WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners are expected to vote unanimously to hire Huron County 911 coordinator Tacy Bond as the county’s new 911 director during today’s meeting.

Bond was one of three final candidates each of the commissioners individually interviewed for the position. One candidate dropped out of the running shortly after those individual interviews.

Bond, whose father was a police officer and a police detective, said being around law enforcement and public safety all her life encouraged her to try to become a dispatcher.

“I first applied when I was 18 years old,” she said. “They did not hire me because they thought I may have been too immature.”

Two years later, she reapplied and landed her first dispatcher position. She has been going nonstop ever since.

“I love what I do,” Bond said. “I love dispatching and trying to design better environments for people working in dispatch centers.”

Being hired as Trumbull’s new 911 director will be one of Bond’s biggest accomplishments and one of her biggest challenges.

“This is going to be a good thing for (Trumbull) 911, its employees, residents and me,” Bond said.

She already has had conversations with 911 interim director Patty Goldner, who will return to being the department’s assistant director, but with additional duties under a new structure.

Goldner will take on some of the responsibility of 911 operations manager Roger Laird, who unexpectedly retired last month. The county will not hire a replacement for Laird. An information technology person from the county’s auditor’s office will be used to address technical issues at the dispatch center in Howland.

Goldner has worked as the interim director for three years. She also recently took on Laird’s duties.

Bond’s initial salary will be $44.75 per hour, which would represent a $93,085.62 annual salary. However, after she complete her 120-day probationary period, the salary will increase to $46.83 per hour or a $97,428.08 per year. Based on her nearly 27 years of city and county Ohio Public Employee Retirement System service time, Bond will earn five weeks of vacation.

As the 911 Assistant Director and operations coordinator, Goldner will have a salary of $38.84 per hour, which equates to an annual salary of $80,792.58. She has worked for the county for 23 years.

Bond in 2022 became one of 37 people in Ohio to earn an Emergency Number Professional certification.

Commissioner Niki Frenchko said Bond earning that certification placed her ahead of other candidates in securing Frenchko’s recommendation to be hired as the 911 director.

“Having someone have that specific, highly specialized certification, in my opinion, will put our county in the position of being one of the best run 911 centers,” Frenchko said. “It has always been my goal to have the brightest and most qualified people working for the county.”

Commission President Denny Malloy described Bond as a go getter with more than 26 years of experience.

“Those from whom we received recommendations did not want to lose her,” Malloy said. “I believe she will come into the position with a lot of respect from dispatchers because she worked (her way) up the ranks. She will be a dispatcher’s director,” Malloy said.

Bond, working with Goldner, immediately will begin looking at finding a new home for the dispatch center and working to reverse the trend of losing dispatchers that has occurred over the last several years.

Malloy said the county will be shining a light on the county’s 911 dispatch. He noted that too often people are hired and trained by Trumbull County and then go elsewhere for higher pay and increased opportunities for advancement.

The commissioners are aiming to make Trumbull 911 a place where experienced dispatchers are coming for opportunities for advancement.

Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said Bond’s lifetime commitment to the field worked to convince him she was the best candidate.

“She has a wealth of knowledge,” Cantalamessa said. “In her interview, she was already outlining some cost saving measures. She projected both personal and long-term goals. She was head and shoulders above the other candidates.”

While looking for the 911 director, the commissioners also have been looking for a new home for the center.

Malloy said commissioners have been having some discussions about a site in Warren owned by the Western Reserve Port Authority as a possible location. The site was discussed in the last week during separate conversations in which the Trumbull County Combined Health District is looking to possibly move to Cortland.