Citizen Vote Rejects Comm Center Consolidation

A Bangor (Maine) dispatcher’s opposition to merging the city’s public safety comm center with the county has led to a citizen vote to keep the local center and all of its dispatchers. After the city council voted earlier this year to merge the city’s comm center with Penobscot County, Bangor dispatcher Jim Morrill gathered enough signatures to put the merger issue on the ballot. Yesterday, by a 76% to 24% vote Bangor residents soundly approved the ballot measure, overturning the council’s 8-1 vote. The council had said a merger could save the city $125,000 a year, and that city dispatchers would be offered county jobs. The council also pointed out that city residents were already paying 911 surcharges to the county, in addition to funding the local center. But Morrill argued that the cost savings would be much less than claimed by the council. He also warned that the city could lose dispatchers who have intimate knowledge of the city and its residents. “I’m very pleased with the results,” Morrill told a reporter. Read more about the vote here, and about the pre-vote pro-and-con here.