The local controller did not notice an aircraft entering downwind was in close proximity to another ...

Narrative:

On the most complex configuration at the airport. Aircraft Y came out for closed traffic. It had been busy all day but not sure of the amount of traffic at the time in the pattern. I asked the front line manager (flm) for a local assist multiple times and was ignored due to low staffing and not wanting to use overtime. Aircraft Y was in the upwind and as he turned crosswind being a general aviation aircraft the turn to downwind can be unpredictable. He turned downwind late and became in close proximity to aircraft X entering the downwind from the northwest.I noticed they looked close and asked aircraft X if he had aircraft Y in sight. He responded 'yes but that got pretty close'. At this point I turned to the flm and said 'I'm not joking around get me a local assist' I was ignored again. One of the other controllers in the tower working flight data told the flm to take flight data and he slide into local assist to help. I was so busy I didn't get to follow up with aircraft X so I am unsure how close he was to aircraft Y. We did approximately 1600 operations this day. This entire situation is preventable with a local assist to help watch during busy complex traffic. I knew this had the potential to get overwhelming based on how the flight school had been flying all morning. I asked for a local assist multiple times and was ignored multiple times due to almost no staffing available and being instructed we do not need overtime. Several other time[s] in the day controllers had to ask for similar help and all went ignored.staffing at our facility was set at a level so low that we cannot do our jobs in a safe manner. Anytime we have 1 or 2 people on leave but we are considered 100% staffed. We need more people to run the level of traffic that we do plain and simple.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Local Controller did not notice an aircraft entering downwind was in close proximity to another aircraft already on downwind. Due to workload the Controller had requested an assist position to help them but the request was denied.

Narrative: On the most complex configuration at the airport. Aircraft Y came out for closed traffic. It had been busy all day but not sure of the amount of traffic at the time in the pattern. I asked the Front Line Manager (FLM) for a Local Assist multiple times and was ignored due to low staffing and not wanting to use overtime. Aircraft Y was in the upwind and as he turned crosswind being a General Aviation aircraft the turn to downwind can be unpredictable. He turned downwind late and became in close proximity to Aircraft X entering the downwind from the Northwest.I noticed they looked close and asked Aircraft X if he had Aircraft Y in sight. He responded 'yes but that got pretty close'. At this point I turned to the FLM and said 'I'm not joking around get me a local assist' I was ignored again. One of the other controllers in the tower working Flight Data told the FLM to take Flight Data and he slide into Local Assist to help. I was so busy I didn't get to follow up with aircraft X so I am unsure how close he was to Aircraft Y. We did approximately 1600 operations this day. This entire situation is preventable with a Local Assist to help watch during busy complex traffic. I knew this had the potential to get overwhelming based on how the flight school had been flying all morning. I asked for a Local Assist multiple times and was ignored multiple times due to almost no staffing available and being instructed we do not need overtime. Several other time[s] in the day controllers had to ask for similar help and all went ignored.Staffing at our facility was set at a level so low that we cannot do our jobs in a safe manner. Anytime we have 1 or 2 people on leave but we are considered 100% staffed. We need more people to run the level of traffic that we do plain and simple.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1329541
Time
Date	201601
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	GFK.Tower
State Reference	ND
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	VFR Route
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Cessna 310/T310C
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 3.5
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

The local controller did not notice an aircraft entering downwind was in close proximity to another aircraft already on downwind. Due to workload the controller had requested an assist position to help them but the request was denied.