The Archuleta County Combined Dispatch Emergency Communications Executive Management Board held a special meeting on Tuesday, July 9, in which the board voted unanimously for the county’s employers council to conduct an investigation into complaints against Emergency Communications Director Devin Moffat.
The July 9 meeting was scheduled to further discuss previously proposed changes to the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the Town of Pagosa Springs, Archuleta County, Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) and the Upper San Juan Health Service District.
At the June 11 meeting, Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux proposed changes to the IGA that make dispatch center employees Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) employees.
Le Roux explained during that meeting that the changes being proposed to the IGA were an effort to address operational concerns at the dispatch center and give the ACSO the ability to assist with day-to-day operations.
During the July 9 meeting, board chair Jason Webb explained that following the meeting held on June 11, there was a “general consensus” amongst board members wanting to understand the facts about current issues within the dispatch center.
Webb began the discussion at the July 9 meeting by saying, “Some action of this board needs to happen relatively soon. Our dispatch system, in my opinion, is not in a good place right now; I would call it a critical place if it was solely under my purview.”
Webb explained that part of the reason for the critical situation is low staffing levels, noting some employees are working two weeks straight with no days off.
“That’s something we can’t sustain,” Webb said, noting there are currently more board members than dispatch center employees.
Webb also mentioned the center’s new software program, Oracle, has contributed to the critical situation as the software is new to the entire industry and has “not been well established in dispatch footprint.”
Webb also noted that he has reached out to regional partners to see if they could help cover, if the center is unable to provide service, noting that regional partners are only able to accommodate short-term requests.
“The center itself has experienced multiple downtime problems with the system,” Webb added.
He went on to mention that Moffat has been absent at times recently.
“Our director has been out quite a bit,” he said, explaining that Moffat’s absences have been arranged through normal human resources (HR) requests under legally protected reasons.
“But there are times he’s unavailable,” Webb added.
Webb went on to explain that the current dispatch system was built to work with the county manager, and “as things have been bubbling up” with the timing and transition to a new county manager, it has led to some issues.
He explained that the timing of the transition has made it difficult to investigate and follow the current IGA plan.
Webb noted that the county’s HR Department has been helpful overall with complaints and grievances coming from the dispatch center; however, the most recent complaint against Moffat is “beyond their ability to investigate.”
Webb noted the current IGA directs the board chair to forward any complaints to the county’s HR Department, “which I have done that,” he said.
Webb explained that if that does not solve the issue, there is no more autonomy given to the board chair about how to resolve the situation.
Webb explained that the dispatch board is responsible for governing dispatch, and not the population, explaining the board is responsible for public oversight and efficient decision-making required to get out of a crisis situation.
“And I do not believe that there’s any case study that shows a board managing crisis ever equals efficiency, but right now that’s what we have for decision-making,” Webb said.
He explained that over the past few meetings the board has created some autonomy for the chair and vice chair to help the director with more day-to-day operations.
“I don’t have a lot more to give than what I’m giving,” Webb said, explaining that it is still a struggle to manage his department and take on an operational role with the dispatch board.
Webb mentioned the board wanted to get more facts about what is going on with the dispatch center and identify the root cause of the center’s problems.
He explained that, from his position, he feels that it may not be possible to obtain the facts needed to resolve the situation.
“I think we would have to dance around public meetings and have many executive sessions to be able to achieve what those facts are and share with you all equally, and I don’t find them to be very efficient, myself,” Webb said.
Board member and Pagosa Springs Police Chief Bill Rockensock questioned why the Archuleta County HR Department is unable to look into the most recent complaint against Moffat.
Interim County Manager and board member Jack Harper answered that the HR Department has conducted previous investigations and that the county would likely need to use its employers council service to conduct an outside investigation.
Webb indicated that the board has not had to take any disciplinary action as result of previous investigations.
“My point is, I think we need to get to the root of the problem before we can fix the problem,” Rockensock said, suggesting the board could form a subcommittee to look into the issue.
“I agree that there’s probably root things that need to be sniffed out, but I also feel like we’re in an emergency management situation,” Webb said, expressing concerns about how to handle the complaint against Moffat while ensuring functionality of the dispatch center.
Rockensock mentioned he is in favor of looking into the problem and correcting the issue so that the dispatch center can function efficiently.
Harper explained that if the structure of the IGA were to change, the investigation into Moffat would become an internal affairs investigation, otherwise the county would use its employers council service or consult with the county attorney.
Rockensock mentioned that changing the IGA is a “very lengthy process” and that the board needs to “do something now.”
PFPD Chief and board member Robert Bertram suggested the option of making a temporary change to allow for the ACSO to have oversight of the dispatch center.
Le Roux mentioned that, regardless of the outcome of the investigation into Moffat, “in the future the structure needs to change.”
He explained that the dispatch center would benefit from having the backing of the ACSO.
“It’s a little more nimble, the structure, and we can get to the bottom of the root cause, I think, probably quicker,” he said.
Rockensock noted that in a normal business structure, if the director and second in command are not able to perform their duties, then the issue lies with those two positions.
Webb expressed that each entity involved relies on dispatch to be able to perform their respective duty, adding that changing the emergency communications director is not a quick solution.
Le Roux interjected, noting that there have been four different emergency communications directors in the county since 2018, citing that as a reason why he believes the current structure does not support that position.
Le Roux mentioned that on Saturday, July 6, there was an issue with unrecorded radio traffic in the county and that he was able to address that situation through contacts he has across the state.
“That, in effect, is what I’m offering,” Le Roux said.
“We’re paying two people to do that,” Rockensock said, explaining that the dispatch center also has an operations manager who works under the director.
“I’m ready to hold someone’s seat to the fire because we’re paying people that are supposed to be doing that job,” Rockensock said.
Harper mentioned that he has been working with Moffat to see what can be done in terms of pulling staff from each entity to help assist with dispatch duties, noting that everyone being off-site “makes it more difficult.”
Webb indicated that he was not leaning toward an executive session until the board was able to come up with a way to obtain facts in regard to the complaint.
The board gave the option to Moffat whether or not to hold an executive session in regard to the discussion about the complaint.
Moffat indicated he preferred an executive session.
The board entered an executive session that lasted approximately an hour and a half before returning to the open session.
Following the executive session, the board voted unanimously to request the county to utilize its employers council to conduct an investigation into the lack of performed duties by Moffat.
In a later interview, Webb explained that the employers council is a service available the county is able to use for situations like this.
Webb noted the entire process will take a couple of months from beginning to end for the employers council to conduct its investigation.
Webb explained that the board decided the situation “needed an outside person looking at it,” and the complaint entails multiple accusations being made against Moffat and has “a lot of broad angles to it.”
Webb indicated the complainant is still employed at the dispatch center.
“Our dispatch center is not in a good place,” Webb said, explaining that he still believes the IGA needs to be amended in some way, regardless of the outcome of the investigation into Moffat.
Webb noted that the board’s request for the investigation is a step in the “right direction.”
“There’s a handful of us on the board ... we feel like this combined agreement is no longer a set up that allows for success,” he added.
Webb mentioned that public transparency is important, but that day-to-day operations are too, and with the current structure, it is nearly impossible to get anything done without having a board meeting.
“I still think it’s something that needs to be looked at,” Webb said, in regard to amending the IGA.
Webb also spoke about how the dispatch industry as a whole is struggling.
“I think dispatching is a hard job,” he said, noting how it can be easy to hyper-focus on the local issues and that the industry overall is facing some “challenging headwinds.”
clayton@pagosasun.com
