Libertyville to Merge Dispatch Services

Libertyville trustees gave the green light Tuesday to an intergovernmental agreement to consolidate fire and police dispatch services with Vernon Hills.

“This is not something we did lightly,” Mayor Terry Weppler said during the meeting. “They are professional dispatchers and it’s a difficult decision we are making.”

The agreement is expected to save Libertyville some $1.25 million over five years but would eliminate dispatch jobs, according to village documents. The village has been looking for ways to cut operating costs for dispatch services since 2005.

“It’s been a long process and we’ve all been trying to fight through the process trying to keep our jobs,” said Cori Johnson, 29, one of six Libertyville dispatchers losing their jobs.

Johnson, who has worked as a Libertyville dispatcher for four years, says residents should have had a voice in whether to consolidate dispatch operations.

“I don’t think it’s right that they did something of this magnitude without putting it to a vote by the citizens of the village,” Johnson said.

As part of the agreement, new dispatch positions will be created to accommodate the consolidation.

“Vernon Hills will interview us but has not guaranteed us jobs,” Johnson said.

The mother of three says she has not decided if she will apply for the position. Another dispatcher, Tina Brown, says she will not.

“I have no plans on going to work in Vernon Hills, nor even interview,” Brown said.

It would have been Brown’s 15th year as a Libertyville dispatcher on Aug. 11, but the dispatch center is expected to shut down Aug. 1 with the consolidation.

Weppler previously has said the consolidation is purely a cost-saving measure.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of our dispatches — we have tremendous dispatch services here in Libertyville. It has to do with dollars and cents and the fact that it would be a $1.7 million saving over five years,” Weppler said during a board meeting in November.

Johnson acknowledged that the village would not have made the decision if it was unsafe for Libertyville but said the quality of service will be different.

“We have a combined 77-years of knowledge of Libertyville and (Vernon Hills) may not get that,” Johnson said. “If they hire people who don’t have knowledge of Libertyville, then they are going to have to learn it from the ground up.”