New Communications Job!

After more than three years of calltaking, radio dispatching, training and championing event & incident communications, I have officially hung up my headset.

There were many factors that led me to this career move: my relationship, growth opportunities, and most importantly my physical and mental health.

I’m now a Communications Project Engineer with Pitkin County Telecommunications! Yes, that’s the crew I worked with as a contractor for many years upgrading aging mountaintop infrastructure including towers, buildings, antennas and more. I now get to apply my ‘super-user’ knowledge of communication infrastructure from my time at Dispatch and take a deep dive into the hardware, and the system of systems that move voice and data through our valley.

One of the best perks is that I get to be outside! In my first two weeks of the job, I had 4 field days - 3 by truck and one by helicopter. There is something calming and comforting about being able to get out and see our beautiful valley with my own eyes instead of through webcams and traffic cams.

While I am no longer under the headset or with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, I’m proud that my new job is both a critical public safety role, and one that ties in perfectly with the ever-expanding field of Emergency Management. Operational Communications is one of the core capabilities that a community must maintain and exercise regularly in order to support their response to incidents and planned events.