You Said It, Ledyard: Reaction to Regional Dispatch Proposal

Two weeks ago, during his State of Ledyard address to the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Mayor John Rodolico said there would be a decision soon about whether to regionalize the town's emergency dispatch services.

Last week, the mayor and the Public Safety Commission announced they were still not ready to make a decision.

It was in May of 2012 that Rodolico formally invited some Connecticut agencies to submit their qualifications and potentially bid on a contract to dispatch emergency services for the Town of Ledyard.

The membership of Ledyard Volunteer Emergency Squad is on record as opposed.

The Ledyard Police Union is on record as being opposed.

The Ledyard Fire Department chief is on record as being opposed.

What do Patch readers think?

Wrote Patch reader April A. Brunelle on June 19 in the comments section of the article: "Bad idea. When you outsource there is room for errors. Room for blame passing. Room for problems. Room for mistakes and issues. Outsourcing may save some dollars on paper but it creates a lot of work and is not a just way of doing things. Quality can go down and not to mention morale and loyalty? Too many businesses just look at the $. It shouldn't be about that. Safety, community and fairness are what is important."

On the Ledyard Patch Facebook page, these comments were posted:

Nick Bozym: Absolutely not. "If it's not broken, don't fix it."

Laurie Murphy Roediger: Sometimes it may be more cost effective to "outsource" BUT it still isn't the right thing to do. I firmly believe that it would be disservice to our town and residents to outsource this. Who else is going to know our town like they do? Do we really want someone 10-15 miles away handling our emergencies??

Andrea Carpenter- Trout: No, keep it in our town.

Michael Hedman: No outsource!

Amanda Caroline: No.

Christina Carrington: NO!!

Joshua Smith: I still want to see the numbers before forming an option. Savings? Cost? Number of jobs effected?

Jim Grzesiak: I still have to laugh that this is even an issue. Fresh off of his election, the mayor decided this was unfinished business and embarked on this total waste of time to determine if the town should keep it's 911 dispatch center. He says it's not a decision he'll make based on any financial consideration but from what I've heard, it has everything to do with that. Presently, the Ledyard Dispatch Center not only answers the 911 calls for Ledyard and Preston, but it also dispatches those calls. They also dispatch the Ledyard police to calls while transferring those calls to the CSP in Montville, as well as answer cellular 911 calls that come in. Those calls are also either dispatched out or are transferred to the appropriate agency or dispatch center. This system works very well and is nearly flawless in it's operation despite the supervision it receives. Most dispatchers are a highly trained group who dedicated to their jobs and receive additional training as necessary to improve their skills. Just at a time when the police department is and has been attempting to go independent from the CSP, the brakes come on and we have to study, yet again, and dissect an entity, the Ledyard Emergency Communications Center and 911. The Town, through it's taxpayers, has spent literally millions of dollars over the years to get it to where it is, only to have the mayor drag this issue out of mothballs to reinvestigate it's worth. Frankly, this is such a no brainer that it's disgusting to be wasting so much time on. Isn't that part of the reason the Town just proposed and the taxpayers approved to build a new $6.75 million police headquarters for, to house dispatch and it's police department? Was there any discussion in the general government budget about how much the 911 dispatch center was costing the taxpayers and has it ever been an issue? Nobody is going to give Ledyard the services provided by the LECC and 911 Center. It's value is immeasurable vs it's cost. And like a parachute, when you need it, it's best to have it beforehand, because you might only need it once. The police union, both fire chiefs, and the director of the ambulance service, along with each respective memberships, have all agreed that keeping dispatch in town is preferred than outsourcing. If you can't trust these groups of people and their recommendations, you should pick your trucks up out of the sandbox and go home.

What's your take? Should Ledyard's emergency dispatch services stay as part of the town government, or should it be contracted out?Leave your comments below.