By Beth Hahn
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal
Torrance County’s emergency services director will be leaving for a neighboring county.
Shirley Whatley, who has held the emergency services director post in Torrance County for about 12 years, will take a similar position in Valencia County.
Whatley, 48, originally told the Valencia County News-Bulletin that she had been hired to be the director of that county’s new 911 communications center last month, but she did not notify local officials until a Torrance County Commission closed session on Jan. 10.
She confirmed her intent to leave Torrance County prior to meeting with county commissioners.
Valencia County had hired Whatley about a year ago as a consultant to help organize and coordinate its new countywide 911 call center.
Named the state’s 911 director of the year in 2003, Whatley was in charge of an 11-member staff and doubled as Torrance’s fire marshal.
She was instrumental in gaining grants for county fire department equipment and upgrading Torrance’s 911 dispatch center as well as radio repeaters throughout the county.
As fire marshal, Whatley oversaw the county’s five volunteer fire departments and helped them gain millions of dollars in grants for equipment and training.
In 2001, Whatley oversaw a $135,000 expansion of the Dis- trict 2 fire station.
Whatley is a former law enforcement officer and was a spokeswoman for the Torrance County Sheriff’s Department prior to taking over as the county’s emergency services director.
She ran unsuccessfully for the county sheriff’s post in 1998, losing out in the Republican primary to eventual election winner Pete Golden.
In 2003, Whatley streamlined the county’s fire departments by bringing them under a uniform set of bylaws.
Having all the departments use the same set of bylaws, Whatley said at the time, would help keep things consistent. She said the bylaws had been worked on for the past 16 months by firefighters, EMTs and paramedics.
The bylaws set up a Torrance County Fire Department with five county fire districts. Each district has regular monthly meetings and must have a quorum of 51 percent of its members present to do business. The business meetings are open to the public and the districts follow the state’s Open Meetings Act.
The bylaws also say all county fire volunteers must be at least 18 years old, meet the county’s physical fitness requirements, have a current New Mexico driver’s license and a clear driving and criminal record. Volunteers also must have successfully completed an Emergency Vehicle Operation program and be subject to alcohol and drug testing.
County residents passed two taxes to fund the county’s fire departments and the 911 dispatch center in 2004 during Whatley’s watch.
Whatley also lobbied the County Commission for a new fire station in the Homestead Estates subdivision north of Moriarty and saw ground broken on the station last fall.