RESPECT THE DISPATCHERS.....IS MAYOR BART DOING THIS? While it was four years ago that the Fire District Referendum passed, which included the promise of keeping and upgrading the 911 Dispatch Center, people forget that a mere two years after the completion of the updated center Mayor Bart wished to dismantle it, despite a balanced working budget, the village promise to the community, and his complete lack of knowledge of the inner workings of Wauconda government. No, this wasnt about saving money (and it wouldnt show as a savings on your taxes) this was based on his distain of referendums in general and of the past administration, a point he has made clear over and over. The dispatchers worked almost a year without a contract, only getting their contract renewed retroactively. They have now been without a contract again since April 30th, almost seven months. Theyve endured a change of command that chose not to publicly support (or shall I say get in the middle) whether to keep dispatch or not, no resolution for EIGHTEEN months and ongoing, TWELVE articles written about it in the Daily Herald, over FIFTEEN union negotiations cancelled and rescheduled, and even down to going THREE months without a cleaning service in the building. Do the dispatchers deserve this? Do we? Weve allowed contracts with dispatch customers to lapse, while this investigation dragged on. When it became quite clear that the 2 million dollar savings first touted was not at all realistic (actually theres really no savings) the investigation continued. When trustees and residents had questions, they went unanswered. When the trustees said enough is enough, and despite the mayor saying its a board decision, he chose to once again demand in the newspaper the investigation continue. There is no end in sight and we are no better off than we were 18 months ago. It has done nothing but lower the morale of village employees and engaged citizens, and prevent forward progress in other areas. Eventually many villages will probably all consolidate to a Lake County dispatch - but thats way in the future. Until then, there is really no investigation to be had that will net us any savings, yet our Village Administrator was told to spend more of his time, our tax dollars, pursuing this. Why? If there was merit to the investigation it would have presented itself by now. This is because our mayor must get his way, despite what the evidence shows. I was extremely disappointed that Lakemoor was only given a six month contact extension, till the end of the fiscal year, then going to a month by month. NOT a very neighborly thing to do after keeping them on the hook for so long. They should have been given a longer contract (out clauses can be added) because there will be no conclusion to the investigation in six months, and to throw Lakemoor a bone for hanging on so long. Our mayor touts his business experience, but is this how a business should be run? If Wauconda is a business then we are the shareholders - as a shareholder is this ok? The dispatchers are our employees, and I for one demand that they be treated fairly. A few Bart supporters will call me anti-Wauconda because this post is negative. I look at it as what is happening..... So back to the original question....do I think the dispatchers are being respected? By engaged citizens - yes. By Mayor Bart? No.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 20:32:09 +0000
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