The mayor on Tuesday night gave a brief update on fire department and dispatch consolidation talks between South Milwaukee, Cudahy and St. Francis. It was brief because there really isn’t much new to report.
Talks involving city, fire and law enforcement leaders and staff continue, and their next meeting is set for January.
The parties remain in the information gathering stage and are working to pull together more data they’ll need to hopefully step up the discussions in 2012. This may include a third-party review of the pros and cons of various consolidation possibilities.
One factor that will be an important part of the debate: Recent cuts in county funding to municipalities for paramedic service. Simply, this reduction in funding (and potentially more down the road) will force all county communities offering this service, including South Milwaukee, to ask hard questions about how paramedic services are delivered going forward.
I’ll keep you posted. And post your comments below!
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