a standardized testing procedure.
“It would be done through a testing process and an interview,” Bashoor said, noting that a disinterested person from outside
the local system would be brought into the county to do the evaluations.
“Seniority won't be the bottom line; performance will be,” he said.
County Coordinator Mike Bland expressed the opinion that, as the dispatchers go up the ranks and assume additional responsibilities, they are naturally going to expect an increase in pay.
If that is done, he said, “it is likely we will have to supplement 911 operations out of the general fund.”
Bashoor emphasized to the county officials, however, that he was not asking for any increase in pay at this time.
“That is not included in this proposal,” he said.
Commissioner Janice LaRue made a motion to approve the organizational changes, and Commissioner Cindy Pyles seconded it.
The commissioners have also been considering instituting an increase in the 911 fee charged to every “land line” telephone service in the county in order to bolster the county's 911 budget. That proposal was tabled Tuesday, however, and will likely be taken up by the commissioners at their Sept. 8 meeting.
Residents of Mineral County currently support the operation of the 911 center in part through both a $2 fee on every cell phone and a $3 fee on every telephone service. The cell phone fee is regulated by the state government.
