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Dane County Board Meeting

The article summarized, ‘Dane County supervisors propose major changes to 911 center board’, relate to Dane County Board’s meeting. The meeting recommended that changes be made to the 911 center Board. The meeting recommended that the 911 Center Board should have less control by the Madison City. The proposal was made by Supervisor Bob Salov of the 37th district. The proposal was supported by six other colleagues during the meeting held on March 20th 2014. The motion sought to shrink the Madison’s control of the center by cutting the board membership from 12 to 9 members with voting rights. The move made the board an advisory center. However, Mayor Paul Soglin and Paul Skidmore as well as other city officers were against the move.

Currently, the 911 Center Board is mandated to set the Centers policies and procedures, while the Dane County has the control of its personal and budgets. The new proposal sought to remove the representatives from fire, police, IT and traffic departments. Under the new proposal, the Center would have its membership drawn from the City Council, the EMS, fire and police departments from Dane county, the sheriff, supervisor and other local officers. These changes would have made the board less powerful, without much authority and exposed to manipulation from external forces.

The action of the supervisors to change the Board’s composition and structures was a reactionary move. The Center Board had indefinitely delayed the bid by the county’s executive to have more powers to respond faster to emergencies and alerts. The main issue under contention was therefore the control of the dispatcher’s alert responders. The County Executive had announced that pre-alerting were to beginning from Madison on March 31st. while supporting the pre-alerting idea, the executive argued that the County was not ready for it. However, those who supported the changes at the board argued that ownership and the control of the Center had been improperly transferred to Madison city. The proponents of the changes said that the county funds the board, therefore should have a say on who sits at the board. They advocated for equal representation at the board. Conversely, the county executive was cautious, preferring to consult with the stakeholders before making his stand known.

The county Board has 37 members and a majority vote is needed to pass the motion. The movers such as O’Loughlin has been buying time to gather more support from the other Board members and have the proposal put to a vote. They are very confident of a growing support that would see the motion sail through.

On the other hand, the County Mayor, Paul Soglin argued that a controversy about the Board exists. The city and the county’s management had differed on the roles of the 911 center board and its work. A dispute on the Board’s legal authority also exists. The mayor is considering seeking a legal counsel to have clarity on the specific terms of reference of the board and its composition.

The wrangles on the mandate of the Board have led to confusion on the management of the county. The mayor is frustrated because of lack accurate dispatches. The confusion has also led to delays in dispatches. The mayor argued that the best way out is for the antagonizing parties to have a dialogue and come up with an agreeable solution.

Article summarized

Dean Mosiman. Dane County supervisors propose major changes to 911 center board. (March

21, 2014). Web. <http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/dane-county-supervisors-propose-major-changes-to-center-board/article_78d86c8b-b5ce-538c-8137-8e773aae932b.html#ixzz2zqKpQre1>