City Passes Unfunded Budget After Contentious Meeting

BEECH GROVE, Ind. -- Residents packed a special meeting Wednesday to discuss ways to handle a projected $1.7 million budget shortfall in 2010.

The meeting quickly turned into a contentious debate over the city's police dispatchers, 6News' Rick Hightower reported.

The city is considering eliminating its dispatch center and moving it to a centralized facility in Speedway or at the county's 911 call center.

Many of the 150 people at the meeting sounded off against that plan.

"If we contract with MECA to provide this service, what control do we have when someone makes a mistake, when someone does a substandard job, when the citizens of Beech Grove get less than they've gotten before?" asked one man.

A citizens committee charged with cutting the city's costs tried to assure residents that quality wouldn't be sacrificed.

"We're sensitive to the fact that this is going to impact the lives of real people who work in this community, citizens … who currently serve as dispatch operators," said a representative.

Former Mayor Werner Wiley said Mayor Joe Wright and the council should let the citizens decide.

"If the mayor really believes that the majority of Beech Grove residents would be in favor of such a move, I would encourage him to have the issue put to a public vote on a referendum in 2010," Wiley said.

Council passed a budged by a 4-3 vote down party lines, with Republicans casting the deciding vote.

The dispatch center will be funded for 2010, but Wright said the future is uncertain.

"I think it's pretty clear that dispatch has to be a big part of our decision …. I said this a year ago," Wright said.

Wright contends that the city can save $400,000 by outsourcing its 911 center. Wright, who considers himself fiscally conservative, said it's a shame that the city passed an unfunded budget.