By: Kayla Bremer
kbremer@klkntv.com
Lincoln is putting together a public safety team and program. One of the goals is to save money.
The Mayor announced interim police and fire chiefs, Jim Peschong and John Peschong and John Huff will be appointed as the new City Directors for the public safety management program.
"The model has accomplished just what we hoped it would. We have better coordination between fire, police and 911, resulting in cross savings," said Mayor Beutler.
Huff and Peschong are dropping their interim titles and are officially the head of their departments after the Mayor's announcement. Under the new program, the police service desk and 911 communications center will merge and officials hope it will become more efficient.
"The cooperation between police and fire, I think is tremendously improved. We meet routinely now which is something we've never done before," said Lincoln Fire Chief, John Huff.
Merging 911, police and fire all together will help save money and for taxpayers as well. Huff and Peschong will both be receiving pensions after retirement, so their new salaries will be substantially lower than what they make now.
The Mayor said he didn't think it would be appropriate for the men to receive both pensions and full salaries from their new jobs. Both men agreed and couldn't be more excited about their new positions.
John's wife, Vicki, said after 38 years she is thrilled to see her husband reach the capstone of his career. "Well it's just a great day and I know John's looking forward to making this his job and making a difference in Lincoln and it's just exciting to see him at this point," said Vicki Huff.
Huff and Peschong will be working under former Police Chief, Tom Casady. He was named Public Safety Director in May of 2011 after the new management model was announced.
