Council to Continue Talks on Regional Dispatch Center

By Adam Swift

The city council will continue subcommittee meetings on the proposed regionalization of the city’s E911 dispatch center.

At Monday night’s city council meeting, City Manager Fidel Maltez provided the council with additional information about the proposal for Chelsea to join the Metro North Regional Emergency Communications Center alongside Winthrop and Revere.

Plans are underway to convert the old McKinley Elementary School in Revere into a new communications headquarters for the regional dispatch center.

On Jan. 14, the council held a subcommittee on conference meeting with representatives from the regional dispatch center, as well as with the Revere mayor, the Winthrop town manager, and members of the union representing Chelsea’s E911 employees.

“Over the past year, Chelsea has engaged in discussions with Revere and Winthrop to explore the benefits and logistics of consolidating E911 dispatch operations into a regionalized system,” Maltez stated. “This partnership aims to create a robust, state-of-the-art dispatch system that addresses the unique needs of each participating community while leveraging shared resources for maximum efficiency.”

Maltez stated that while the initial communication on this matter was out of the city’s control, and not what it desired, he said the administration has since made every effort to ensure that all employees directly impacted by this change have access to comprehensive information and the opportunity to voice their concerns.

“As recently as last week, the Administration reached out to the employee representative to continue open communication and the representative indicated all communication should move forward in the bargaining process,” Maltez stated in a letter to the city council “The Administration has scheduled impact bargaining over the next two weeks. We remain committed to ongoing dialogue as this initiative progresses. Regionalizing E911 operations is projected to yield substantial financial benefits for Chelsea.”

Over the first five years, Maltez said the city is expected to save approximately $4.5 million because the Commonwealth grant will cover Chelsea’s share in an effort to incentivize this streamlined process.

“Even after the assessment fee is introduced in year six, the costs associated with regionalized dispatch operations will remain below the current operational budget of the department,” Maltez stated. “In the Chelsea Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Budget, our expense for the entire Emergency Management department was approximately $1.6 million. If we had been operating under the regional center, Chelsea’s assessment would have been approximately $1 million.”

Maltez has stated that the city has started conversations with the unions representing the Chelsea E911 employees, and that those employees are guaranteed a position in the regional center. He further noted that Chelsea works with Winthrop on other regional initiatives, such as public health and climate resiliency.

During the public speaking portion of Monday night’s council meeting, several E911 employees stated that they continue to have concerns about the regionalization plans.

Miriam Acevedo, an emergency dispatcher and president of one of the unions representing the E911 employees, said they have heard about the benefits of a new regional dispatch building, but pointed out that the city has already spent millions of dollars to upgrade its existing building.

“Tonight, you will be presented with numbers that look pretty appealing on paper, $4.5 million in savings over the cost of five years, that is a pretty number for a city to save,” said Acevedo. “But at what cost; layoffs of city employees, slower response times, three times the workload, first responder safety? We are dealing with life or death, quite literally.”

Acevedo said Chelsa 911 is a lifeline for the city’s residents, with employees who know the city and many of the people who call on a regular basis.

Several city councilors stated that the council is still some time away from making a decision on joining the regional dispatch center.

“Speaking for myself, I am not ready to vote on this yet,” said Councilor-at-Large Roberto Jimenez-Rivera. “I think there are a lot of questions and a lot of points of view, and I want to make sure everyone knows we are not taking a vote here and have not scheduled a vote. We are in the process of having a full conversation about this.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *