Sunday, July 22, 2012

Thinking Beyond the 911 Grant? Of Course Not!

From the OD: Oneida County's 911 system in financial bind 
The 911 center, which fields emergency calls from Utica and New Hartford and all the other municipalities in the county, is seeing $1 million drop out of its budget in 2013 as a pair of state grants run out.
And a hoped-for infusion of new funds related to surcharges on cellphones failed to make it through the state Legislature before its session ended in late June.
Now, county officials are trying to figure out a way to pay for the center, which costs the county almost $1.8 million even with the help of the expiring grants.
The only reason the 911 system was solvent all these years was because people in Utica and New Hartford were paying for the system like other county residents but they were not getting the service.   Now that both municipalities have joined County 911 the County cannot make ends meet!

Margaret Thatcher once said that the problem with socialists is that they eventually run out of spending other people's money. Oneida County just did . . .

And you thought Republicans were running Oneida County!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

And in the end its a waste of money anyways as it takes 5 minutes for them to dispatch a call. As well as passing off all their other responsibilities onto other people as they "are not" able to handle even simple tasks such as keeping track of EMS, Fire, and Police Resources.

Anonymous said...

I heard that the County has a "back-up" unit located in the County Office Bldg? Why? Do we really need this when proper planning would allow for a simple transfer to a "sister" 911 Operation?

Sounds to me like someone has not done their homework. How much political patronage went into giving jobs where the person does little, if anything?

Perhaps, the Oneida County 911 Services should move under the control of the Oneida County Sheriff NOT under a political structure - as it is now.

Anonymous said...

Yes, just another example of our disfunctional county government. First, as pointed out by Strike, the very idea of calling those in control Republicans is a joke. Our "Republicans" do not represent any of the principles of the party relating to size and cost of government. Our "Republicans" occupy the mantle of extending and living off of politcal power and control, period. But, the real alarming feature of their rule is that of stupidity. Imagine passing legislation creating an expensive program while not being absolutely sure of the revenue stream to pay for the program! They simply seem to have no handle on the implications of what they do. Or, worse, yet perhaps they do not care as long as the same sucker electorate keeps re- electing them. Why, before you know it, we'll probably be spending tens of millions on international airports with no flights.

Dave said...

Gee, a half hour listening to a scanner should prove to any doubter the value of a county-wide 911 system. Calls are received and tracked in a central location, handed off to the unit closest to the scene, with backup from next closet ... that was very hard to coordinate before the centralized system. That's the way it works in my county. If your county hasn't seen a vast improvement in efficiency, something is terribly wrong with your county's emergency operations.

Anonymous said...

It would be interesting to know what county is Dave's. Oneida County is marked by a couple of features that seem to impact performance. One, demographically we are very uneducated compared to most areas in the state and nation. Two, all government employment, including the county's, is led by political/ personal factors as opposed to merit. That results in a very low performance bar. So, sysytems that work elsewhere, may not work here.

Anonymous said...

Dave, the problem is that our system is being run by Picente. So it's a disaster like anything else he puts his fingers on. Witness his meddling in the board of elections which he has turned into a poitical hack job.

Dave said...

I won't argue with you good folks in Oneida County. If you say your county is so screwed up they can't even get 911 central dispatch right, I'll believe you. After all, I'm a former Utican and I'm never surprised at anything I hear about the area. I'll be visiting a few miles north of Utica next month, so I'll have to remember to bring a large size First Aid Kit in case of a mishap. Self-service is getting popular these days, and evidently necessary. "My county" was a simplification, since I've now moved out of state. But I was referring to Ulster County and it's hard to believe they got anything right. But listening to a scanner in Ulster certainly showed a more efficient operation than before the centralized dispatch. Anyway my post was to argue for 911 central dispatch, and not to comment on Oneida County's success or lack of it.
Dave

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Dave. Have a nice, safe visit.