NORWICH – It came down to a matter of paying for public safety, but only after a lengthy executive session, allegations against the government’s committee system itself and a plethora of motions made and rescinded did the Chenango County Board of Supervisors figure out how to mesh the two.
Supervisors voted 14 to 5 (4 were absent) in favor of refilling a dispatcher’s position in the Sheriff’s Office with funds taken from a salary escrow account within the general fund. The position was left vacant when A. Wesley Jones was promoted to chief dispatcher last month. The money for it, however, had been stripped when Chairman Richard Decker, R-N. Norwich, appointed former chief dispatcher Matt Beckwith to Emergency Management Services Director and Fire Coordinator 15 months ago.
Lawmakers have been arguing within the boardroom and standing committees about the need to add staff at the Public Safety Facility ever since. Supervisor James Bays, D-Smyrna, has called for the Sheriff to oversee dispatch services and place Beckwith back in his former position. The question of paying for over time versus a salary with benefits has dominated the discussions.
The Sheriff has been paying part-time and overtime rates to dispatchers who have been filling in, and accumulated about 1,403 hours in overtime last year. The Finance Committee did not backfill the position when it agreed, finally, to fill the chief dispatcher position in March. And, the Personnel Committee voted against the refill later in the month, sending the measure back to the Safety & Rules Committee where it had already been approved since February.
The position pays an annual salary of $33,100 plus about $18,000 in health and retirement benefits.
Voting against the measure were lawmakers from Coventry, German, McDonough, Pharsalia and Pitcher.
Preston Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan kicked off the debate after regular business of the board when he asked to speak about personnel issues in executive session. The board spent approximately 20 minutes behind closed doors before permitting spectators back in.
Plymouth Supervisor Jerry Kreiner made a total of three motions about refilling the position with funding from escrow and/or the Sheriff’s budget. City of Norwich Supervisor James J. McNeil seconded them. After considering suggestions from Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, Chairman Decker finally stepped in and supported Kreiner, and made the final motion himself to take the funding soley from escrow.
Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown, vice chairman of Finance, opposed, saying, “The job is getting done” and by filling it, overtime expenses “wouldn’t be eliminated at all.” Wilcox suggested searching the Sheriff’s budget for more of the funding.
City of Norwich Supervisor Linda Natoli made a passionate plea for emergency services, saying it is something that all towns need from the county. She also blasted the board for not following its own system: “The standing committee system doesn’t seem to amount to anything anymore.” Natoli sits on Safety & Rules.
Town of Guilford Supervisor George Seneck said using over time and part time people to fill in on a regular basis after their own shifts “is not good for safety.”
Natoli also commented that both Sheriff Ernest Cutting and Beckwith agreed that the two departments should remain separated. “You have to trust what they feel,” she said.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello requested that the Sheriff keep a detailed schedule of 24/7 overtime hours in the dispatch center. The Sheriff’s Office has been plagued by overtime costs for many years, most significantly in the corrections department. It is unknown how much overtime is specifically the result of having a man down in the dispatch center.