Chicago Overtime Hints At Understaffing

In the wake of several response delays, attorneys for victims are looking at how much overtime the city of Chicago is paying its dispatchers each year, saying it bolsters their claim that the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) is severely understaffed. According to payroll records, the city spent $4.5 million on OEC overtime, compared to $5.9 million in 2008, within an overall OEC annual budget of about $92 million. But dispatcher Archie Tiner was paid $90,000 in overtime, in addition to his regular $77,748 pay (about 1,600 hours?). The records show that 59 other dispatchers were paid at least $20,000 in overtime during 2009, including two who made $85,711 and $78,508 in overtime. OEC officials say that this year’s overtime is down 40 percent from the same period of 2009. They say there were 38 vacancies in the staff of 542 last year, or about a seven percent vacancy rate. This year there are 48 vacancies, pushing the rate up to almost nine percent. The city has made several lawsuit payouts in the past three years related to response delays. Read more about the OEC staffing situation here.