City council elects to support EMS program

April 18 meeting ends with councilman Ford’s resignation

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The Missouri Valley City Council culminated weeks of discussion over the fire department’s relatively young paid EMT program with a decision to back it for the time being at its regular meeting on April 18.

Ahead of an update and discussion with Chief Forest Dooley, several comments and inquiries were made by citizens. Initially speaking under a three minute time limit, the limit was lifted after councilmen Eric Ford and Aaron Tuttle expressed their desire to hear each person’s point of view in its entirety.

Citizens who spoke before the council were former members of Missouri Valley Fire and Rescue in Rashelle Wohlers and Brandon Riesland, current member Nicole Harrington, Logan Fire Chief Craig Charbonneau and others.

“In my opinion paid EMTs are essential, but the wrong person was chosen to be the leader of that program,” Wohlers said. “...You will notice that not many members of (Fire and Rescue) will be speaking tonight due to fear of retaliation from (Chief Dooley).”

Riesland shared the same sentiment.

“There are a lot of current and past individuals (of Missouri Valley Fire and Rescue) who have stuff they want to say or bring to attention, but are afraid of the outcome if they speak to their piece due to how soft the atmosphere has become,” he said.

Riesland continued, saying that things that were said during a confidential meeting between the mayor and members of the fire department were exposed a couple days later.

Another member of the community spoke in favor of the EMS program, citing positive comments she had heard from Missouri Valley residents about improved emergency response times.

“We need to make this work, because one life saved… is a big deal,” she said.

Harrington, who is currently a member of Missouri Valley Fire and Rescue, defended Dooley against the accusations that have recently been made against him.

“We’ve had a chief be voted out and a new one appointed, and to add to all the problems we had before, (Dooley) is unable to focus on what needs to happen as the department head,” she said. “He has to keep turning around all the time because of his own members, prior members and some outside influences are constantly trying to get in the way and tell current members how the fire department needs to be run when they don’t have a clue.”

Charbonneau explained the position of Logan Fire and Rescue based on the possible paths the city council could go down.

“I think the biggest thing is knowing the citizens of Missouri Valley are taken care of,” he said. “That’s the number one thing. We are here for backup, we always have been and we always will be… What I’m telling (Dooley) is, if this becomes an issue, if you do cancel the program, we’re gonna have to sit down and work some things out with our department. When it becomes a mutual aid system, now we’re taking the safety away from our own citizens. But we will never step back from helping any of you guys. We’ve always been willing to come down here and do this.”

During his fire department updates, Dooley explained the toll that the EMS saga has taken on him as fire chief, and argued in favor of keeping the EMS program.

“We have seen an unprecedented amount of calls, and only a few of those calls were grass fire calls,” he said. “It’s my belief that part of the reason for this is that our citizens have gotten accustomed to having a paid EMS department ready to help. Before this program I’ve heard patients actually apologize for calling because they knew we were doing full-time jobs on top of volunteering, and that guilt from calling was removed when they knew our service had people paid to serve in this capacity.”

Dooley also gave a rundown on the financial aspect of the program, stating that money would be saved if the program was kept and overtime was cut down for current members of the department. He also said that, as of last Friday, there are no longer any paid EMTs left, as they all moved on to different jobs. He stated his belief that this is due to the uncertainty that comes with every city council meeting, and the questioning of whether or not an EMT will have a job the day after.

“We didn’t have a problem with (the program),” councilman Eric Ford, who has been the most vocal critic of the program, said. “We want this to work. I do. The thing is, the numbers are so far off. We were blinded by it. When you see that, and you see the money going out, and we were hoping it was coming back in and it has not, that is the problem that I have.”

“My concern is with all the other drama that has been happening over the previous months,” councilman Tuttle said. “Who’s to say that two new paid EMTs come in, and they’re just horrified by the whole situation? Everybody is backstabbing.”

Ford also referenced a Facebook status posted by the Missouri Valley Fire Department, presented as a message from Chief Dooley, on April 15, which he said was “pretty terrible.”

“I would like to urge the citizens here to spread the word and pay attention to the city council meetings,” the post read. “There are city councilmen who want to get rid of paid EMTs. I urge you all to come to the city council meeting on Tuesday to get some of the facts on this important topic.”

Ford said he thought everyone was past the issue, and that the Facebook post was unnecessary. He also said he was shocked it was on the agenda again, which Mayor Shawn Kelly responded to by saying it was asked to put on the agenda with numbers from the fire department.

“Was I wrong? You were the one who said we need to shut the program down,” Dooley said.

“We’ve never voted on dismantling it,” Ford said. “Find it in the minutes. If you can find it and prove it to us, well, let’s see it.”

After more discussion and debate, a motion was made to allow Dooley to advertise, interview and make a conditional offer for a potential hire without coming to the council for each step. The council would still have the final approval. The motion also included setting the starting pay at $17 an hour, which is an increase from the current $16 an hour that past members of the paid EMS program have received.

The motion carried with a unanimous vote in favor of it.

During the “Mayor/Council Comments” item on the agenda, councilman Ford gave a long, emotional speech which detailed the reasons he ran for city council in the first place and the good and the bad he’s dealt with during his time on the council.

“I suppose you are all wondering why I wanted to take this opportunity,” he said. “This Friday I closed on my old house in the neighborhood I’ve lived in for 20 years. I’m excited, because I have bought a property that is going to expand my business exponentially. It’s very hard for me. As I sit up here crying to all of you, it’s breaking my heart knowing that I’m leaving.”

“I’ve taken my time to be here and do this for this community, and it hasn’t treated me very well,” Ford continued. “It’s unfortunate. A lot of people out there should be ashamed because they don’t step up and take the opportunities like I have. I put my name on the ballot to be a voice up here, and every one of you now have a seat that you can come after and take over after me.”

With that, Ford announced his resignation from the city council and left the Rand Community Center with his name tag in hand.

Editor's note: In performing due diligence into an item discussed at the meeting, the Times-News staff found the following excerpt in the minutes from the city council meeting held on April 4, which are on the city's website. It states:

Motion to dissolve the Pilot Program of Full Time EMS Personnel effective July 1, 2023, made by Ford. No second. Motion fails. Tuttle stated that he is not opposed to getting rid of the program but would not do so without considering other options. Stueve stated, “I meant to say second to Fords motion.” Stueve made a new motion to dissolve the Pilot Program of Full Time EMS Personnel effective July 1, 2023, second by Ford. Roll Call Tuttle, nay; Ford, aye; Struble, nay; Stueve, aye. Motion fails 2-2. Tuttle and Ford would like to explore other options. Mayor Kelly urged them to look at the numbers. It might not be that bad.”