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Mistele reveals safety agenda
County executive candidate slams Falk on 911 Center, expects to add officers
LUKAS KEAPPROTH/Herald photo
Dane County Executive candidate Nancy Mistele announces her safety plan.
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Dane County Executive candidate Nancy Mistele announced her public safety agenda at a press conference Thursday morning.
Mistele is challenging incumbent Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk in the April 7 election.
“I will first and foremost work to restore our 911 Center so that when our public calls, they know that help will come,” Mistele said.
Controversy regarding the 911 Center arose last May after a call placed from the cell phone of University of Wisconsin junior Brittany Zimmermann the day she was killed was mishandled by a Center operator.
Although the Center underwent an independent audit released last month, Mistele said she wants to appoint a cabinet-level position in the center, which will manage and coordinate emergency response to better ensure the Center would not mishandle calls.
Melissa Mulliken, Falk’s campaign manager, said the recently released audit stated the 911 Center was “well-run” and functioned at a high level of quality.
“In response to the mishandled call of the Brittany Zimmermann case, Kathleen Falk has added staff and technology,” Mulliken said. “She instituted a ‘when-in-doubt, dispatch police’ directive that help is sent when help is needed.”
When taking office, Mistele said she plans to implement interoperable emergency response equipment.
Currently the 911 Center uses two different radio systems to communicate: one in urban areas and one in rural areas, according to Jon Horne, Mistele’s campaign manager. The problem is there is currently no communication between the two radio lines.
With this new interoperable radio system, the Madison Police Department, the Madison Fire Department and the Emergency Medical System will be able to operate on the same radio system.
Horne added, although Roger Finch, president of the Dane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, Falk refuses to employ the program.
Additionally, Mistele said she wants to take the initiative and work hand-in-hand with the Dane County Sheriff’s Department.
Upon entering office, Mistele said she wants to immediately hire 13 new department employees. She said Sheriff Dave Mahoney requested 13 new positions in his 2009 budget that were denied by Falk.
At the conference, former Dane County Sheriff Gary Hamblin, who worked closely with Falk for several years, formally announced his endorsement of Mistele’s campaign. Hamblin said he believes Mistele will make public safety a priority and use tax dollars wisely.
“I know that keeping Dane County safe takes an executive who is 100 percent focused on her job, and sadly, Kathleen Falk is not,” Hamblin said.
However, Mulliken said Hamblin endorsed Mistele because they are both Republicans; therefore, it was no surprise to the community.
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Once again it appears Ms Mistele is missing some key facts regarding the 911 center and additionally the interoperable radio project under way at the county. She could have been a viable candidate had she simply took a little time to get some facts straight.
The facts speak for themselves. Falk was not willing to put the $2M in her 2009 budget to fix the CAD system at the 911 Center until the 911 Center Board demanded it. Falk’s offer to put $30M in to the interoperability system is the absolute minimum. Unfortunately, if some of the outlying communities cannot purchase their interoperable radios (in some cases the cost of the radios would exceed the budget cap of those municipalities) then we have a failed system. Mistele understands the facts.