BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022 A5
LOCAL
Council
Continued from Page A2
Husk questioned the city’s
contention that the difference
between the amount the city
bills for ambulance services,
and the amount it collects, rep-
resents a financial crisis.
He contends that the city ex-
aggerates the percentage of the
fire department’s costs that result
from operating ambulances.
Husk argues that the city’s
ambulance revenue — which
increased from $771,000 during
calendar year 2020 to $1,124,000
in calendar 2021, according to
city records — has been and is
sufficient to keep the fire depart-
ment at current staffing levels.
“Overall, the financial health
of this city and the fire depart-
ment is good,” Husk said. “We’re
not hemorrhaging money. It’s a
made up construct.”
The budgets for both the fire
and police departments have
increased over the past several
years. The police department
budget has risen by almost
27% since the 2018-19 fiscal
year. The fire department bud-
get has risen by almost 15%
during that period.
“It’s up to you guys to be
good politicians and make
deals,” Husk said. “We need
you to protect this community.”
Husk said that although he
doesn’t blame city councilors
for what happened in the past,
“we will blame you if you con-
tinue this charade.”
Speakers urge City Council to
preserve fire department
Robbie Langrell urged coun-
cilors to avoid layoffs in the
fire department.
“If we cut the department
now, we’re never going to get
these people back,” Langrell said.
Julie Gentry asked council-
ors to “find a way to retain our
Baker City Fire Department
and our ambulance service un-
der one roof.”
She also asked “what does our
city manager have to lose,” say-
ing that Cannon, who started
work in January 2021, has not
bought a home in Baker City.
According to Baker County
Assessor’s Office records, Can-
non does not own property in
Baker City or Baker County.
“He will not have to live with
the consequences of this deci-
sion,” Gentry said.
Todd Sidway contends the
city’s proposal to layoff fire
staff “is going to cost lives.”
Robert Hall, a retired veteri-
narian who’s 74, said he believes
the fire department’s ambulance
service is better than what a pri-
vate company could provide.
Hall, who lives outside the
city limits, said he is “very will-
ing to pay more taxes to pro-
vide the quality of care in our
emergency services.”
Camille Hearn, who has
seven children, four of whom
have “severe medical needs,” said
she moved to Baker City from
Richland four years ago in part
to be closer to medical services.
The prospect of the city fire
department no longer operat-
ing ambulances is “terrifying,”
Hearn told councilors.
Mike Davis urged councilors
to “put together a reasonable
bid” to send to the county.
“The ball’s in your court,”
Davis said. “Will you show
the EMS services, like the rest
of us are doing, that you want
them here?”
Vanessa Tachenko, whose
husband, Ryan, is a city fire-
fighter/paramedic, said that
although her husband proba-
bly would not be laid off due to
his seniority, he has had night-
mares recently worrying about
how cuts in the fire department
would affect firefighters’ safety
when responding to blazes.
Brian Watt said the city’s
proposed firefighting staffing,
following layoffs, of having
two people on duty at all times
rather than the current three,
is “unconscionable.”
“You’re about to make a high
risk, high consequence deci-
sion,” he said.
John Clark, who served as
Baker City fire chief from No-
vember 2018 to April 2020, sub-
mitted a letter to the City Coun-
cil urging councilors to reach an
agreement with the county to
have the fire department con-
tinue to operate ambulances.
“In terms of public safety —
Fire, Rescue and EMS, it is in the
city and county residents’ best
interest for the manager/coun-
cil to sit down with the county
commissioners and do the hard
work to finalize an intergovern-
mental agreement,” Clark wrote.
Nichols, in
an interview
on Wednes-
day morn-
ing, May 11,
confirmed
that he had
spoken mul-
Alderson
tiple times
with Alderson and that he had
conversations with other city
councilors.
Nichols said he wants the
city to submit a proposal to
the county for continuing
to operate ambulances, and
that he prefers that the city
propose a five-year contract,
which is what the county is
asking for in its request for
proposals.
Nichols
also said he
is willing
to support
the county
offering a
larger finan-
cial contri-
Nichols
bution to
the city — potentially in the
range of $250,000 to $300,000
for the coming fiscal year.
Nichols said his goal is to
“buy us that time that we need
to get a special district in place.”
“I’m pleased that the city is
willing to look at doing some-
thing,” he said.
Councilor Joanna Dixon, in
comments toward the end of
Tuesday’s meeting, said, speak-
ing to the audience: “Regard-
less of your demands, we are
not firing Mr. Cannon.”
Dixon also referred to one
of the main issues that lim-
its the city’s ability to collect
ambulance revenues — that
Medicaid and Medicare,
which cover about 80% of
the patients that city ambu-
lances transport, pay only
about 20% of the amount the
city bills.
Dixon asked business own-
ers to consider a situation
where they charged $1 for a
product, but customers only
paid 20 cents.
“How long do you think
you’d stay in business?” she
said.
Councilor comments
Following the statements
from residents, Alderson said
he had talked with a lobbyist
from the League of Oregon Cit-
ies who was skeptical that any
private ambulance companies
would respond to the county’s
request for proposals due to a
lack of paramedics.
Alderson said he believes the
long-term solution to the situ-
ation is to form an ambulance
service district that would in-
clude a tax levy, which voters
in the district would need to
approve. The district would
include both the city and areas
outside the city.
But Alderson said such a
levy probably wouldn’t go on
the ballot until May 2023, and
in the meantime the city needs
to figure out how to continue
operating ambulances for the
fiscal year that starts July 1.
Alderson said he talked
with Baker County Commis-
sioner Bruce Nichols, who
told him the county is “will-
ing to negotiate” and that the
county might offer more than
the $150,000 it has proposed.
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