POLL: Will South Sound 911 Really Benefit East Pierce?

In a letter to County Council member Pat McCarthy, Bonney Lake mayor Neil Johnson spelled out the city's concerns over South Sound 911 -- particularly the fact that $3 million has already been spent on switching to Puyallup dispatch and a new radio system.

"We incurred substantial debt service for that system, and have debt service payments on that system for years to come," wrote Johnson. "[The cities served by Puyallup dispatch] should not be coerced into paying for a second system which might not be able to match (using LESA as a benchmark) the same level of service we enjoy now."

Click on the attached PDF to read more from Johnson's statement to McCarthy.

"In these days and times, we need to look at collaborating," McCarthy told the Bonney Lake-Sumner Courier-Herald. She also stated that Bonney Lake would benefit from a "rising tide" to keep East Pierce from becoming "an island."

Read more about McCarthy's response in the Courier-Herald article here.

Law enforcement in Bonney Lake, Sumner, Puyallup and Edgewood, plus Metro Animal Services, communicate through a 800 mHz radio system based in Puyallup. ; Sumner Police Chief John Galle declined to make an official statement on behalf of his department -- he simply stated that the better agencies can communicate with one another, the better. Sumner just made the to Puyallup's 800 mHz on Aug. 30.

Patch visited the Puyallup dispatch center last year -- read more about our tour of the facilities .

The local agencies joined Puyallup for better communication among officers serving East Pierce, a commuter-area that serves residents who travel easily across city lines. If an officer in Sumner chases a suspect up to Bonney Lake, for example, dispatch can easily connect the two to help speed up the arrest.

If South Sound 911 passes, all the county's 911 call centers would be consolidated into two facilities -- one in east Pierce and one in Tacoma. All police and fire would run out of these two centers.

To fund it, the county would collect the additional sales tax of one cent per $10 purchase, estimated to bring in approximately $11 per year.

Pierce County Proposition 1 for South Sound 911 is on the Nov. 8 ballot and requires a simple majority to pass.