To the editor:

I was disappointed and distressed with the county commission’s stance regarding funding for additional staff in the Emergency Dispatch Center. My perspective is that of someone who served the city of Lawrence in this position more than 10 years ago when calls for service were significantly lower and technology was less complex than that currently used.

These employees are the critical first contact with the hysterical mother whose infant has just stopped breathing, the wife whose husband has just gone into cardiac arrest, the homeowner whose residence has just caught fire.

Others may be the “first responders,” but they are dependent on information obtained and relayed by dispatch personnel. While fiscal conservatism might be appropriate in many instances, the savings in this case do not justify the decision-making process. If asked, I believe most citizens would willingly pay much more than pennies a year to improve opportunities for safer communities. The Emergency Dispatch Center is the invisible front line to those safer communities.

It is truly unfortunate county commissioners negated the city commission’s unanimous support of this proposal to save a few cents!

Cynthia Lewis,

Lecompton