Get your copy of our weekly print products at any of these convenient locations.

Dane County Board chair expects 911 audit approval

Mike Miller  —  5/16/2008 5:55 am

Dane County Board Chairman Scott McDonell said in a memo to county supervisors Thursday that he expects a June 4 meeting of the Executive Committee will approve an independent audit of the county's troubled 911 Center.

McDonell also used the memo to take a swipe at conservative supervisors who have called for a town hall meeting Monday night in Fitchburg to explore problems which have emerged in the system during the investigation of a Madison murder.

McDonell said in his memorandum that the Executive Committee will meet in the County Board chambers on June 4 at 6 p.m. in a meeting open to all board members as well as the public.

"I anticipate that we will approve an independent audit of our 911 center at that meeting in order to review their performance with fresh eyes," he said. "Public testimony will also be taken at this meeting," McDonell said, and added a reminder that public comment was also sought at county committee meetings on May 8 and May 12.

McDonell said county officials are trying to get the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International to send a staff member to the June 4 meeting, and staff from the Waukesha County 911 center which had a review performed by the international group.

"I have also invited Tom Clauder, mayor of Fitchburg and president of the Dane County Cities and Villages Association, to address the committee to convey the concerns of local municipalities," which also use the county system, McDonell said.

"I want to ensure that their concerns are considered when we undertake an outside review," the board chair said, well also indicating the small towns and suburbs are well represented on the oversight board.

McDonell also took a shot at county supervisors Ronn Ferrell, District 15, Eileen Bruskewitz, District 25, and Jack Marts, District 33, who are sponsoring the meeting Monday night in Fitchburg on the 911 center.

The three said in a release earlier this week that they want 911 Center director Joe Norwick on hand for the meeting as well as County Executive Kathleen Falk, Sheriff Dave Mahoney and Madison Police Chief Noble Wray.

"If staff and other officials are expected to attend, it is only common courtesy to coordinate with their schedules," McDonell said, adding that the meeting also conflicts with the regular meeting of the County Public Protection and Judiciary Committee, which has oversight over the 911 Center, and conflicts with funeral services for Mark Coyne, the nurse who was killed in the crash of a MedFlight helicopter near LaCrosse last weekend.

The 911 Center and its director have been facing criticism since a disclosure that before University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann was killed on April 2, she or someone else used her cell phone to call the 911 Center. The dispatcher got no response and did not return the call, and the Madison Police Department says she should have done so, while her union representatives and others have said the policy is that such calls are returned as time allows.

That problems was compounded when the 911 center told police of another 911 disconnect call, and that turned out to be misinformation which had detectives using time to track down the callers, and it turned out there was no connection to the murder.

No one has been arrested in the Zimmermann case. 

Mike Miller  —  5/16/2008 5:55 am