Orono man honored for E-911 system work

BANGOR – Joshua Peterson thought he’d been summoned to the Penobscot County Commissioners’ meeting recently to talk about a new telephone system.

Instead, the commissioners honored Peterson, the space manager for the Penobscot Safety Information Management System for being on call 24-7, 365 days a year for the past three years.

“The actions of the people behind the scenes often go unnoticed,” Peterson’s boss, Clifford Warren, director of information technology for the county, said. “We want you to know that your actions aren’t unnoticed.”

Warren presented Peterson with a plaque and a certificate of appreciation for his wife, Cindi Peterson.

“We also know that when people are on call like this, the people who suffer are their families,” Warren added.

“I knew it didn’t make any sense to be here for the phones,” Peterson, who lives in Orono with his wife and two children, said in accepting the honor. “This means a lot to me. Thank you.”

A graduate of Husson College, Peterson began working for the county three years ago when problems with its old emergency protocol and incident command system were common, according to County Administrator Bill Collins.

“I borrowed Josh from Penquis CAP,” Collins joked during Tuesday’s meeting, “and never gave him back.”

Peterson deals with the computers that operate the recently installed E-911 system and the law enforcement records system.

“I think I’ve had the system up and running longer than anybody else,” Peterson said of his accolade Tuesday afternoon

But he’s still not planning a vacation too far from his office.