The letter requires that any group classification bill must first meet a set of criteria to be considered for a favorable recommendation. Please read the criteria and be prepared to contribute to our written presentation including a description of financial impact.

June 2007: Tim Bassett, Executive Director of Essex County's Retirement Board spoke to the MCSA June 2006 meeting.

The Essex County Retirement Board's Actuary determined that the financial impact of Group 2 for all 911 Dispatchers in the 19 towns they cover would amount to less than $33,000 per year for ALL towns. They thus passed a rule saying that if a town titled their dispatchers as Fire and/or Police Signal Operators they would be eligible for Group 2 benefits. They then added the $33,000 to the total assessment to all towns and assessed an amount - on a pro-rated bases - to each towns. The largest town is being assessed about $5,000/yr; the smallest $70/yr. (yes, that is correct, only $70 per year). This is a very minimal financial impact relative to the benefit. Contact Anne Marie Cullen at Hamilton-Wenham about Essex County's actions.

June 2007: Senate 1603 refiled in 2007; don't count on passage immediately. Current Best Strategy: recommended by Legislative Committee members to MCSA:

• Get your town/city/county CEO to re-title your various dispatcher titles (Emergency Telecommunications Dispatcher, Emergency Dispatcher, Dispatcher, Police Dispatcher, Fire Dispatcher, Public Safety Dispatcher, etc.) all to the Fire and Police Signal Operator series that was our original title: "Fire and Police Signal Operator I" (plus "Fire and Police Signal Operator II" and "Fire and Police Signal Operator III" if you have different levels of 911 center personnel). Small centers with only 4-5 911 Dispatchers would choose only the "Fire and Police Signal Operator 1" Title whereas larger centers with head dispatchers, working supervisors, and even a chief dispatcher would submit 2 or 3 titles. Sample Job Descriptions available in Word here (pick one and modify):
  • Hamilton-Wenham Fire and Police Signal Operator
  • Cambridge Emergency Communications Fire and Police Signal Operator
• All titles assume that the person does 911 Dispatch duties as well as any supervisory duties. This does NOT cover clerical or administrative positions as these are the first, first responders that directly handle all ememrencies in the state.
• Then submit any approved Titles with Job Descriptions to your Retirement Board for approval as a Group 2 title.

To do this, you will need to rewrite the Job Description with the new title at the top, convince your local Personnel and Town Administrator of the need for this change, and then get the approval of your Retirement Board. It would be very helpful to present documentation of the financial impact to both your town and the retirement board.

August-06: Full Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel. This far-ranging report is critical reading for 911 Dispatchers interested in their prospects for retirement in Massachusetts. No conclusion was reached by the Panel with respect to the specific issue of 911 Dispatcher retirement, except:

• they explicitly recognized the unfairness in having dispatchers with different titles who sit side-by-side in the same dispatch center and perform the exact same duties be in different retirement groups.
• they said "Employees in highly stressful jobs, such as social workers or 911 dispatchers, should have paths to move to less demanding positions within the public or private sector when exhausted by their current jobs.
• they made many broad-reaching recommendations for reform which are in the first 5 pages of the Report 9in the Executive Summary).

4-12-06: MCSA members met with Senator Patricia Jehlen, Senate Chair of the Public Service Committee (and her staff liaison to the committee, Bettina Fast). We explained Senate 1603, the history of "Signal Operators" in Group 2, and the current request from the PERAC full Commission to the Legislature to resolve the inequity of some dispatchers being in Group 2 and others in Group 1. She said the Blue Ribbon Commission was dealing with all retirement bills from many deserving groups including ours and their recommendations were due by June-July. They are  dealing with many global issues (the retirement system in general, COLA's, etc.), so it is unclear how particular requests of dispatchers can best be addressed. Their goal is to "make recommendations on how to ensure that the Commonwealth has a fair, efficient, equitable, and sustainable public retirement system moving forward". We will stay tuned and attend the public hearing on May 10.

2-16-06: FLASH: Senate 1603 sent to a "Blue Ribbon Commission" established by the Legislature. Details to follow as they become available. Early word has a 9-member Commission with 3-4 academics including Ellen Bruce of UMass (expert on public policy related to aging and pensions), Elizabeth Keating of Harvard's Kennedy School (public policy expert), Pete Diamond of MIT (public finance economist), Alicia Munnell (BC Business School Finance expert), Joe Connarton (PERAC Exec. Director), Scott Harshbarger (former AG and former director of Common Cause), Alan G. Macdonald (Exec Director of Mass. Business Roundtable) and Jay Kaufman and Patricia Jehlen (co-chairs of the Legislature's Public Service Committee). This is not your average study committee... What does this mean for Senate 1603 and dispatcher retirement; we do not know.

11-3-05: New Senate Chair of Public Service Committee: Patricia Jehlen of Second Middlesex (Medford, Somerville, Winchester, and 1 ward in Woburn). She joins Rep Jay Kaufman, the House Chair, in joint leadership of the committee.

9-21-05: Joint Public Service Committee hearing occurred on Senate 1603: Thursday Sept 29, 2005, 10:30 AM, Room B1.  Over 30 uniformed dispatchers and dispatch supervisors were present. Leslie Carroll (MCSA Pres), George Fosque (MCSA VP), Fire Chief Rivard, Sgt. Jim Machado (MPA, Fall River PD, and PERAC Commissioner), and Dispatcher Anne Ponticelli all spoke as a panel in support of the bill.

List of legislators and towns represented on Public Service Committee. See Legislative Strategy page by clicking link to the left.

MCSA is leading  the effort to achieve equitable retirement benefits for public safety dispatchers in Massachusetts. The key to these efforts is Senate Bill 1603 which will clarify that all (not just some) dispatchers are in Retirement "Group 2"; a group they were originally placed in by the legislature in 1968 under the old-fashioned title of "Fire or Police Signal Operator". Currently, it is estimated that over 30 towns and cities extend Group 2 treatment to their fire and/or police dispatchers. The fact that some towns have given modern titles to their police and fire signal operators (as well as much increased duties and responsibilities) should not cancel their Group 2 classification.

The Massachusetts Public Safety Dispatcher community is organizing around this bill in 5 regions (see Regional Coordinators Page). Passage means that eligible dispatchers and dispatch supervisors in ALL PSAPs and fire dispatch centers with 32 years of experience can retire at maximum benefits at 60 years of age and not 65 years of age.

A. Raising Funds to support the passage of the bill (legal and advocacy expenses).

Send checks to "MCSA Dispatcher Support Fund" 1600 North Street, Windsor, MA. 01270.

MCSA pledges that all funds will be carefully used to support dispatchers and dispatch supervisors benefits improvement efforts through legal assistance and professional advocacy assistance.

Fund raising ideas

B. Organizing to Educate Legislators on the importance of 911 Dispatchers and the need for the bill to insure equity and to assist in improving the 911 Dispatcher career. Timeline:

The bill will have a hearing in October/Nov 2005 with the Joint Senate-House Public Service Committee.

If reported favorably, it will need to go to Ways and Means to review its financial impact and be reported out favorably.

Senate and House Leadership need to support the bill throughout.

The Governor then needs to approve the bill.

The MCSA is coordinating this legislative effort to insure that the campaign is conducted in a professional and bipartisan manner.