Flathead County is struggling to find qualified applicants to fill positions in various departments, including among the men and women who answer 911 calls.  

The Flathead Emergency Communications Center has fluctuated between nine and 11 open dispatcher positions since March, and the facility is now without a program director.  

Dispatch manager Kristina Kvapil is acting as interim director until the position, which opened in June, is filled. 

As of June 25, there were 10 open dispatcher positions, according to a human resources report given to the Flathead County commissioners during their July 8 meeting. Kvapil told the Daily Inter Lake in an email there are 25 full-time and part-time dispatcher positions in total. 

There are currently 17 active dispatchers, she said, leaving eight positions vacant. 

Commissioner Randy Brodehl said in an email to the Inter Lake that hiring dispatcher positions is a "critical priority” for the county. Dispatchers are working “a lot of overtime” to ensure every 911 call and radio transmission is answered in a timely manner.  

“Like emergency dispatch centers across the nation, it is very difficult to find employees that want and fit into this type of position,” Brodehl said. “Through scheduling changes and pay matrix changes, we continue to make inroads in addressing the number of vacancies in the [center]." 

He added that candidates are currently interviewing for the director position. 

AS OF June 25, there were 62 vacant positions across the county, with seven pending new hires. Average days to fill vacancies have gone “way up” since April, Human Resources Director Tammy Skramovsky said during the July 8 meeting. 

In April, it took an average of 36 days to fill a vacant position, she said. In May, that number went up to 117 days, and in June, the average was 50 days.

Apart from dispatchers, the county is struggling to hire custodians. During the meeting, commissioners approved a request for proposals to potentially contract janitorial services. 

The county wants to compare the costs of contracting out those services against hiring its own custodians, said county project manager and grant administrator Whitney Aschenwald. 

“And that’s partly because of the hard time we’ve had filling these custodial positions,” Aschenwald said.  

While most county custodians are employed through the Building Maintenance Department, the Flathead County Library hires its own janitors. Director Teri Dugan told the Inter Lake the library is in a “good position” in filling those positions. 

Two part-time custodial positions became available a couple of months ago, and one has already been filled, she said. Applicants are currently interviewing for the second position.  

According to the human resources report, the Building Maintenance Department has five custodial vacancies, a figure that has remained relatively unchanged since at least March. 

Manager Heath McDowell did not respond to requests for comment from the Inter Lake.  

Several departments are listed as having one or more vacancies in the report. The Clerk and Recorder office has two vacancies, with one hire pending. The County Attorney’s Office has four vacancies, and the Justice Court has one vacancy; both have one hire pending.  

The Clerk of Court is hiring for five positions, with one hire pending. The Health Department has 10 vacant positions, with no pending hires, as of June 25. One of these positions is seasonal. 

The IT and Weed/Parks/Recreation departments have two job openings each, but the positions in the latter department are seasonal. The Roads and Bridges Department has four vacancies, two of which are seasonal, with no pending hires as of June 25.  

The Fairgrounds and Public Transit departments have one job opening each. The Solid Waste Department has two seasonal positions open, with one pending hire. 

SHERIFF BRIAN Heino told the Inter Lake he’d like to see the county get more competitive with its wages. The average wage for deputies around the state is $33 an hour, he said.  

Another hiring barrier is the increase in the cost of living in the Flathead Valley. Employees are looking at houses and struggling to afford them, Heino said.  

A 2.5% wage increase was recently approved by county commissioners, bringing the starting salary up to just over $32 an hour for a deputy sheriff and $25 an hour for detention officers.   

His department has consistently had about three open positions for both deputies and detention officers since at least March, according to the report. There are 64 deputy sheriff and 36 detention officer positions in total, Heino said.  

Two people were offered deputy officer positions, but Heino said another one of his deputies is about to leave the agency. As for detention officers, one of the three open positions has been filled.  

Heino said it’s getting harder to recruit for the latter position.  

There has been an increase in detention officer assaults, as more inmates come in with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders, he said. Sometimes there are no applications for an open position, other times he’ll see two to four. 

Asked about increasing wages for employees, Brodehl said the county strives to be competitive with private and public sectors.  

“We do this for non-union employees through salary surveys, and through a discussion with the other elected county officials who make up the County Compensation Board,” Brodehl said.  “Union employee’s wages are set through the collective bargaining as per state law and this forms an agreement between the county and the bargaining unit.” 

Reporter Hannah Shields may be reached at 758-4439 or [email protected].