PORTAGE | A request to continue the process of possibly unionizing the city's emergency dispatchers became heated when Mayor Olga Velazquez said dispatchers and union officials used "fear mongering" and "scare tactics" in statements made to the media last week.

Ted Sautter, organizing coordinator with United Steelworkers District 7, appeared before the city's Board of Public Works and Safety on Monday afternoon to request voluntary union recognition for the city's 911 dispatchers.

On the advice of legal counsel, board members agreed that the signatures of those requesting unionization would need to be certified by an independent third party before the matter progressed.

Sautter said certifying the signatures shouldn't be a problem.

"The employees were more than willing to put their names out there," he said.

After he left the floor, Velazquez took issue with comments dispatchers and union officials made to The Times, saying some accusations, like reminding dispatchers that they were at-will employees and that she had little knowledge as to what the dispatchers actually do, are false.

"When you're making statements to the press, rhetoric is one thing, but facts are another," Velazquez said.

Union representative Al Smallwood tried to respond to Velazquez's statement but she denied opening the floor for comment.

Velazquez said a plan to consolidate the city's dispatch operation with that of the rest of Porter County is moving forward and will do so with public safety as the primary concern.

"Our attempt has been to look at public safety in this consolidation process and that no one loses a job," she said.

Police Chief Mark Becker said he knows consolidation can be emotional for some, but he has an open door for employees who have questions about the process.

"I may not agree with them, but there would certainly be no retaliation from me," Becker said.