[Press Release] : City manager names Schwartze permanent Joint Communications director

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Bill Watkins, City Manager - (573) 874-6338 or Toni Messina,
Public Communications Director - (573) 874-7660 or Zim Schwartze,
Director, Public Safety Joint Communications - (573) 874-7400

City manager names Schwartze permanent Joint Communications director

COLUMBIA, MO (October 6, 2009) - City Manager Bill Watkins today
announced the permanent appointment of Columbia Police Department
Captain Zim Schwartze as director, Public Safety Joint Communications
(PSJC). The appointment is effective today. Schwartze will continue to
receive her annual salary of $78,040.

Watkins and a community advisory committee considered four finalists
for the position. “We had a good group to choose from,” Watkins
said, “but I got strong, positive feedback from committee members and
several PSJC employees on Captain Schwartze’s performance, attitude
and ability to immediately make a difference in the organization.”

Public Safety Joint Communications is the 24-hour, “911” public
safety answering point serving the citizens and emergency response
agencies of Columbia and Boone County. The agency also helps prepare for
and coordinate responses to natural and man-made disasters such as
storms, floods and other emergencies.

Watkins named Schwartze interim PJSC director after former director
James McNabb resigned last May. She started work with the Columbia
Police Department as a community service aide in 1991 with successive
promotions to the positions of police officer, police sergeant and, in
2003, to police captain. Schwartze has a little over two years service
remaining with the Police Department until she is eligible to retire.
Watkins said that she has agreed to remain in the PSJC position until
that time. 

“When she’s eligible to retire under the police pension plan,
we’ll offer some options, assuming she has performed satisfactorily
as PSJC director,” Watkins said. Schwartze’s PSJC assignment will
end when she becomes eligible to retire under the police plan. She will
have the option of: 1) being reassigned in the Police Department; or 2)
retiring under the police pension plan and continuing as the PSJC
director covered by the retirement system that applies to most city
employees.

Watkins named a committee, composed of local public safety
representatives, to advise on qualifications needed in the position and
help with the interview and selection process. “I value their time and
insights as partners and customers,” Watkins said.

Committee members included: Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton; John
Campbell, Operations Branch Chief, State Emergency Management Agency;
Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey; James Cunningham, Southern Boone
County Fire Protection District Board President; Dave Griggs, Boone
County Fire Protection District Board Chair; Brenda Jensen, Emergency
Services Manager, University of Missouri; Jackie Jones, Vice Chancellor
for Administrative Services, University of Missouri; Columbia Fire Chief
William Markgraf; Julie Miller, Boone Hospital Center Director of
Emergency and Surgical Services; Boone County Associate Commissioner
Karen Miller; and Columbia Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine.

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