VOTE YES FOR 911 TAX: Former 911 director urges

By Zim Schwartze

As the former Director of Columbia/Boone County 911 and Office of Emergency Management, I urge you to vote Yes on 1 for 911 on April 2nd.

The reason is simple: when you dial 911 - you want and expect an immediate response and help sent right away.  We need to upgrade our 911 system now, before another one of us needs to make that lifesaving call.

Don't be put on hold during your emergency!!

More than 163,000 Boone Countians rely on 911 and Emergency Management services every single day.  However, to meet our community's 911 needs, we need your help!   

Proposition 1 on the April 2nd ballot will impose a new 3/8-cent county-wide sales tax for funding a county-wide joint communications and 911 dispatch center, funding of emergency management services, and maintaining these important services in the future.  

Boone County's 911 and Emergency Management capacity has not kept pace with the demands created by growth in Boone County and rapid changes in technology. Since our 911 system was first created, our population has almost doubled in Boone County and our current 911 system is inadequate and cannot meet our community's needs.

The widespread use of cell phones and those calling 911 has steadily increased the call volume into the 911 Center over the past decade.   As a result, an average 130 calls per month take longer than 60 seconds to be answered...with some taking longer than three or four minutes!!

This is not a scare tactic as some have claimed....but reality!!

Please join me in voting YES on 1 for Boone County's Proposition 1 on Tuesday, April 2nd!

Because our loved ones are on the line.  

Zim Schwartze is the 911 Director for the City of Springfield, Missouri