911 Consolidation & the 7-Headed Monster
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 10/28/09 @ 7:34 pm - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics
The city and the county look as if they might finally come to an agreement on 911 consolidation and what’s the solution? A 7 member board to oversee the department - ugh. That sounds even less efficient than the 3-headed executive we call the county commissioners.
Sheriff Fries seems adamantly opposed to the consolidation and I tend to agree with him regarding this new 7-member board - the entire structure seems illogical. However, Fries continues to say that consolidation won’t necessarily help response time and that I don’t quite understand. There have been well-documented cases, the Willows of Coventry fire being one, where the caller gave their information to one dispatch only to have their call roll over to the other dispatch where they had to give their information again. This has always struck me as the driving reason for why we need consolidation. That extra minute could cost somebody their life, but maybe I’m missing something.
The sheriff also seems to be very sincere and passionate about wanting to provide 911 service in a way that maximizes public safety. I think now that the city’s communication director Tina Taviano has been “transfered out” it would be a fine time to hand over the entire communications department to Sheriff Fries. He has been very vocal about wanting to increase first responder time and do things that make sense instead of just trying to find new ways to pay for 911 costs.
The city should give up the entire department, and the associated fees, on a trial basis for 3 years and see how it goes. My guess is the sheriff will run the department in a way that promotes public safety, and if he doesn’t, well then he’s an elected official and he can be voted out…
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Ummmm….Fries basically said the other day that combining the departments will not make them more efficient and we know it does not save money.
So either do the board, or don’t do anything at all.
Kevin,
What I’ve seen from Fries is that he’s not sure combining them will help make them more efficient. I don’t agree with that based on my understanding of the roll over issue.
I just don’t see the need for the city and the county to each have a department. Why not just hand it over to the sheriff and be done with it? It’s not like the city doesn’t have enough to worry about…
While we are talking about 911, I think Three Rivers Ambulance Authority needs to be redone. It responds to a 911 call. According to information I was sent, if you need medical attention, you do not have the right to decide where they take you. Some health insurance coverages have “Preferred Provider Networks.” If you do not go there, you end up paying the bill.
Who decides where to take you? Well that turns out to be an Emergency Physicians Network. TRAA calls them, sends them information and the EPN decides which hospital to take you to.
In Fort Wayne, there are only four hospitals on the approved list. The ER at the Veterans Hospital is not on it. Unless the VA authorizes for fee service ahead of time, the patient foots the bill.
In essance they have created a captured customer who has no say on their healthcare nor how much is spent. I wonder if there is a kickback?
Jeff, There are more entities involved than just the city and county- township fire departments are in this too- and they seem to be going along with the plan.
William- I have had the unfortunate need to call ambulances for family members- I have always told them which hospital we were going to go to and it was never a problem.
I do not know if the VA has emergency services, however, so that may not be an option.
A seven member board isn’t running the department, an Executive Director will run the department. At least that’s the impression I got from MSM articles and tv interviews. The board makes sure this person is doing the job as directed. Health Department, Memorial Coliseum, Public Works (sort of), Airport Authority, etc operate similarly.
Stan,
That is my understanding too which is why I used the term “oversee” and not “run”. However, I still don’t see the need for 7 different bosses. The director should report directly to the Sheriff in my opinion.
I’m sure whomever gets the position would much rather report to one person rather than 7 as well…
As I understand it, it does not stop with the seven headed monster. Last night the Mayor said an “Executive Board” made up of the Mayor and Commissioners would over see the 7 member board for the first two years. Could it get any more complex?
If you read the agreement posted on Around Fort Wayne. The exec board is only there to break ties (ties on a 7 member board?) and it goes away after 2 years of not being needed to break a tie.
I say disband FWPD and turn over all police operations to the Sheriff.
With all these layers of one board reporting to another board who then has a board above them to break ties. I bet the organizational chart for this thing would look like an inverted Amway pyramid.
Did you know that in 1986, Allen County Sheriff Dan Figel called for a commission to study the pros and cons of merging the Allen County and Fort Wayne Police Departments?
That same year Fort Wayne Police Chief David Rieman proposed merging the Emergency Communications Departments of the City and County.
Yeah, Fort Wayne is really a progressive city. Twenty three years, and we’re still thinking it over.
The VA has 24/7 ER services, but are not one of the four preselected hospitals. Apparently they are not trauma certified.