Hamilton County 911 dispatchers ask for better pay

Chattanooga, Tenn (WDEF) — Employees of the Hamilton County 911 call center spoke to the city council at yesterday’s meeting.

The city council recently passed a budget that includes raises for city employees, including firefighters and police.

However, those raises do not include 911 dispatchers, who are contractors, and thus not covered under the same terms.

Dispatchers spoke to city council to ask them to consider including pay raises for those who field those 911 calls.

Cheyenne Bedell, Telecommunicator Senior said to the City Council, “I’m asking you to adequately find a service that Chattanooga residence already depend on every day I understand that there are concerns about the long-term cost and funding sources and I respect the responsibility of managing the taxpayer dollars appropriately. However, I would also ask you to consider the cost of not investing in this, what is the cost of losing your spirit telecommunicators what is the cost of the continued vacancies, mandatory overtime and burnout that we all faced?”

Starting pay for dispatchers is $19.17 an hour, according to Hamilton County.

Call Center employees field hundreds of calls a day from across Hamilton County. More than half originate from the City of Chattanooga.