It was going to save money.
It could have improved service.
Yet Dane County has dropped — for now, anyway — talk of combining its two emergency response agencies.
That’s disappointing.
The one bright spot is that an aide to Dane County Executive Joe Parisi says Parisi may revisit the issue in a few years.
Please do.
A study panel just rejected the promising idea of combining the county’s Department of Emergency Management and Public Safety Communications Department.
Emergency Management prepares for, responds to and helps recover from all types of emergencies and disasters. The 911 Center handles emergency calls and dispatches help for most of the county’s municipalities from a central location.
The timing was ripe for a merger because Kathy Krusiec retired this year as director of Emergency Management. Krusiec had served as director of both agencies for nine months while the 911 Center searched for a new director.
Krusiec told the study group that overseeing both agencies was “not a sustainable model.”
Maybe as two separate entities it wasn’t. But what if the two were neatly blended into one?
Sup. Paul Rusk cited “angst” as a concern if a merger moved forward.
Yes, combining bureaucracies can create turf battles and hard feelings. Not everyone adjusts easily. But once accomplished, a successful consolidation often leads to better service and communication.
Madison and Dane County succeeded at merging their health departments with positive results. So did the city with its affirmative action and equal opportunities agencies.
Rusk noted the projected savings of a merger were relatively small: $70,000 the first year and about $30,000 per year after that.
That may be small in comparison to the county’s huge budget. But add it up over a decade and it’s real money that could be better spent elsewhere — or, dare we suggest, not spent at all.
This opportunity to make county government more cost-effective may be lost for now.
But Parisi is right to hold onto the idea for another try — sooner, we hope, than later.
Please Wait…