PSCC moves under the Wyoming Department of Transportation

Local communities will now have even more input on public safety communications throughout the state.

State officials reorganized and streamlined the Public Safety Communications Commission by putting it under the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and giving more representation to public safety, county and local entities.

The state Legislature passed a bill this past session making the move official, which Gov. Matt Mead signed into law recently. The Communications Commission, which state officials created in 2004, was previously housed under the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security.

The commission also marks the third oversight committee to work with WYDOT. The other two are the Transportation and Aeronautics commissions.

The new commission will be comprised of 11 members, which is down from 17. Eight of those representatives will be from the local and county level, with the remaining three from state agencies. The reorganization gives local entities a majority of the representation. Previously, the commission had more state representation.

Besides diversifying and streamlining the commission, the reorganization provides the commission with more oversight on WYDOT activities.

“The move by the governor and the legislature will result in better representation for local entities regarding public safety communications,” said WYDOT Director Bill Panos. “Whenever we can streamline our processes to ensure a better product for Wyoming’s citizens, it’s a win-win situation.”

Part of that work includes serving as the governing body for WyoLink, the statewide public safety communications system that a variety of emergency personnel use. In that role, the commission provides policy-level direction related to planning, design, implementation, best practices and standard approaches to address public safety communications and interoperability issues.

“WYDOT is committed to working effectively with all state and local partners and the legislature, to ensure that communities and local agencies realize the full value of interoperability,” said Pat Lewis, WYDOT’s chief technology officer. “This move gives WYDOT officials the opportunity to work closer with the Public Safety Communications Commission.”

Bob Symons, statewide interoperable coordinator for the commission, said the move will provide a better public safety communications product.

“The reorganized committee will represent the usage by the county and local agencies,” Symons said. “We’re reviewing the WyoLink system usage and creating representation to match that.”