Fairfield agrees to hire mediator

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield City Council agreed to hire a mediator to help settle a dispute with Jefferson County over their 28E agreement on paying for 911 dispatch service.

The council voted unanimously to approve hiring Richard Calkins, former dean of Drake Law School, to help mediate between the city and council. Fairfield City Attorney John Morrissey said Calkins has done “every kind of mediation,” and that he’s done about 2,100 mediations during his career.

“He’s about the top of the hill as far as who you’re going to find,” Morrissey said.

The city and the county would split Calkins’s fee of $300.

Morrissey said he and Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding met to discuss possible mediators. They were both familiar with Calkins and agreed he would be fair. They asked him if he would do it and he said he would.

The dispute between the city and county revolves around whether 911 dispatchers should be city or county employees, and how 911 should be funded. The city’s position is that Fairfield residents are paying a disproportionate share of the funding, and has recommended that 911 services be funded through an emergency management levy. Under this arrangement, the dispatchers would remain city employees.

The county has made a counter proposal of turning dispatch into a county-owned function, so that the county would be responsible for paying for it and the dispatchers would become county employees. The county announced its proposal Jan. 5, and though city officials have requested more details on it, the two sides have not made any progress toward a resolution.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com