Claiming politics were responsible, Charles “Chuck” Wyckoff of Sallisaw resigned from the Sequoyah County 911 board Monday when county commissioners did not reappoint a member to the board.

Dana “Trout” Tracy of Gore, who had served two terms on the 911 board for a total of six years, had reached the end of his term and was willing to serve another term on the volunteer board. Instead the county commissioners appointed Clifford Fritts of the Tenkiller area to the board.

District 3 Commissioner Steve Carter said later that Fritts was appointed to the board because he has a background in emergency medical service.

“We like felt the guy was more qualified because he has an EMS background,” Carter said. “He deals with it every day, and we feel like he will be able to deal with 911.”

In protest Wyckoff then submitted his resignation to the commissioners, which left one board member with experience on the board, Larry Vinson. Wyckoff said Vinson has said he plans to resign too.

Wyckoff said Tuesday, “I thought we were making good progress with 911.”

Numerous complaints have been received about the 911 system over the years, but Wyckoff said that had begun to change.

“We were getting less complaints,” he said.

Wyckoff said he didn’t know why the commissioners replaced Tracy, except for political reasons, appointing those the commissioners wanted on the board.

Wyckoff, who served six years on the board, said, “We are nearly done with mapping the county and the maps should be ready in December.

“Mary Harris, a sub-contract for EODD (Eastern Oklahoma Development District in Muskogee) is doing the addressing and she said she was about 83 percent complete, but that last 15 percent is hard to nail down,” Wyckoff said.

He continued, “When I came on the board 911 had $100,000 and owed $50,000. Now 911 has $480,000 and has no debts, and we have all new equipment. We were trying to consolidate with the sheriff’s office, but I don’t know if that will happen now or not.”

The sheriff’s office has it’s owns dispatchers.

Last year, District 3 Commission Mike Huff said he was concerned about the delay in mapping and addressing the central portion of the county.

This year District 2 Commissioner Steve Carter said he wanted to see the 911 board expanded to five or seven persons so that projects could be completed sooner, and that perhaps an office manager could be hired.

The 427- 911 system in the Muldrow and Roland area, which has fewer addresses, has been mapped and addressed for some time. Sequoyah County 911 covers all other telephone prefixes in the county, and Wyckoff said it was taking EODD a long time to do the mapping and addressing. This past year new supervisors at EODD took over responsibility for the mapping and addressing, and that project has moved ahead more quickly.

Huff said he was also concerned about road signs being installed. Wyckoff said Monday that 956 road signs have been installed, and he has been checking their accuracy.

The mapping, addressing and road sign installation are all a part of the 911 data base that when finished will be turned over to AT&T, which agreed to data base oversight if the county was mapped and addressed. The maps will be given to emergency services to use to find the sources of 911 calls.

Wyckoff and Tracy said they were disappointed that the county commissioners seemed disappointed with their efforts.

All three board members are volunteers.

Tracy said he wished he could have seen the mapping and addressing project through to completion. The project’s completion is expected to enhance emergency response.

Tracy said, “It’s been a pleasure to serve on the 911 board. We did the best we could with what we had to work with. But we’re tired of the haggling.”

Both Wyckoff and Tracy said that Fritts was a good person and an experienced firefighter.

But his appointment to the board may be a conflict of interest because Fritts works for Pafford EMS ambulance service. Sequoyah County 911 dispatches for the ambulance service and receives $1,500 a month for that dispatching.

Tracy said he appreciated working with the board, and thanked the 911 dispatchers for their efforts.

“I have no hard feelings for the commissioners,” Tracy said.

Wyckoff said, “I’m disappointed. It’s strange they tried so hard to get rid of volunteers.”

He added, “When you try to do what’s right for the people of Sequoyah County, and run into politics, there isn‘t much you can do.”

Wyckoff said he had talked to Fritts Tuesday, and told him he would help him settle into the 911 volunteer post.

“I spent a lot of time in training, in reading minutes and contracts,” Wyckoff said about his appointment to the board and learning about the system. He noted it was hard to come into the post when so many projects were underway.

“It makes it bad for the people. We need to put personal issues aside and do what’s good for the people,” Wyckoff said. “I tried to be fair to everybody.”

Now, Wyckoff said, “It is time to relax rather that worry about it all the time.”

Carter said Monday he did not know if any volunteers would come forward to be appointed to the 911 board or not at the commission meeting next Monday. He also said he did not know whether he would put expanding the board on the commission agenda or not.

Other Business

The commissioners approved a $5,250 claim from Engineering Services and Testing Inc. of Norman for engineering work on Moonshine Highway, north of Vian. Carter explained that the highway had collapsed in one area, and since it was a federal highway it had to be repaired with federal dollars and contractors. He said the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is working on reconstruction of the highway.

The commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with People Inc. of Sallisaw to pick up trash along District 3 roads.

In a special meeting held after the regular meeting the commissioners transferred $250,000 from other funds in order to meet payroll at the end of the month. District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor said the transfers were considered loans, and would be paid back as soon as ad valorem taxes begin arriving. The ad valorem tax statements are expected to be sent out in the near future.