MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council — after hearing impassioned remarks Tuesday evening about working conditions in the 9-1-1 center — voted to add four new dispatching positions and also bumped the paygrade for the employees.
The unanimous vote came after Communications Center Operations Supervisor Mark Huckleberry and long-time dispatcher Lisa Abrams painted a dire picture of a short-staffed department responsible for handling the city’s emergency communications for both the police and fire departments.
The decisions on the public safety dispatchers were part of a larger ordinance that also provided upgrades in pay ranges for about 50 non-union jobs within city government.
The change will allow the communications center to have 21 dispatchers, along with three supervisors and the operations manager. It was authorized for 17 dispatchers.
New hires at level 14 start at $16.01 per hour. At step 16, they will make $17.61 to start. Veteran dispatchers will go from making $22.92 an hour to $24.99.
Human Resources Director Sharon May told council she has been working with the city administration and the communications center on this staffing issue for about two months.
Huckleberry said the center has recently been working with just 11 dispatchers, a shortage compounded by the impact of COVID-19 illness in the 400-foot communications center.
He said there are times when the center has gone below three dispatchers, which is the minimum staffing level at any one time, showing council members slides of scheduling problems that have been created.
He said dispatchers have not gotten lunch breaks, which recently led to a grievance filed by ASFCME Local 3088, the union which represents the dispatchers.
Huckleberry also pointed to blocks of time in his schedules when just two dispatchers were working.
“They have to go to the bathroom. They have to run paperwork throughout the building. They have to take a warrant downstairs every time a patrol officer arrests somebody. (When that happens), there is going to be one dispatcher at that point in your 9-1-1 center.
“That is unacceptable. That is unacceptable. That should shock you. That should stun you. You should be appalled,” Huckleberry said.
Abrams, a dispatcher for the last 28 1/2 years, told council members specific stories of short-handed dispatchers unable to answer 9-1-1 calls because they were already handling other calls.
“What would happen if you called 9-1-1 and no one answered? Because that’s a real possibility right now,” Abrams said.
“We don’t get lunch breaks, nor are we paid for working through our lunch. We are the only department in the entire union that does not get paid for working through their lunch.
“We also do not get 15-minute breaks. If you’re in there for 12 or 16 hours, you are locked up inside that room for 12 or 16 hours. I take on average three to four bathroom breaks when I am running down the hall … and I’m not lying,” she said.
She also described the mental stress of handling one difficult call after another with no time in between. Abrams described one dispatcher handling a call from a woman whose boyfriend had tried to strangle her.
The male then shot himself in the head while the woman was on the phone with the dispatcher, Abrams said.
“(The dispatcher) hears the gunshot … hears the man go down. And now her caller is hysterical. Not only does she have to try to calm her down and get her to stop hyperventilating, she now has to convince her that she needs to step over her dead boyfriend to go to the front door to let help in,” Abrams said.
“The woman does it. She hangs up and (the dispatcher) goes right to the next call. There was not even time to take a moment. There was no time to say, ‘I’m gonna be back in a minute’ and walk down to the vending machine.
“I can’t even tell you what this has done to our mental health, listening to (one tough call after another) without a break,” she said.
“We kick ass. We take names. We save lives every single day, 24/7, 365. We are the voices you hear on the worst day of your life. We are the voices coordinating the forces that get you help when you need it.
“We send help. We don’t ask for help, but we are today,” Abrams said.
Huckleberry said the city has not done enough financially to support its safety forces, including police, fire and the 9-1-1 communications center. He particularly focused on the police department which he said is badly understaffed.
The department is authorized at 102 sworn officers, but is only budgeted by the city for 87, four of whom are paid by a grant. It had 73 officers as of Tuesday.
“It is extremely, extremely disheartening. I’m here to support this legislation. Not only for me, not only for my section, but it’s the first block. It’s the cornerstone to fix and repair years … decades of insufficient support for (the safety forces),” Huckleberry said.
“Let me not mince my words. A legacy is being established here. We are going year in and year out of not providing enough funding for the police. Let me say it like this: We are defunding the police and that is not acceptable,” he said.
“I do not have enough resources to run the 9-1-1 center. I’m asking you for help. I’m doing everything I can. I had a new dispatcher start this week. I have another one starting on Valentine’s Day. We interviewed 10 today,” Huckleberry said.
Some members of council became emotional after the presentation, which came with fire Chief Steve Strickling and police Chief Keith Porch both in attendance, along with a large contingent of police officers.
One of those was 5th Ward Councilman Aurelio Diaz, who recently visited the 9-1-1 center along with At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader.
“You mentioned mental health. That’s something we talked about about is (that) this isn’t a job, none of the safety-service jobs are jobs that you clock out … you take it home with you.
“One question was, how do you strengthen yourself? How do you not go mad? We have great benefits, but it goes beyond that. You are taking calls from people who are taking their (own) lives,” Diaz said.
Zader said, “I told you guys I couldn’t do your job … Even with a (bump in level to 16 from 14), our public safety dispatchers will still qualify, if it’s a single-family income, for government assistance because their wage is so low.”
First Ward Councilwoman Laura Burns praised the work of the safety forces, including the public safety dispatchers.
“The work that you guys do is so invaluable to our community. I’m the daughter of a police officer who would be ashamed with me crying like this, but every single person who is in this room, and who is not in this room, they are so valuable to our community,” Burns said.
“We just have to do more. So keep bringing it to us so that we can do more.”
