Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
I sat down with Michael O’Brien, the Pocahontas County 911/Emergency Management Director, who wanted to deliver some stunning news.
Mike, what do you have for us today?
“It has been a pleasure to work with you these past 10 years,” O’Brien said, “and I wanted to break the news to you first that I have officially resigned my position as 911, Emergency Management, Mapping and Addressing Director for the county, with the last official working day being July 25.
I have accepted the position as Emergency Management, 911 Director for Highland County, Virginia. Did not ever figure that I would see the day that I would be leaving Pocahontas County, but that is the way it seems to have worked out. A little bit scared, a little bit nervous, but I am excited about the future and the new challenges and the new environment, new state and all the new stuff – as you can imagine. It’s been an honor to work with you for 10 years.
“I was an ex-officio member of the 911 Advisory Board,” O’Brien continued. “I was a voting member of the EMS Authority; a member of the Broadband Council; co-chair of the local Emergency Planning Committee; a representative of the State 911 Council; and a representative of the West Virginia Emergency Management Council. (Had) a lot of involvement, a lot of moving parts here with my position, and am not sure which direction the county will go from here with that. Hopefully, they’re successful. (I) think you are aware of the previous resignation of the Deputy Director Kevin Stitzinger, who served with me for several years here. (He) has already resigned and left his position. Left a pretty big hole here for the county to fill, but I have confidence they will find somebody to put in his position who will do things the way they want to see them done – that’s not me.”
Who is going to be running the show with you both gone?
“On the Emergency Management side of the house, I am not sure what they will do,” O’Brien answered. “We still have Charles Evans, who we recently hired, who works with us as an Emergency Management Specialist. I have named Bridgett Shaw as Interim 911 Director. She can handle the day-to-day operation and the critical needs here at the 911 Center until they figure out which direction they want to go with that. As you know, 911 can’t just be shut down while we figure out a solution. It has to run no matter what. There has to be someone here 24/7 365, and hopefully they move a little more quickly with 911 than they are moving with the EMS side of things. They sure seem to be dragging their feet a lot when it comes to getting the EMS organization up and running, not sure what’s going on there with that, but hopefully they don’t take that long to get the 911 seats filled. This isn’t an organization that can be shut down until it is figured out. It has to run, no matter what.”
Mike, recently the Commission agreed to give sorely needed pay raises to the county’s eleven 911 dispatchers. How is that working out for them?
“I think it was close,” O’Brien responded. “I think a lot of what the community doesn’t see and doesn’t understand, is that we have been working for five years at budget time trying to find a fair and equitable way to take care (of) and promote longevity here at the 911 Center. As my complaint (was) at the May 20th County Commission meeting, the newly hired janitor makes more money, or if not, right at the same amount of money that twenty-year veterans at the 911 Center make – that’s just not right! [I] brought that to their attention, and things, as you know, didn’t go very well at that meeting. They seemed to be very disastrous for us. They [the commission] left the Facebook live feed running for 29 minutes while they bashed me and bashed the 911 staff. After I got a copy of that, that told me there is no loyalty with [the] commissioners. They really don’t care about us over here at 911 or Emergency Management. That made the decision for me to apply for this position and move on. It’s sad, I gave ten years of my life to this position, but to not have the support of the commission, it is tough to do this job. Hopefully, the voters of Pocahontas County are paying attention and get some people put in there that actually care about the county and want to do their jobs as commissioners. We did give the dispatchers a decent raise – I think. I am not sure where we left off with the pay scale. I am still very confused on what they voted to do. I think we got the pay up to where it is at least competitive. We can now start dispatchers at what courthouse security or other similar courthouse offices are able to start their folks at. This is just not a job that you can just put anyone in, as you know; it takes a special person to work at 911.”
Mike, you will be very much missed here, people, including myself, always felt safer knowing your guiding hand was here during emergencies.
“I appreciate that,” O’Brien said. “I took it very seriously. I took an oath to serve the people of Pocahontas County. I would like to think that overall, I did a good job with that. I worked really hard, I really cared – and I will continue to care about the people of Pocahontas County. There are some differences with the County Commission and no support. It is probably best that I move on to a different position, and a new challenge. I’ve been doing this job for 10 years (and) it’s challenging every step of the way. A lot of thought went into this, and a lot of things that happened here recently that I am not really happy about. Hopefully it brings attention to the matter.”
Mike, I appreciate the job you did here and wish you great success in your new position in Highland County.
“I appreciate that, I love Pocahontas County, and I love the people of Pocahontas County,” O’Brien said. “I feel like I know almost everyone here on a first name basis. I am walking away from that – or jokingly say ‘I am rolling away from that,’ but time for a change. The writing is on the wall, it is time for me to look for a new home, and that’s exactly what I’ve done, and I wish Pocahontas County the best. I am still gonna live in Pocahontas County. I am still a resident here. I just chose to work in a different county.”
