Staffing Area Agency on Aging, 911 center continue to be a concern for commissioners
SOMERSET ― Somerset County Commissioners Tuesday entered into a one year professional service agreement with Blair Senior Services Inc., of Altoona, to help the Somerset County Area Agency on Aging fiscal staff.
The agreement is for $60 an hour for a part time control services person, not to exceed 8.5 hours a week, and for a full time supervisor staff accountant for $6,305 a month.
"We've lost employees in the fiscal department," said Commissioner Colleen Dawson. "We're losing people everywhere."
At their Sept. 12 board meeting, commissioners accepted the resignations of administrator James T. Yoder and Jennifer Weaver, the fiscal analyst, both effective Sept. 15. They also accepted the resignation of Tammy Blough, fiscal technician, effective Aug. 11, at their Aug. 29 meeting.
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"Historically, the (county) Area Agency on Aging struggled in the fiscal department since I got here," said Commissioners Chairman Gerald Walker. "It's a very unique department. It's had staffing problems for years down there. It's difficult tracking all kinds of different programs, all the services that are provided and where they can pull the money from to provide these services."
The Area Agency on Aging of Somerset County, 1338 South Edgewood Ave., Somerset, employs 65 people and has a budget of a little more than $4.8 million a year, the commissioners said.
Walker said having the opportunity to have another Area Agency on Aging organization will help. The Blair Senior Service Inc. works with multiple counties.
"They know every deadlines, programs, funding services and the requirements needed to provide for our seniors," Walker said. "So many services that can be accessed. They have knowledge of the programs. That's so invaluable."
He said the agreement is temporary until the positions can be filled.
"We will outsource it to Blair until a time we can make the decision," Walker said. "We need the employees to do that."
Dawson said controversy among the county employees and between the commissioners and a group of citizens who have requested more transparency by the county government officials have not helped the county to keep employees.
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"When you have this kind of controversy and environment, it is not helping to recruit employees," she said. "The county government has so many employment opportunities and the benefits is unparalleled."
911 Center staffing concerns
Dan Dively who said he's had 35 years experience in emergency services, said he continues to be concerned about the county's emergency dispatch center. He said response times are still too slow.
At the Sept. 12 Somerset County Salary Board meeting, members created two positions, one a 911 coordinator and the second a 911 operations manager, to help the 911 director with daily operation of the center. At their Sept. 26 board meeting, commissioners promoted Angela Emerick from administrator assistant to the 911 coordinator position and Craig Hollis-Nicholson from GIS/CAD/Radio to the 911 operations manager. A director still has not been hired.
Dively said his concern is that a department secretary with little experience as a dispatcher has been promoted to a coordinator position.
"You appointed someone who has only been a dispatcher for a couple years," he said. And that person hasn't seen a critical emergency situation.
"How is that fixing the problem?" Dively asked. "Nothing has changed in the last nine months. Don't you think it's a problem?"
Walker told him he feels they have made advances at the 911 center, and that response times may be slow because of incorrect information being called into the dispatch center.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Staffing shortages spread to other areas of Somerset County services
