Commission approves dispatch center supervisor position

BERNALILLO — Sandoval County Commissioners approved an additional supervisor for the county's dispatch center.

Director Yvonne Fox requested the creation of the supervisor position Jan. 30 during a special meeting.

"The reason for that is after reviewing several months of data and careful consideration of the shift schedules, it has been determined there is a need for an additional supervisor position for the relief efforts," she said.

To cover the cost of the position, Fox said, they are going to freeze two vacant dispatcher positions, so it doesn't have an impact on the budget. She added that they made changes to the staffing levels to accommodate the need.

"When we began, we started with four supervisors, and it became apparent that we needed five to help with relief on lunches, breaks, and for vacations, if they're out sick. And since we're having to do a lot of training this year to maintain our certifications with the state, that additional supervisor will help with those relief efforts," she explained.

Commissioner Catherine Bruch said she was grateful the center is running smoothly and inquired about the innerworkings of the facility.

"On a side note, I was wondering if you could tell us about the facility itself. Is everything working out well and are there still some gaps? I thought I heard something about a generator last week or earlier this week?" Bruch said.

Fox confirmed there has been a delay in getting a generator in but the center was using a temorary one in the meantime.

"We were supposed to get that back in October. There's just been a lot of delays. The generator is now in and we actually just tested putting gas in it to make sure it's running correctly," she said.

She added the center is still adding some protocols to their applications but other than that they are running smoothly.

Commissioners approved the position unanimously.