After outcry from dispatchers and the city’s firefighters union, the Spokane City Council overrode the mayor’s veto and blocked the city’s participation in a planned regionwide 911 integration that critics say may not improve public safety.
Mayor David Condon called the council’s earlier unanimous vote to require city dispatchers to only work with city police and firefighters an overstep. It would not allow them to join the new Spokane Regional Emergency Communications center.
The regional commications center would combine county emergency communications, Crime Check, Sheriff’s Office dispatchers and radio employees with city and fire dispatchers into a new center with a governing board made up of local public safety employees and administrators. The new system was set to go live next year.
Condon said the council did not have the authority to regulate or manage employees. And regardless of the outcome of an override vote, he still planned to continue to work toward 911 integration.