Lauderdale Ambulance Wars--Today!

From Hank Thomas:

Shoals Ambulance

The County Commission under the leadership of Dewey Mitchell, Chairman, has decided to rebid the Ambulance contract for Lauderdale County. Mr. Mitchell stated that the city of Florence representative advised him orally that the city wished to rebid the contract. Mr. Mitchell indicated there is no formal written notification to him or the commission from the city regarding the Ambulance bid. Based on this oral notification the commission decided to allow a rebid of the ambulance contract.

The present ambulance contract is for 3 years and allows for a rebid each year in September without cause. The present Vendor has had a contract with the city and county for 4 years of 2, 3 year contracts without having to rebid in any year. The EMA Director stated that in the 4 years of the contracts the vendor has had only one complaint and the complaint was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties to the contract.

Mr. Mitchell advised the other reason for a rebid of the existing contract was to see if there is possibly an improved contract with a rebid, which he hoped would benefit the citizens of Lauderdale County. Mr. Mitchell was asked what would occur if in fact the bids came back higher and costs the citizens of Lauderdale County more money for the ambulance service. No response has been forthcoming on that question from the Chairman. Two of the commissioners Fay Parker and Rhea Fulmer questioned the need for the rebid and were advised by Mr. Mitchell that with the city wishing to precede with a rebid the city had forced the hand of the county, since the contract was a joint venture of both governments. No vote was taken on this matter and according to Mr. Mitchell a vote was not required to move forward with the rebid. This information was discussed in a work session of the county commission.

The bids were then prepared and were sent to any interested party that met the requirements of the written bid package. The bids were closed on August 2, 2012 and 2 ambulance companies submitted a bid. Both services gave a business address in Colbert County. After the bids were closed and nothing could be changed I requested to see the bids. I was advised that I could not see the bids until after they had been voted on. This did not appear to follow the rules of the Freedom of Information Act and I then contacted the Attorney General’s office in Montgomery and found I was correct and should be allowed to view the bids. I wrote a request with the information from the AG to the county commission and I was then allowed to view the bids.

After reviewing the bids I, found, in my opinion, that all but one of the sections and requirements of the contract were met by both ambulance services. The only exception was in the various charges that each ambulance service proposed in the bid. Below are the bid prices each service submitted.


Service                             Lauderdale EMS           Shoals Ambulance


ALS Non-emergency             $290.00                                 $490.00

ALS Emergency                     $450.00                                 $595.00

BLS Non-emergency              $240.00                                 $400.00

BLS Emergency                      $320.12                                 $425.00


Your commissioners will be discussing the ambulance bids in the next work session which is on September 4th. This is an important decision as it affects all citizens in the city of Florence and the county of Lauderdale. Please contact your commissioner with your thoughts on this matter.

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Apologies to Mr. Thomas and our readers for not publishing this earlier. The work session is today, but you can still contact your commissioner during the next two weeks. It's not a given that the bid will be awarded at the next regular meeting, especially since this will be a joint city-county effort, but the earlier you provide your input, the better for your voice to be heard.



Shoalanda

Who Can View Lauderdale Ambulance Bids?

Are the recently closed bids for a new Lauderdale County ambulance contract public or private? Apparently Lauderdale Commission attorney Chris Smith and administrator Brenda Bryant weren't sure themselves.

Waterloo resident Hank Thomas requested to see the bids from Lauderdale EMS (a division of Keller EMS) and Shoals Ambulance (a new to the area company founded by Bryan Gibson), at which time he was refused. Mr. Thomas then sent this e-mail:

Ms. Bryant and Mr. Smith, I have contacted Ms. Monica Sheeler, assistant attorney general; of the Alabama Attorney Generals office. She works in the department of Public Affairs and deals with FOIA questions.She advised me that if the Ambulance bids had closed and could not be changed nor altered, then it is allowable for citizens to review and/or purchase copies in her opinion .It is my understanding the bids closed on August 2, 2012 and the bidders cannot change the bids in any manner.   She advised the only exception she was aware of was if by my viewing the documents it would be "A Detriment to Public Safety". Please advise if there are other reasons I would not be allowed to view or purchase copies of the documents.

Some days later, Ms. Bryant again e-mailed Mr. Thomas:

After review by this office and Chris Smith we have researched the law  41-16-24(b) and 41-16-27(c)and we have discussed with the Association of County Commissions legal department. At the present time the bid documents are being used to make comparisons and basically is being used as a “work product”. The rebid is very large and has to be reduced and summarized into spread sheets so that the commissioners and city council can compare the bids. However by the end of the week, Thursday or Friday you are welcome to come down the  office and review the bids. Due to the size we are unable to make copies due to time constraints  but you are welcomed to use an office and review the contents. The bids can’t leave the office. If I can be of further assistance please feel free to contact me.

Once the bids have been reviewed, we'll publish an update.

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Franklin County's unemployment rate was 9.6% in June; last month it was 9.7%. For every 1,000 workers in Franklin, 97 don't have jobs--that's not a cheery thought. Now the Franklin Pharmacy compounding facility is reportedly closing. We're going to predict the unemployment rate won't be going down for August. From Pen N Sword:

Franklin Pharmacy's Compounding Center

Shoalanda

Hank Thomas Critiques the Lauderdale County Commission

Dewey Mitchell

"The Lauderdale County Commission lives in the past," according to Waterloo resident Hank Thomas. Thomas further links Commissioners Larry Irons and D. C. Thornton with Dewey Mitchell, who will be seeking his first term in the new position of County Commission Chair. According to this most persistent critic, these two commissioners "take their lead" from Mitchell and vote as he wishes them to.

Thomas presents at least two interesting issues. It seems the county's emergency plan was last updated in 1998. Since then, the commission paid 10K for a new plan in 2008, but has yet to review it--a necessary step before it can be implemented. At this rate, the "new" plan will be out of date before it's inaugurated.

Thomas' second issue with the commission is the 9:00 a.m. meeting times. Obviously, most working individuals are not able to be present at these semi-monthly events. Thomas states there was once a suggestion to move the meetings to a later hour, but no vote was ever taken on the issue, nor was it ever broached by any commission member after the initial introduction by a county citizen.

Hank Thomas wants all Lauderdale County citizens to become involved in its government. We here at Shoalanda Speaks lobby for the same end. Our commission members need new leadership, not the same good ol' boy politics they have experienced since 1994.

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We hope the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department has enough furnishings and supplies to fill its new offices. It seems one retailer refused to sell any merchandise to the department when its credit card was rejected. Did someone forget to pay the bill?



Shoalanda