I met with the Sheriff's and Deputies Association yesterday (9/28/05) in Des Moines and basically asked for their support in our endeavor to get dispatchers covered under "protected class" in IPERS.  Bob Sievert suggested that NOW is the time to get dispatchers and dispatch supervisors to ask their sheriff's directly to support this through the Sheriff's and Deputies Association.  We need to have dispatchers and dispatch supervisors ask their Sheriff's to email the leadership of the Sheriff's and Deputies Association that they want them to support this initiative.  It would be helpful if they could cc those emails to me so we can keep track of who is supportive and those we need to work on.

I will be covering this at the APCO Conference next week and Bob is going to do so at the NENA conference.

The issues I presented to the Sheriff's and Deputies Association Board were: 

1. The APCO survey, Iowa Telecommunicators want protected class and are willing to pay their share. They prefer protected class rather than the same plan the deputies are under.

2. We are the first-first responders and play a vital role in the public safety arena

3. Our jobs are very unlike most "regular IPERS" jobs

4. Communications has not been recognized for the vital role we play.  Changing our retirement would be a huge step in acknowledging the importance of the work we do

5. Though we do not have physical dangers that officers have, we deal with tremendous stress in our jobs.  We know that stress takes a toll on our health and lifespan.

6. Dispatchers are not retiring.  I pointed out that in the 26 years I have been as Scott County, 1 dispatcher has retired versus approximately 23 deputy sheriff's.  I also indicated that the same types of figures hold true across the State.

7. We are experiencing heavier workloads, rarely increasing the number of staff  to accommodate new and added duties

8. New technology being utilized poses new challenges.

9. Retention of dispatchers is already an issue, high turnover, an improved retirement plan would help combat these types of problems.

10. Dept. of Labor indicates that younger Iowans are leaving our state in large numbers.  They project there will be a shortage of qualified workers in the state of Iowa in the not so distant future.  Employers need to take steps now to attract and keep workers in the state.

11. Because so few dispatchers retire, our paying at a higher rate would actually benefit IPERS in the long run.   Though we would hope that having a better retirement plan would keep people in the job longer, there would still be some leaving after a few years.

12. At this time, we are asking for improved retirement for full time dispatchers only.  Including part-timers would cause huge bookkeeping issues for IPERS.

13. We have concerns about aging and dispatching.  Though there are exceptions, people naturally slow down and face health challenges with age.

If anyone has any other issues that may help convince our Sheriff's to Support us, please add what you feel is useful when speaking to your Sheriff's.

Thanks for your assistance.

Gloria Isham

Communications Supervisor

Scott County Sheriff's Office

416 W. 4^th St.

Davenport, IA 52801

563-326-8732 fax/563-326-1607

email/gisham@scottcountyiowa.com