The Bartholomew County Council denied a request Tuesday to hire two new emergency dispatchers for the E-911 Center.
Three councilmen voted for the request and four voted against. Mark Gorbett, Jorge Morales and Laura DeDomenic supported the request from Bartholomew County Emergency Operations 911 Center director Todd Noblitt. Voting against Noblitt’s request were Bill Lentz, Evelyn Pence, Scott Bonnell and Matt Miller.
Gorbett reminded the council that hiring a dispatcher is a lengthy process that includes polygraphs, interviews, and even a social media check. Once a new person is hired, he or she still has to undergo a four-month training process before they are allowed to begin their regular duties.
Noblitt reminded the council that staffing models indicate his department, which currently employs 24 dispatchers, should have between 29 and 52 dispatchers on the payroll. As a result of the staff shortage, current dispatchers frequently find themselves working 12 hour or longer shifts, Noblitt said.
But Lentz and Pence said they had already told other county departments they had to wait until budget talks for 2020 get underway in August to discuss new personnel, and they wanted to remain consistent.
The council did unanimously approve a jail addiction recovery counselor during the meeting for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
Miller, who is council president said the only reason he was willing to support hiring the recovery counselor before August was that funding for that position had already been appropriated last year.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
