Wednesday, February 18. 2009

Update: Quote of the Week

Update: 2/18/09 The county will still not pay to use the assessor's maps, but Warren County Joint Communications officials have agreed to use them. Local emergency response organizations will pay the $5,000 fee. Among those stepping up to contribute: Warrenton and Wright City fire protection districts and Marthasville Volunteer Fire District. The Warren County Sheriff and Ambulance District have expressed interest. All emergency responders will have access to the data, whether they contribute or not, per Mike Owenby, chief of the Warrenton Fire Protection District.

Note: In this article Carol Sexton is identified as Joint Communications Director Carol Sexton, while below she is Dispatch Director. She may well be both; it's not clear.

- Suburban Journal

--- original post (with state updated per comment) 2/11/09 --------

"[The state of Missouri's free map is] the one we want to use because it's going to be effective for seeing driveways. Do you need to see the license plate on the car in the driveway when you're trying to get to an address? No. It's overkill on the resolution."

- Warren County Missouri Dispatch Director Carol Sexton on why the county does not pay the $5000 to use the assessor's maps for 911 response in the Suburban Journal. [That URL is dead. The original article I believe, is here. - ABS]

Posted by Adena Schutzberg at 06:34 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0) |

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This article has nothing to do with Warren County, Ohio...if you read it before you posted, you would have noticed that it talks about Warren County, Missouri. You really should read these before you give commentary.

#1 Someone who can read... on 2009-02-11 08:06 (Reply)

You are quite correct that I got the state wrong. I believe it was because I'd be writing about Ohio previously and had Ohio on the brain (it's a great state!). Thanks for correcting my error.

#1.1 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-02-11 08:29 (Reply)

As a city GIS Manager who supports an emergency services dispatch center that serves two cities and one township in southeast Michigan, we find ways to pool resources - financial, personnel, data, etc. If a county government cannot afford $5,000 to purchase map resources to support a dispatch center which will improve the public's ability to save lives than I submit there is a serious threat to public safety, health, and welfare. Why bother equipping police and fire personnel with the necessary training and apparatus resources if they cannot effectively reach the incident scene. Furthermore, with more people exclusively using cell phones as their primary means of communication in lieu of land lines, the ability for a dispatch center to locate callers without GPS positioning in the CAD systems is a growing liability for the County.

I submit this is a textbook case of being penny wise and pound foolish. How can an elected official make these kinds of remarks and believe they are representing the best interests of their constituents? Rural counties have great challenges. However, they cannot expect to apply outdated technology and methods which compromise the safety of those they are entrusted to protect.

#2 Chris Blough on 2009-02-19 07:34 (Reply)

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In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Someone who can read... on 2009-02-11 08:06   #1.1: Adena Schutzberg on 2009-02-11 08:29 #2: Chris Blough on 2009-02-19 07:34
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