911 Board hires coordinator

BENTON — Franklin County's Joint Emergency Telephone System Board has a new coordinator.
During a meeting of the 911 Board last week, Mike Carpenter of Sesser was named to replace Rick Basso, who will step down officially on April 30.
Carpenter brings to the position over 30 years of experience in the emergency services field. He is currently a process server for the Franklin County Sheriff's Department and the manager of Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in Benton, jobs he will relinquish in mid-February. The PSAP in Benton handles over 12,000 calls per year. The PSAP in West Frankfort handles about 7,000 calls per year.
Basso will be working closely with Carpenter during the 2 1/2 month transition period.
"We have accomplished a great deal under Rick's leadership and we are fortunate to have found a replacement with the type of experience Mike has," stated Jeff Tharp, 911 Board chairman. "We want to give Mike a chance to work with Rick for training purposes and to insure a smooth transition. We shouldn't miss a beat."
Carpenter served as a firefighter in Sesser for 13 years, eventually moving up to assistant chief. He has been with the sheriff's department since December 1990, first as a telecommunicator, and then moving to his current positions.
"I'm excited to take on the new challenge. I think with the policies and procedures that Rick and the Board has implemented in the nine years he's been here will make this job a lot easier to come into. I'm looking forward to working with the good office staff we have here," Carpenter said.
"I have worked with Mike for nearly nine years and have been impressed with his overall knowledge of public safety, his character and professionalism," Basso said. "Although my background is in technology, Mike actually has more 911 operational experience that I have by a long shot."
Basso has served as 911 coordinator for the past nine years. He previously retired from the communication field following 27 years,  including service with the former Bell system, AT&T and Lucent Technologies.
Basso said Carpenter's challenges will include the upgrade from the current 911 system to Next Generation 911, and the transition from the Interstate Commerce Commission to Illinois State Police as the oversight agency for 911 systems, which began on Jan. 1.
"With that, there is at least some transitional elements of how the income reaches the 911 authorities," Basso said. "The predictability of income is critical with any job you maintain financials. In this job, you maintain financials and you're audited every year. If you can't predict income fairly closely then it becomes difficult to know how much you can spend on capital items."
Basso said Carpenter is taking over an agency that is stable.
"We stay as current as we can and we're fortunate in terms of population and financial viability of this 911 ESTB, we're probably in third place in Southern Illinois. The only counties that are bigger are Williamson and Jackson. We've managed our income with a high level of strict detail and transparency. We know what money is coming in and we know what we can spend on capital items that would allow us to make advances as we see a need to advance the system."
Franklin County's Joint Emergency Telephone System Board is composed of nine members, mainly composed of police and fire officials. Franklin County Board appoints members to the Board for three-year terms.