Resurrecting RiverCom: How Leadership, Accountability, and Training are Turning Things Around
A dismal consultant's report led to a reckoning in North Central Washington's 911 dispatch unit – and things are changing according to the new executive director
Last year a report compiled by a professional consultant outlined poor management, staffing problems, and toxic work culture at RiverCom – the 911 dispatch service that serves 115,000 residents and covers roughly 4,751 square miles in North Central Washington.
The consultant, Chris Fischer, found low morale, a lack of accountability, poor communication, and leadership issues in the organization.
“Staffing at the center has been problematic with turnover, illnesses, and increased workload. The Telecommunicators are tired, burned out and very frustrated about the amount and unpredictability of overtime,” Fischer wrote.
She found that while everyone she interviewed expressed a sincere desire for the agency to get better, the work environment was in turmoil due to a high degree of mistrust among work teams and management. Promises were made to rectify the situation, but nothing had actually been done to fulfill those promises in two years and that was leading to a sense of disillusionment among staff members.
A large amount of the workload was also falling on a few long-term employees and not enough was being done to recruit and train new employees.
“The senior, tenured employees have tremendous knowledge and ability, yet more are not interested in training new employees since there is such little structure or consistency within the training process,” she wrote. “They work a busy position and do not want the added responsibility of a trainee.”
Without new, properly trained employees coming in to share the workload telecommunicators were being overworked and burnt out.
“It is not uncommon that many of the operational employees are routinely working 40-60 hours of overtime per month,” she wrote. “Some of this is voluntary but much of the overtime is a mandatory assignment. This trend has been continuing for many months and the staff is tired and burned out emotionally.”
Fischer warned that overworking dispatchers like that could lead to errors when performing their work.
Fischer also uncovered evidence of toxic work culture at RiverCom, and wrote that morale was at an all-time low.
“Gossip and backstabbing are prevalent in the Center. While many agencies struggle with these issues, it seems evident that RiverCom has allowed this behavior to go unchecked for several years, allowing this behavior to become an inherent part of the culture in the Center,” she wrote. “Not only does this behavior distract from the mission of the agency, but it can also be hurtful and destructive along with creating potential liability concerns.”
One former employee said her supervisor, a woman, called her “sugar tits” on more than one occasion before she finally quit due to the toxic work environment.
Fischer suggested a new communications strategy that should include a “plan to deal with gossip, rumors and backstabbing which are prevalent at RiverCom” and that it appeared that this behavior by all employees had been tolerated without consequences for quite some time.
“It will be important to develop a communications strategy to deal with putting a stop to rumors, gossip, and inappropriate behavior by all employees,” Fischer wrote. “This should be a RiverCom priority.”
She stressed the need for strong leadership and a top-down approach to dealing with the problem of lack of morale and inappropriate behavior. She also suggested revamping the training academy for dispatchers and creating a comprehensive wellness program to help telecommunicators cope with the stress and anxiety that comes part and parcel with listening to and guiding callers through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
What RiverCom Did In Response
In November 2021, Lowell Porter took the helm at RiverCom.
Before coming out of retirement to serve as RiverCom’s executive director, he spent 25 years at the Washington State Patrol and retired at the rank of chief in 2005. He was then appointed by the Washington State Governor as the Director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission and served in that position from 2005 to 2012. He was then appointed the Director of Pierce County Emergency Management (which included the Pierce County 911 Program) and was there from 2013 to 2018.
I reached out to him while writing this piece to see if the issues Fischer outlined in her report were correct and the agency has addressed them.
“She was accurate in how she assessed the agency,” he said. “Yes, they have been addressed. We’ve made significant progress on that.”
But he said that systemic change doesn’t happen overnight.
“When I first came on, I took two months to take a look at the whole organization,” he said.
Porter’s specialty and educational background are in organizational leadership. So when he came to RiverCom, he said he wanted to introduce an integrated business model to the organization, which had never been done.
His question was, how do the parts and pieces work together or against one another?
In January 2022, Porter went before the RiverCom board and presented a success and sustainment plan. He said the question from the board was: how do you propose to put a plan in place and measure success?
“You don’t build a sustainable positive culture overnight,” Porter said. “The amount, quality, and frequency of both internal and external communication has increased significantly since November 2021, and is helping to positively change the agency’s culture.”
He also said the number of applications has increased, and RiverCom just began a new academy class to train and onboard new employees.
“Our staffing levels have gone up,” he said. “We’ve also had people who left because of the culture come back.”
RiverCom currently employs 47 full-time employees, and he said they have four new Emergency Services Dispatchers in Academy 29. They plan to start Academy 30 in January 2023.
The academy is five months long, and not everyone who starts the academy finishes. He said that not every employee who comes on board can handle the pressure and stress that comes with the job, and a few recruits usually quit before the academy is complete.
But he said the organization’s expenditures on mandatory overtime have gone way down.
“Our first OT reduction goal was to eliminate Mandatory OT. Mandatory OT in December 2021 was 136 hours. Mandatory OT in August 2022 was 14 hours, or a 90% reduction. If we add three new Emergency Services Dispatchers as a result of Academy 29, we project that we can eliminate Mandatory OT. Our next goal will be to reduce as much Voluntary OT as possible, understanding that we will never completely eliminate OT in a 24/7 911 Call Taking/dispatching operation,” he said.
That’s a massive drop from the mandatory overtime hours RiverCom employees were required to put in to keep the system running when he came on.
“We had large expenditures on mandatory overtime when I came in,” Porter said.
That means less cost to the region’s taxpayers and more stability for RiverCom telecommunicators. Porter said it’s less likely they will miss a birthday party, ballgame, or important holiday with friends and family because of mandatory overtime. That translated to higher morale, fewer burned-out employees, and, eventually, a better workplace culture.
He also said that while it has yet to be implemented, a comprehensive wellness program for employees is a priority for the agency.
When it comes to why he decided to come out of retirement to serve as an ED once more, Porter said he understands how vitally important a well-functioning 911 service is to a community.
“When approached by the Board about joining the RiverCom Team, I was in retirement,” he said. “After reviewing the Board request and agency needs, I felt it was important, as a member of this community/region, to help where I could, so I joined the team.”
The next test for Porter and RiverCom will come during the December RiverCom board meeting, where Porter plans to lay out their new success and sustainment plan.
“I will brief the Board on our Success and Sustainment ‘Achievements’ for 2022 at the December 15th Board meeting,” he said.
He said members of the public and press are encouraged and invited to tune into the meeting via Zoom and take an active role in the ongoing improvements at RiverCom.
Following the Story
This is a story of a public agency responding to a stark and sobering report revealing systemic inadequacies which have the potential to negatively impact any citizen seeking emergency help in RiverCom’s service area. Maintaining a high-quality 911 dispatch service can literally mean the difference between life and death in emergencies.
This is also a story of leaders responding to problems transparently. While only two RiverCom board members took the time to respond to me (East Wenatchee Mayor Jerrilea Crawford and Wenatchee Mayor Frank Kuntz), Lowell Porter made himself available to answer all of my questions. Compared to the decided lack of transparency from Chelan County departments like the Sheriff’s Office and even the county commissioners themselves, it was a refreshing change of pace.
While Fischer’s report outlined some troubling things going on at RiverCom, it seems that those issues were taken seriously and are being addressed. Time will tell how much progress has been made, and a better picture of the agency’s progress will come into focus once Porter presents his success and sustainment achievement report in December.
I will write a follow-piece after that RiverCom board meeting, and for now, you can read Fischer’s full report by clicking on the image below. You can also read Porter’s Success and Sustainment plan slide deck he presented to the RiverCom board this January.
Nice work, Dom. Great story of an agency turning things around.
I can’t figure out how to send you a message Dominick.