Whitcom director resigned amid 911 dispatch staffing ‘crisis,’ union no-confidence votes

Critically low staffing levels and poor morale led the Whitcom 911 Guild to pass two no-confidence votes against the regional dispatch center’s director prior to her recent resignation. Meanwhile, partner agencies feared overworked dispatchers could lead to emergency response breakdowns or injuries to first responders.

“Whitcom is in a dire situation,” the guild wrote in December. “Dispatchers worry that Whitcom will soon no longer continue to exist and that their employment will cease. Services offered to our user agencies continue to deteriorate at a rapid pace. Our ability to uphold public safety is at risk.”

Whitcom Director Tara Murker resigned at the end of March amid concern about the center’s financial sustainability and the COVID-19 lockdown. Public records show the Whitcom executive board put Murker on a probationary Performance Improvement Plan in December after rapid turnover depleted the center’s dispatch ranks, as well as growing operational budget deficits.

Guild complaints and schedule records indicate some Whitcom dispatchers averaged close to 20 hours of overtime a week as staffing shortages forced employees to work additional shifts, sometimes seven days a week. The board has also recently discussed significant rate increases to stabilize Whitcom funding.

“[It] is critical that you demonstrate to the Board and our client agencies your commitment to resolving the crisis right now,” the board wrote Murker in February. “There is deep concern and diminishing confidence regarding whether or not Whitcom can continue as a viable organization under your leadership.”

Whitcom, also known as the Whitman County Regional Communications Center, provides emergency 911 dispatch services for Whitman County, the City of Pullman, Washington State University, Asotin County, the City of Moscow and the Nez Perce Tribal Police. At the Whitcom center in Pullman, dispatchers answer 911 calls from the public and coordinate radio traffic between police, fire, EMS and other emergency responders throughout the region.

The Whitcom board hired Murker in August 2018 after a seven-month search to replace the center’s previous longtime director. Murker could not be reached for comment on this story. She did not respond to interview requests to her personal email and cellphone.

“I took this position knowing only some of the challenges Whitcom faced,” she wrote in a March response to guild complaints. “Despite these efforts to defame my character and undermine my leadership as presented by the Guild to the Board, my hope is that we will all continue to work together to bring Whitcom up to the successful and financially solvent entity it should be.”

Murker submitted her resignation a week later.

Member agencies established Whitcom in 2005. Ten agency representatives sit on the executive board and agencies pay toward the center’s operating costs. Several public officials, including police and fire chiefs, sent letters of concern to the Whitcom board in recent months over fears dispatchers were stretched thin.

“I have spent the last 22 plus years in emergency services … in all facets of the 911 industry,” an Asotin County official wrote. “I have never seen nor heard of another agency in such a crisis as Whitcom is right now.”

Clarkston officials sent the board a letter in December stating they could visibly observe the strain on dispatchers during a visit to the center. They explained they now hesitate to request additional radio assistance due to dispatchers already “barely keeping their heads above water, while providing the minimum dispatch needs.”

“Tired and over worked employees will miss critical radio traffic at some point,” they wrote. “If communications are missed during a life threatening event, the potential for a catastrophic failure is much higher, possibly resulting in harm or death to one of our first responders.”

Officials acknowledge emergency 911 operations nationwide struggle to recruit and retain qualified dispatchers. Whitcom documents from before Murker’s tenure outline similar challenges and Murker described it as her top priority in an interview with Whitman County Watch last July.

“It’s a really hard job,” she said at the time. “Across the country, 911 is understaffed. It’s not a Whitman County problem. It’s a 911 problem.”

The Whitcom guild acknowledged the center had previously struggled with high turnover, but argued Murker’s changes to hiring had caused new delays and resulted in many candidates washing out of the process — some after months of time spent training. They alleged low morale and poor communication drove away several longtime dispatchers, as many as nine in 2019 and a few more in early 2020.

“[The] revolving door has more or less become an exit only door,” they wrote.

Records show a budgeted staffing level of 22 dispatchers seemingly dropped to just 10 fully trained dispatchers with another four trainees by earlier this year. Murker explained to the board that she had made aggressive efforts to hire and train new dispatchers, but that many moved on to other positions or wanted to work part-time.

“I have done everything possible to better the position the dispatchers are in,” she wrote in March. “No one values my dispatchers more. But they are indeed tired, the hours are long, some have moved on because their commitment to this career is outweighed by their willingness or ability to maintain and function at this level of work hours.”

The guild wrote some employees had obtained doctor’s notes limiting their overtime hours to avoid mandatory additional shifts. They also outlined complaints about Murker’s interpersonal communication skills as well as her ability to negotiate and adhere to labor agreements.

In emails, Murker expressed frustration with repeated pushback from the guild on her attempts to address staffing shortages with part-time temporary workers or other scheduling changes. She wrote that she had taken on many additional duties to try to keep hiring and operations moving through the staffing shortages. She had also tried to implement retention bonuses or mileage payments as incentives.

“[We] are all doing our best to get through this rough time,” she wrote, adding, “Staffing levels, negotiations for raises, and personnel working out of class is the perfect storm we must navigate through together in support of everyone involved.”

The board’s December probationary Performance Improvement Plan required Murker to demonstrate significant improvements to staffing levels, morale and financial stability by the end of March. An updated evaluation from February continued to list several major concerns.

Pullman City Administrator Adam Lincoln, who served as chairman of the Whitcom board at the time, said he could not discuss the personnel matter surrounding Murker’s resignation. Lincoln acknowledged the dispatcher staffing losses were alarming.

“That creates a really big red flag,” he said.

While he did not know current staffing numbers, Lincoln noted the staffing “crunch” had seemed less dire in recent weeks as COVID-19 closures sent many students home and reduced overall 911 call volumes.

The board has also renewed discussions on significantly increasing the payments that member agencies provide Whitcom in order to cover budget shortfalls. Officials put those projected deficits at between about $400,000 and $600,000 next year, depending on grants and other outside revenue. Members have also discussed dropping service for the Nez Perce Tribal Police.

Proposed changes to member agencies rates would charge the City of Pullman, Whitman County and WSU an additional $200,000 or so each over the next two years. Lincoln said pay rate models based on call volume, population or other splits have all been considered.

“We’re trying to get to a more sustainable position,” he said. “It’s something [Murker] had been working on for a while.”

The state auditor has posted Whitcom’s most recent financial audit and accountability audit. Those reports follow a state audit finding for insufficient financial controls in early 2018.

In the wake of Murker’s resignation, the board appointed Moscow Police Capt. Roger Lanier as interim director. Lincoln said the board met in closed session Thursday to discuss initial applications and hiring for a permanent director. Read the job description here.