The Gorham Town Council recently voted to close our existing dispatch facility and to start using the Cumberland County Dispatch Center to handle our dispatching needs. We voted to do this based upon the recommendations of both the Gorham fire chief and the Gorham police chief, as well as the town manager. A citizen initiated petition has forced a vote on this issue, and if this referendum passes, the Council’s decision will be overturned, and we will be forced to hold another council vote on this item. The undersigned councilors hope that the following information is useful to the citizens of Gorham.

1. How much will the Town save by having the county provide dispatching?

The town will save $223,543 each year. In addition, the town will save more money in the future by avoiding the cost of replacing the town’s current communications tower at an estimated cost of $50,000 and save on potentially expensive renovations at the current municipal center to accommodate dispatch operations when that building is converted into a public safety building next year.

2. What has happened to Gorham’s dispatchers?

This item was extremely important to the Town Council. We worked very hard to insure that all of our dispatchers were offered jobs that were similar to their current jobs.

Cumberland County provided guarantees to the Town Council that they would hire five of Gorham’s dispatchers for full-time work and a sixth dispatcher for part-time work. Effective Aug. 17, 2005, the county kept that promise and hired five of Gorham’s dispatchers for full-time work. The one remaining dispatcher was also offered an opportunity to apply for either full-time or part-time work and chose not to apply.

Most of the dispatchers who are working for the County are working for higher wage rates than they were earning from the town of Gorham, and all of them have a better benefit package.

3. Is County dispatching of high quality?

Cumberland County dispatch is directly supervised by a professional county manager and a professional dispatch supervisor. Their dispatchers have training that is equal to or better than Gorham’s dispatchers, and many of them have more experience dispatching than Gorham’s dispatchers.

4. Where is the County Dispatch Center located and will we lose local knowledge?

The County Dispatch operation is located in Windham one-half mile over the Gorham town line. Of the six dispatchers involved in dispatching for Gorham, two of them live in Yarmouth, one lives in Buxton, and one recently moved to Gorham from Westbrook. The town’s longest tenured dispatcher had been with the town for only three years and eight months. The newest dispatcher had been with the town for just three months. Several of the county’s dispatchers have lived in Gorham for many years. Others live in Standish, Windham, and Westbrook. County dispatchers know a great deal about the town of Gorham. There are many successful regional dispatch operations all over the United States that provide exceptional service. Experience shows that employees here in Cumberland County are very capable of providing excellent service.

5. What is a PSAP and how is this affected by the move?

PSAP or 911 information. PSAP is part of the 911 system that shows dispatchers where a call is coming from. Currently, the town has PSAP, but the state has decided to reduce the number of PSAP dispatch centers, which will lead to Gorham’s loss of its own PSAP Center. The county dispatch will still have PSAP, and the move to Cumberland County dispatch will allow us to continue to use this very important dispatching tool. If Gorham were to retain its own dispatch, we will be forced to communicate with the county dispatch to get this information, forcing a dispatcher to go through one more step to be able to access this information.

We have recently been informed that we may be able to keep our own PSAP if the town wishes to pay all costs. In a letter from Al Gervenack, director of the State Emergency Services Communication Bureau, he indicated that the annual additional cost for an individual town to operate its own PSAP to be $209,640 per year. Those costs have not been added in to any of the potential savings before mentioned.

6. The contract with the county is for only two years! How may we be sure costs will remain stable?

Cumberland County has just as much at stake in this venture as the town of Gorham and just as much reason to work hard to make this successful. A high profile failure caused because the county unreasonably increased costs is simply not in their interest.

Our costs are based on a per capita charge. The county also successfully dispatches for other communities in Cumberland County. If they unfairly raised our contract price, they would also have to raise the contract price for every town. Other Maine municipalities such as Bath (in Sagadahoc County) and Old Town, Brewer and Orono (in Penobscot County) have obtained dispatch services from their respective county governments without any dramatic increase in their costs.

Over the last eight years, the costs of maintaining a separate dispatch operation in Gorham have increased at a much faster rate than the cost of our county taxes. Last year, our county tax increased 2.65 percent while the cost of dispatching increased 13.8 percent. Over the last eight years, our county taxes have increased 56 percent, while our dispatching costs have increased by 130 percent. Indications are that the cost of a separate town dispatch operation will continue to escalate at a much higher rate than a regional dispatch facility.

The town has had two dispatchers on duty most of the time, but for one late night shift there is only one dispatcher on duty. There have been discussions at the council about the need to provide an extra dispatcher to cover this shift. The costs associated with this change have not been included in any of the figures presented, but the Town Council will probably be forced to add this position in the very near future.

7. Many of the town’s employees are fearful that this is just the beginning. Is Gorham going to consolidate other services?

We believe that consolidating other departments is unlikely. The town studied consolidation of dispatch for over 10 years and carefully evaluated other proposals before finding the best opportunity for the Gorham community. Because of the technology involved and dramatic savings achieved, consolidating dispatch makes good sense.

Most other services, such as police or public works, do not offer the same kind of savings.

As you consider this important question, please remember that our factual data can be independently verified. The town manager presented a report and put this report on the town’s Web site so that it would be easily available for any member of the public to review. We encourage you to visit the town’s Web site and read the report.

This column was submitted by the Gorham town administration on behalf of four town councilors, Chairman Burleigh H. Loveitt, Vice Chairman Matthew J. Robinson, Norman E. Justice Jr. and Michael J. Phinney.

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