Consolidation of Dispatch Services - some thoughts

A while back I mentioned a move by the county to consolidate emergency dispatch services into a centralized location. My position is pretty clear - I am leery of such a move for several reasons:

• I don't believe the savings will be as much as claimed
• The move merely moves costs from city to county
• The county is corrupt, and I doubt that politics will not play a role in this move
• I am concerned with the level of service, delays, and inefficiency on the county level

However, I am dismayed that our commissioner of public safety, Dave Vanaman, has decided against this move without even hearing the other side of the story. I haven't heard both sides, and if my fears could be assuaged, I would definitely entertain supporting a move that would save taxpayers money.

Dave has adamantly refused to even attend any meeting to discuss such a proposal, or to listen to what others have to say. It troubles me when a man in charge of public safety is so pig-headed that he won't even participate in an open dialog.

However, this comes as little surprise, as Dave only does what his handlers from a special interest group tell him he is allowed to do.