Pennington to be 2nd VP

Kim Pennington, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications, was elected to the 2nd Vice President position at the Fall Conference in Wichita.  The vote was held in conjunction with the business meeting and was taken among members of APCO.  Kim will begin her duties in January when Kathy McGaughey, Garden City Police, assumes the role of Chapter President and Lance Royer, Shawnee County Sheriff's Office advances to 1st Vice President.  Congratulations to Kim and thanks to everyone who was a candidate for the office.

Reno hires experienced 911 chief

By Mary Clarkin - The Hutchinson News - mclarkin@hutchnews.com

Hutchinson and Marion County didn't work out a swap. It just looks that way.
Emergency Communications Director Mary Messamore, overseeing the 911 dispatch center at the Hutchinson-Reno County Law Enforcement Center, will retire in early December and move to Marion, where family members live.
Hutchinson's next emergency communications director - Michele Abbott - will move here from Marion County.

Messamore wasn't part of the team of law enforcement, fire, ambulance and emergency management officials who interviewed job finalists, but she expressed delight with the selection.
About 60 people applied for the job, according to city staff. The other two people interviewed were from Florida.
Abbott will start here Oct. 25, enabling an overlap training period with Messamore.
Abbott started in 1989 as a dispatcher in Marion County, after responding to a help-wanted ad. She rose through the ranks to supervisor and then director. Since 1999, she has been director of emergency communications and also emergency management chief.
Abbott is familiar with the regional 911 backup dispatch center at Hutchinson Community College's campus near Yoder. A 19-county regional homeland security group wanted a backup center, and a grant helped make it possible. Abbott was on the regional council and served as co-manager of the project.
"We just installed that equipment there two weeks before Greensburg happened, and then we activated it and were able to take calls for Greensburg," she said, referring to the May 2007 tornado.
Like Messamore, Abbott has been active on professional boards. Abbott has testified on emergency communications issues before state lawmakers. She is a governing board member with the Kansas Association of Counties, and has twice been president of the Kansas Chapter of the Association of Public-Safety Officials-International Inc.
Marion County's center is fully staffed, but Abbott said the challenge of filling job vacancies is shared by many centers.
"It's a very stressful and demanding job," she said, but added that she also loved the work.
Emergency agencies in Reno County are switching to an 800 megahertz radio system. Marion County does not operate on such a system, but Messamore said Abbott has a "a lot of knowledge" about it.
Moving with Abbott to Reno County will be her 11-year-old son, Chase. Marion County officials are considering options for filling the future vacancy there, including the possibility of dividing duties, Abbott said.

Social at Fall Conference hosted by Voice Products, ATT

The Sunday social at the KSAPCO Fall Conference has been announced and is sponsored by Voice Products and ATT.  For information on the social, visit the conference page at http://www.ksapco.net/Fall10.html.

Special Announcements

In addition to the training classes and activities routinely scheduled at Kansas APCO Conferences, there are always side meetings that are held in conjunction with the event.  I have begun posting "Special Announcements" on the Conference Page at www.ksapco.net.

Panel discussion with Kansas Senators

From Kim Pennington:

Senators Apple and Petersen of the Senate Utilities Committee will be at the fall APCO conference for a panel discussion.  Senator Apple is going to try to recruit other committee members as well.  This would be a good opportunity to get information and to pass information along.  They are scheduled on Tuesday, October 12 from 1500 - 1550 in the Eagle H room.

Questions sought for Roundtable

From Brad Gilges, KSAPCO Chapter Executive Committee-Person: 

At the APCO Conference in Wichita, on Monday, October 11, I will be moderating a topic called “Manager/Director Round Table.”  This class is a round-table discussion designed for directors and managers of 9-1-1 / Communication’s Centers to discuss issues they are having and hopefully sharing solutions found by other directors and managers.  Although any topic can be brought up and discussed that day, I am looking for some topics you would like to see discussed before hand, so we can be sure we hit those topics.  Please send me your topic or question that you want to see discussed by e-mail at:  bgilges@franklincoks.org.  

PSAP update

A new photo has been updated on the PSAP page at the website www.ksapco.net.  A group photo of Hutchinson-Reno County Emergency Communications personnel has been added.  Good looking crew, I might add.  Any PSAP that would like their contact information and a photo added to the website can submit their information to the webmaster. We welcome your submissions!