Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Dave Tellock resigns as county's 911 director

From: "marcel_rf1" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 03:45:26 -0000

Dave Tellock resigns as county's 911 director

Lt. Paul Ebel will take over the center's
operations

By Jessica La Plante

The Green Bay News-Chronicle
Green Bay, WI

 Brown County Public Safety Communications Director
David Tellock resigned from his position Friday on the
heels of a 911 mishap that caused a backup team of
firefighters to respond to the scene of a Green Bay fire
several minutes late.

The county's 911 center has been the subject of county
scrutiny after police were dispatched to two separate
incidents hours late earlier this year. The county is
studying complaints of understaffing and lack of training
for its employees.

On Monday, Tellock confirmed he would no longer be
serving as the center's director, a role the former De
Pere chief of police has performed since 2001. Green
Bay Police Lt. Paul Ebel will serve as interim
communications director.

Tellock said his decision to resign stemmed from a
Friday meeting with Brown County Executive Carol
Kelso.

"We had a discussion and decided that I would submit
my resignation effective for today, and that's what I
did," Tellock said.

He said the communications director is an "at-will
position" that answers solely to the county executive.

"She wanted to move in with her own management
team and I respect that decision," Tellock said, adding
that he has "a genuine interest in seeing the
communication center succeed."

Mike Williquette, a Teamsters representative for the
county's dispatchers, said he felt the 911 delays could
have been avoided if the center's management had
responded sooner to employee complaints.

"We had regular meetings with Dave Tellock and finally
we had no alternative but to get a hold of the County
Board of Supervisors," Williquette said. "We were told
(by Tellock) as soon as everybody gets crossed
trained, it'll all work itself out."

Williquette said he is skeptical that a change in
management will cure the center's problems.

"How can you miss 50 girls working 12-hour shifts?"
Williquette said. "There's a lot of balls dropped here,
and there's plenty of blame to go around."

At a Brown County Public Safety Committee meeting
on July 2, Tellock attributed the center's mishaps to
staffing shortages and an increased call load because
of miscalculations in a 1999 study. Ever since Brown
County's emergency communications services merged
in 2001, the center has been understaffed.

Among the recommendations Tellock outlined at the
meeting was to bring six full-time dispatchers on board
to relieve the center's overtime levels, which the Public
Safety Committee approved. The County Board is
expected to vote on the measure Wednesday.

At the same meeting, Ebel outlined his own plan based
on an independent study he conducted. Ebel's proposal
asked the county to review the center's entire table of
organization, including management roles. Ebel joined
the dispatch center in May, when he was appointed
interim communications manager.

Kelso said she believes Ebel's experience as a
dispatcher and former Green Bay police officer qualifies
him for the job.

"We felt Mr. Ebel's experience might be helpful since
he's already here doing some of the analysis," she
said, adding that it was important Tellock's
replacement be familiar with the center's problems.

In filling Ebel's old position, Kelso said the county will
look for someone who can provide hands-on support to
dispatchers.

"One of our goals is to make certain our supervisors
are able to step in and assist any of our call takers as
needed," Kelso said.

Harold Kaye, chairman of the Public Safety Committee,
said efforts to improve the center have been intensified
since the dispatching delay last week.

"We're on top of this now whole-heartedly," Kaye said.
"We're looking at the management side of it as well as
the total amount of employees needed to staff it
properly. (Also) is the equipment adequate?"

The county will have to make tough decisions, he said,
especially concerning personnel.

"If we have to make (personnel) changes, then we have
to make changes," he said. "That's always tough to do,
but my goal is to make the system work."

The problems "were primarily brought to our attention
by the union," he said. "I think it would have been
better if we have known about some of this earlier."

Along with the six hires, the county will look at offering
more in-depth training at the communications center.
Kaye said representatives from Motorola were called
into the 911 center this week to address a computer
glitch that might have contributed to the dispatch delay
last week.

Green Bay Fire Chief Jeff Stauber said an investigation
into the delay revealed the backup trucks were sent out
only after the city fire dispatcher received help from
another dispatcher.

He said training did not appear to be a factor in the
delay, which was most likely a combination of a human
error and a computer problem.

"We found that there was some problems with the
computer," Stauber said. "It did not bring up the
(names of) people that should be dispatched to the
second alarm."

The delay did not affect the outcome of the fire, he
said.

http://www.gogreenbay.com/page.html?article=120924

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