Cumberland County's Trojan Horse

In a target rich environment, the debate de jour coursing through the hallowed corridors of Stinson Hall, the Public Safety Building, and the Cole Farms breakfast counter is the fate of the Gray Fire Rescue dispatch center. Both the Public Safety Committee and the Council have been actively chewing on this issue for the last two months.

From the onset, it must be recognized that the dispatch center is extremely efficient, accurate, and provides excellent service to the Fire-Rescue department and the citizens. In fact Gray Fire Dispatch has received awards for its performance. Troubled dispatch centers are characterized by rapid turnover and not-so-internal strife. Gray Fire-Rescue dispatch is a non-union shop, has a cohesive workforce, and has experienced practically no turnover. In other words…

Dispatch ain’t broken.

So then the only real issue with the dispatch center is money. How much does it cost to run the dispatch center and can be done cheaper? Good question and one our Councilors are obligated to ask, as they are with all town government departments. Yet there has been serious allegations that many procedural irregularities have compromised the integrity of the bid process.

However to me a larger question arises….
Why do the citizens of Gray wish to abdicate control over their dispatch center to another governmental entity over which they have no control?

Currently, Gray Dispatch is highly accessible and accountable to the townspeople. If you have a concern or complaint about the way Dispatch has done its job, you can walk right into the Central Station and talk to them, or to the Head Dispatcher, or to the Deputy Chief before you even have to dial a Councilor’s number. In fact last year, there were over 6,000 walk-in visits to the dispatch center seeking everything from immediate assistance for a medical emergency to obtaining a fire permit, to seeking directions.

ON the other hand, County government is a faceless behemoth many times removed from the average Gray citizen. There will be no walk-ins permitted, no fire permits issued, no directions given. Your direct input into the operations of dispatch will be eliminated.

County government is both an anachronism and an oxymoron in the Maine political landscape. All of the functions County provides can be supplied by state government and in fact there is often duplication of services. For example our tax dollars support the salaries of three County Commissioners, a professional County Manager, and administrative staff that function like our Council and our Town Manager, all to manage the county apparatus. (Question: Has anybody ever succeded in managing Stephanie Anderson?)

Here’s some more FUN FACTS about county government:

· Cumberland County budget for FY 2006 is nearly $30 million.

· County tax on Gray citizens last year was $408,299 excluding additional contract services for police protection.

· County tax was equal to 2.11 % of the FY 2006 Gray budget

· Between FY 2005 and 2006, the County budget rose 3.5%

· Of all of the New England states, only Maine still hangs tenaciously onto county government.

· The $408,299 annual county tax would be sufficient to pay for the Downtown Village improvements, or purchase the Libby Hill property, or make a big dent in the proposed Library improvements or buy the next fire engine scheduled for replacement, or realign deathtrap intersections such as Lawrence Road, or even … return some cash to the taxpayer’s pockets.


All governments seek to expand their authority and power.
As its power has diminished, Cumberland County government has sought new venues and new roles for it to perpetuate its existence. Dispatch is an example of County’s attempt to create a new niche for itself. Therefore it should not surprise anyone that County officials have been very tenacious about securing the Gray Dispatch contract, even to the point of hip-checking their way into interviews with other potential dispatch providers.

If the community, if the Council is so adamant about passing TABOR to curb government growth and spending, then why in the same breath are we contemplating an action that would diminish local control and at the same time perpetuate a superfluous form of government that should have been abolished decades ago?