The board met in the MCA meeting room as the auditorium floor was being waxed.
Larry is making sure nobody gets bored.
He comes up with the most ridiculous issues, but he does have a good sense of humor. He attended by phone today and said it was nice not to see our facial expressions when he talks 🙂
Today’s highlight was Larry demanding that Karen, the incompetent administrative assistant who had filed an ADA complaint against LMRFD and cost the tax payers MANY thousands of dollars, can CONTINUE to work from home.
He went on and on about million dollar businesses being run out of homes and he just doesn’t get it.
Larry, how about you let the firefighters work from home too?
It’s Karen’s job to deal with the public and to work at the fire station — NOT in her home!
Why didn’t Larry provide a listing of other fire districts who let their OFFICE personnel work from home?
You can’t make this stuff up.
He also wanted the dead ambulance at the Meadview station repaired and DEMANDED written estimates. He comes up with that stuff out of nowhere. I think Larry needs to start his own business so he can be the decider. This is NOT how a fire district board member ought to behave.
I do agree that Meadview SHOULD have an ambulance up here, just not that old thing with a dead engine that costs way too much to repair.
GOOD NEWS: 9 volunteers plus 4 or 5 more applications, that’s great!
Tim is doing a fantastic job. I think DeMaio got one volunteer in the three years he was chief and Tim is outperforming DeMayo in just a few months.
So, with all these volunteers, Meadview ought to be able to TRANSPORT patients.
I realize that there is no money for another ambulance because SO much money is thrown away.
DeMayo was overpaid about $3,000, but our attorney Whittington doesn’t think it’s worth his fee to get the money back.
Why would you even hire a lawyer for that? You send him a bill and if he doesn’t pay it, you take it from there. Sending that letter demanding repayment was Karen’s job, not an attorney’s. And that’s why the legal fees are so high.
Speaking of legal fees, no matter how many times board members or the public ask for accounting, we get nothing. Why can’t Karen provide a comprehensive report? How much for DeMayo’s EEOC complaint? How much for Karen’s ADA complaint?
How much for each of the countless other issues?
Karen is making herself indispensable just like former chief DeMayo.
As Ellen pointed out, if something happened to Karen, nobody would know what to do. That was also DeMayo’s strategy. When he went on vacation, someone from the GV district filled in. That’s why there was so much turmoil when DeMayo finally decided to quit.
It’s much worse with Karen as she works at home. Who fills in for Karen?
Has the board learned nothing?
If Karen had worked at the station, it’s very unlikely that it would have taken her over a year to notice the $24k payroll fraud. She would have seen who worked which shifts.
LMRFD.org is ALWAYS a mess and has NEVER functioned properly. I heard that Karen’s husband was paid for the website. If that’s true, he got paid for nothing.
The website isn’t just for minutes etc., but it is supposed to contain information such as about board members, employees, services, events, etc. LMRFD needs to have a blog with regular updates and news. That is what an administrative assistant does.
Karen failed to provide the documents related to LMRFD.org, requested and paid for MONTHS ago.
For some reason Tim and the board seem to think that the law doesn’t apply because I made my public records request when DeMayo was still chief. And I don’t want to file a formal complaint because Tim is doing such a good job.
I realize that with DeMayo leaving, it would have been very difficult to get by without Karen. But now that Tim got settled in, it’s time for a someone who SHOWS UP and knows how to do spreadsheets, analysis and basic WordPress, so that the district can focus on getting services to Meadview.
How many people died after a stroke or other serious medical emergency up here?
I know of one.
How many more have died because of DeMaio’s EEOC complaint and Karen’s ADA complaint and the related legal expenses?
When they voted on the ambulance repairs and everybody had agreed that two ambulances (in Dolan Springs) are sufficient, I thought I’d ask what the value of a Meadview life is. Chairwoman Deb Cass didn’t allow me to speak until the call to the public. AFTER they voted. Complaining that this is why the meetings are so long. Deb so needs to go.
I’ve asked for YEARS for a listing of all ambulance runs to Meadview, with the time it takes from the 911 call to arrival in Meadview and a description of the emergency.
So I brought that up during the call to the public and was told to request these records.
First of all, as I also AGAIN mentioned today, I’m still waiting on the records regarding the website.
But more important, it’s the BOARD’s job to DEMAND that public records requests are handled as required by LAW.
Why should I PAY for those records?
Same with the legal bills. Why should I PAY for these records?
It’s the BOARD’s job to DEMAND these records so that they can make informed decisions.
Ellen talked about how important it is to have the administrative assistant in the office as she used to have that job.
The best news today was that we’ll FINALLY get subscriptions, as I have requested since 2015.
A huge thank you to Tim!
I would NEVER voluntarily put my house into the fire district — FOREVER or until the district dissolves. But I’ll pay for my annual subscription and if they don’t get an ambulance for the Meadview station, I can simply stop paying. Let’s see how many people subscribe, a good showing should get us the ambulance.
I’m so happy to see Tim do such a fantastic job, getting so many volunteers and also paid personnel. We even have a full-time lady firefighter now!
But with Deb, Larry and Joe voting against Ellen and Charlotte, it doesn’t look so good.
Theodora deserved to be on the board, but Deb doesn’t like Theodora, one of Meadview’s most intelligent residents with lots of board experience. Theodora had been volunteering for LMRFD and attended the board meetings. She had done a lot of research.
They told her that she wasn’t eligible to run until the filing deadline had passed.
The corruption, even at the lowest level … Corruption just like in D.C.
Election are coming up. Good time to get support for more friendly members
I only have a minute, so will only correct one error I see here, Christine. There IS a functional equipped ambulance stationed full time in Meadview. The LMRFD has 3; 2 in Dolan and 1 in Meadview.
Ellen, why doesn’t Tim know that there is a RUNNING ambulance in Meadview? Has it been used?
That would be HUGE news, hearing this for the first time.
He does know, and he stated that in the meeting. That was his argument for not needing to undertake the expense of rebuilding the one with blown engine that is stored in Dolan.
I must have misunderstood what he said. Heard him say two running ambulances in Dolan. Maybe my Alzheimers.
So are the volunteers transporting patients with the regular guy up here?
And why was I told to order the records with the ambulance runs instead of just saying that we now have our ambulance and it’s not an issue anymore?
Maybe my mind is completely gone 🙁
I only heard about the volunteers doing all the brush fires.
There has always been a functional ambulance stationed in Meadview. There just hasn’t always been personnel manning the station.
Volunteers so far are just fire. Meadview could sure use a Paramedic/EMT volunteer. The one guy (usually a Paramedic, as I understand it) on shift cannot transport without at least an EMT certified driver. He can show up, stabilize, and wait for a backup ambulance crew or call a helicopter, depending on the need, but no transport. As part of my ongoing argument for, and support of, recruiting and training local volunteers, I would support educating a qualified Meadview volunteer to be that 2nd person on call, available to transport. That is my personal view and not necessarily that of the rest of the Board.
I don’t understand why the DRIVER has to be an EMT.
Sadly, the entire volunteer program got wiped off the agenda. Seems like getting the board meetings over as quickly as possible is more important than getting the district properly staffed.
The volunteers and improving Meadview services ought to be a standing agenda item.
What does it take to become an EMT around here?
https://www.azdhs.gov/documents/preparedness/emergency-medical-services-trauma-system/training/courses.pdf
Flag is the closest location! What’s wrong with MCC? I can’t believe they don’t offer EMT classes.
I wonder what Hayden is doing now.
Tons of classes in NV and here it says you don’t need to be an EMT to drive the ambulance, but it doesn’t look like the site is an authority:
https://www.yourfreecareertest.com/ambulance-driver/
And we’re running out of space here. I’d like to start a new topic once we got some more info.