More on 911 center

Rebecca White’s well-written comprehensive article last Thursday (“Pushback over hire of new 911 director,” Aug 30) covered a thorny topic that has multiple layers. As one of the people quoted in the article, I’d like to add a few points:

-This effort is a grab for the Prop 1 sales tax money and it has been hastily pushed through.

-Spokane citizens should ask their commissioners, mayor, sheriff, police chief and fire chiefs what this will cost and how it will improve an already excellent system.

-Emergency response times improve when we hire more officers and firefighters – not overhaul call centers, form PDAs and hire executive directors.

-Spokane County commissioners should revisit whether this is a sound fiscal move for the county.

-The police chief and sheriff will be putting their officers and deputies at risk by forcing their dispatchers to divide their attention.

-The Spocom board and mayor’s office set a goal to completely overhaul the existing 911 center and spin off city and county emergency services from their budgets – and then manufactured statistics and problems to justify it.

Kelly Masjoan

Spokane