6/3/14 - In a contentious vote, EMS Director Jeff Boyd was appointed last night to a new position combining his current job with the director of Livingston County 911. The previous director of 911 Central Dispatch, Don Arbic, left the countyâs employ under questionable circumstances earlier this year. Since then, Boyd has stepped us as the interim director of 911. A vote of the county commission last night appointed him to be the permanent director of both departments, with plans to hire two deputy directors- one for each department- to serve under him. Although the current board cannot dictate future hiring policies, the plan is to have Boyd train both deputy directors to be his successors so that, when he retires, his position would be eliminated and the departments would have their own directors again. The new position was not without his opponents, however. Commissioner Don Parker voted against it, saying the hierarchies for these departments should not revolve around a specific individual. Also objecting was Commissioner Dave Domas, who tells WHMI he does not see the sense of inserting a new layer of bureaucracy by putting the departments under combined leadership. He also says this position would not have been possible without Arbic leaving the countyâs employ, and creating this new structure may have been among the motivations for forcing him out of his position. The other county commissioners felt this was the best way to oversee the two departments, and Commissioner Steve Williams tells WHMI he is willing to try this unique, out-of-the-box solution. Commissioners also pointed out the new structure also answers the need for the departments to engage in succession planning in the near future. (TD)
↧