Consolidated Dispatch Center gets an Operations Manager

The Village of Bayside is officially welcoming a new Operations Manager for the new , expected to be finished in spring of 2012.

Mary Rauenbuehler was selected by the for the position after serving as the Director of the North Shore Public Safety Communications Center. She says her new job at the consolidated dispatch center will very similar, but on a much larger scale.  

The new center, soon to be located at the , will serve as the main dispatch for both the North Shore police and fire department which include Bayside, Brown Deer, Fox Point, Glendale, River Hills, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay. Rauenbuehler says she’s excited to take on the new role and the positive changes the new center will bring.

“I won’t be changing anything concrete right away,” said Rauenbuehler. “I just know that the new center will give us better opportunities for developing a training program, there will be more opportunities for career growth for people within dispatch, and we’ll have state-of-the-art equipment there. It’ll be nice to have all the upcoming technology for the way communication is changing and growing.”

While the center is not planned to be completed until next spring, Rauenbuehler already has her hands full.  She’s currently still working at her existing dispatch job while organizing and preparing for the new directorial job, bouncing between her current office and one at the Bayside Police Department.

“My new job will be responsible for such a broad scope of things, it’s hard to narrow it down,” Rauenbuehler said.  “It’ll be everything from scheduling to training, quality assurance, open records request, and more. Budgeting is another big detail I’ll need to organize.”

The budget is actually one component that made the decision to consolidate the North Shore dispatch centers so easy. Early last month, Brown Deer Village President Carl Krueger over the next nine years if the consolidate dispatch center was approved.

Other reasons for the combined center includes standardized training for all dispatch workers to increase efficiency, less 911 call transfers and quicker response times. Rauenbuehler said she’s happy to see it come to fruition.

“I’m not really nervous to start the new position,” said Rauenbuehler. “I’m very much excited. I’ll be honest: some days I look at it and think, ‘Oh my gosh.’  It’ll be a lot of work, but I’m excited about being able to bring it all together in one location.”