LAWRENCE: Dispatching going to bids this month

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Township officials are putting the finishing touches to the bid specifications for the Lawrence Township Police Department’s 911 dispatching services, which is expected to go out for bids by the end of the month.
   But opposition to the proposal to privatize police dispatching services, which is one option that Township Council is mulling as it tries to close a looming gap in the 2013 municipal budget, has not gone away.
   Several residents urged Township Council not to hire a private company and lay off the seven Police Department dispatchers at the council’s Oct. 16 meeting. They told the council to spare the dispatchers by finding financial savings in other municipal departments.
   Township resident Eileen Stokely said the Police Department dispatchers are “one of the last places” she would look to privatize to save money. It’s “pretty small” compared to other areas of the budget, she said.
   Ms. Stokely suggested the council examine the larger departments to find savings, such as the Department of Public Works. She said she would feel more comfortable if the 911 dispatchers were local employees. She said she does not care who picks up her garbage or plows the snow, but she is concerned about police dispatchers.
   Township resident Judith Baranowski also called on Township Council to look elsewhere to save money and not to “sell the dispatchers down the river.” She pointed out that township employees are expected to take salary freezes and are also paying more for their benefits, and asked why Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun had not done the same thing.
   Mayor Jim Kownacki replied that privatizing the police dispatchers is one of several options the council is examining. It has not made a decision if the dispatchers will be laid off, he said, adding that “the council is working hard to come up with (a solution).”
   Mayor Kownacki also said Township Council is “standing by” Mr. Krawczun. The municipal manager provides the council with information and the council members discuss it before making a decision, he said.
   ”We are looking at everything,” Mayor Kownacki said. The council is not at the point where it knows what steps it will take, because there is still more to study. He added that “for me, it hurts” to lay off police officers.
   Councilwoman Cathleen Lewis said that reviewing the possibility of privatizing the police dispatchers is “part of the process.” Seeking bid proposals is the only way to find out if there are savings and how much it would be, she said.