Emergency Coordinator in Upstate N.Y. Resigns
Oct. 08--COOPERSTOWN -- The abrupt resignation of Otsego County's Emergency 911 Center coordinator has prompted the Board of Representatives to consider whether they should realign the department or simply hire a new director.
Four options are being considered to deal with the departure of Michael R. Schwartz, who only held the position for about four months, Board of Representatives Chairman Floyd "Sam" Dubben Jr. told The Daily Star on Friday.
One scenario would be to request that state troopers handle the work at State Police Troop C headquarters in Sidney, he said. Another would be to place the Emergency 911 Center under the direction of Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr.
A third possibility would be to hire a private firm to manage the work. And still another potential recourse is to hire a replacement for Schwartz.
Dubben said if a private company were to take over the center, the current employees would keep their jobs.
Discussions regarding the future of Emergency 911 Center are very preliminary, he stressed. "I want to see all the options that we have," he said. "If we were to contract it out, I'd want to know what the costs are."
The Board of Representatives would like to reach a conclusion within about a month, he added.
Schwartz's resignation took effect on Sept. 27, officials said. Board members discussed his resignation this week in executive session -- behind closed doors -- citing the fact it was a personnel matter.
The resignation was voluntary, Dubben said. "The county has been in the process of replacing its telecommunications towers," he said. "There might have been a lot of work there for one person."
Calls placed by The Daily Star to a telephone listed in Schwartz's name in Canastota were not answered Friday afternoon. Before taking the county job, Schwartz had been assistant director of campus safety at Hamilton College for nearly five years.
Sheriff Devlin, asked about the possibility that his department could take over E-911, said: "It's a board decision and I'm sure they'll do what's best for the county."
According to the county's web site, the E-911 Center handles all landline and wireless 911 calls generated within Otsego County. The calls are dispatched to the Sheriff's Department, the State Police, Cooperstown Police, the state Park Police, Department of Environmental Conservation officers and Oneonta town constables as priority or non-priority complaints. Also through E-911, all fire, rescue and ambulance calls are dispatched to one of 30 fire departments or 17 emergency squads.
At the time of his resignation, Schwartz was still in the probationary period of his employment and had not yet taken a civil service examination that would have eventually been required. He also had not yet moved into Otsego County, which he ultimately would have also been required to do in order to keep his position, Dubben said.
Approximately 15 county employees are assigned to the E-911 Center, most of them dispatchers, Dubben said.
