News - December 1, 2016 - by Ray Hagar

Washoe County Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler said she will not run for another term, after her second term expires in four years.

Berkbigler, speaking on the Nevada Newsmakers radio-broadcast taping on Wednesday, said she hopes to help oversee a reorganization of the emergency dispatch services of Reno and Washoe County before she leaves office. The show will air next week on Nevada Newsmakers

She has a full term to do it, since she recently won re-election in November.

"We need a dispatch system that unifies all under one so it is a regional dispatch system," Berkbigler said. "Currently Reno has some dispatch, Washoe has some dispatch and of course there is the center in Sparks, the center we just have to keep."
Emergency dispatchers coordinate police, fire and other emergency calls, including 911.

Yet consolidating Washoe and Reno entities have, in the past, proven difficult. Reno and Washoe County battled about four years for fire consolidation. That 'fire divorce' only ended in January when both governments agreed to drop lawsuits against each other.

For a major crisis, the current fragmented system of emergency dispatch needs improvement, Berkbigler said.

"Let's say there is an airplane crash, we need to know where the closest (fire) trucks are. We need to know where the closest ambulances are. We need to all be on the same system and we aren't currently."

The Commission has hired consultants to look at the issue, Berkbigler said: "The county has hired a team to come in and tell us what you've got and here's how you unify it."

Berkbigler, 66, is a retired communications professional and lobbyist. She said she only wanted to serve two terms when she first ran for the commission.

"When I ran the first time, I made the commitment to only serve two terms," she said. "And I am one of those people who believes that government is best if we turn it over and put new people in all the time and get new ideas."