Several ex council members and ex mayor were in attendance and I will say they did not contribute to a calm sensible discussion. Also present were what must have been all the employees of PVAS.
The presentation was almost a non event in view of the fact that there was not what I would consider a calm and intelligent question and answer session. In fact throwing of rotten tomatoes might have occurred if they were available.
Thanks to Ald. Perez and Ald. Mayszak for being the voice of reason this evening.And also my thanks to Fire Chief Jeff King for trying to bring reason to the room.
18 comments:
If the city council decides to combine Fire and EMS, then what is everyone going to talk about next? Is the topic of discussion going to be about how much it is going to cost the city of Peru to expand their current building(s) to make room for ambulances? How many ambulances will be purchased (Ambulances have to be out of service to be maintained)? How much will it cost to buy ambulances? How much will it cost to supply these ambulances? How much will it cost to maintain, refuel, and resupply these ambulances? How about the cost to refill the oxygen that is used on almost every call (911 or transfer)? How will Peru Fire cover transfers (Because if they don't, then how will they "almost break even" like Princeton does?)? There are many questions that, I believe, the people are NOT thinking about. Why are there people who have never ridden in an ambulance making these decisions? Will the conversation turn to how everyone becomes a firefighter when there is a working structure fire? ONE EMT in an ambulance at a fire scene does not constitute an ambulance crew. Who is going to staff the ambulance to rehab fireman or to be there if a firefighter gets hurt? Who will respond to the other 911 calls while everyone is busy being a firefighter at a fire scene? Will other services charge the city of Peru for covering the city of Peru, while Peru Fire commits all resources at a fire scene? Who is going to pay the bills for starting an ambulance service in the city? The tax payers? Has the city been saving money to pay for all of these expenses? How long does it take to start seeing money from billing patients? There are a lot of starting costs that I have not heard people talk about. As for PSI hiring local people for the positions available.. 3. One half of the people currently working for PSI are local people. PSI claims they pay competitive salaries. Yes, their salaries are comparable, but they do not tell you that their employees (paramedics) work an extra 416 hours per year than the services they are comparing themselves to.
Why is the committee trying to make a decision before they have researched what it is going to cost to start from nothing (I don't have an answer for that, because it hasn't been researched yet)? Are people really satisfied with those answers? Why are people trying to dive in, head first, before seeing how deep the waters are? Where is all of this money going to come from? Who wants to pay higher taxes?? I sure don't..
My question on this topic is why did Mr. Hackman make the presentation and not Mr. Robertson the director? I know he's been a part of PVAS from the onset but he is the newest Board member. And who better to answer questions and tell us how things are going at PVAS than the director who's there every day?
Mark was there and willing to answer any questions. Who better to give a history of PVAS then someone who has been there from the beginning.
Mr Roberson was not a part the planned presentation, he only spoke at one point when members of the audience who did not work for PVAS were simply denigrating the previous services who had presented information to the council.The previous city officials who were involved in the beginning of PVAS are fearful of the ambulance being replaced by a fire department/EMS service. In an attempt to tell the people that it was not a good idea to bring in other services and possibly to cause some of the what they called local employees to possibly lose their job. I understand about 1/2 of the PVAS employees live in Peru and a good number of the total number work at multiple EMT services.
It appears that this dissension was organized by Mayor Baker and included ex alderman O'Beirne, Piano, Witczak and perhaps a few current aldermen in an attempt to put pressure on the current members of the Peru city council.
Take it for what you want it to be Lois, but it was not how I viewed it to be. The past alerman and mayor along with others that were present were not there to pressure but to support the service that is in existance. The majority of them along with PVAS members have been present at all three meetings. Why would you twist it to look as such for last nights? Is there a generalized fear, maybe; but, that fear is because of the foundation that was built for the past thirty years is at stake for being thrown away. I would also like to point out that even though you viewed them attending the meeting as a pressure towards the council today, I would like to point out that they want answers to their questions just like you do. They are taxpayers as well.
To ANON 8:51, I understood Hackman to have a vested interest in the service just like Roberson. Hackman was there when the service began and he is still involved today-even if it is on the board and not running in the back of an ambulance. I'm sure Hackman, along with the other members of the board, are aware of the goings on in the department just like Roberson.
If you are going to twist things maybe you should consider the advice you received last night and shut down your blog. It has done nothing but cause problems and is a festering gossip pool.
I think Baker is worried, that you no longer will need his building. The peru ambulance has always been his baby. Also all those people who agree with him are his old cronies, that follow him, and think he knows everything.
When will he finally leave the city alone, and stay out of the Cities business????/
For whatever reason those people were in attendance at the meeting they surely did not need to respond with hostility and contempt to others present. It almost felt as though they felt it necessary to defend PVAS's integrity (which no one questioned). Does everything have to be sarcastic and condescending? Every citizen is entitled to express their beliefs and thoughts on any topic involving their tax dollars.
Food for thought: As per the by-laws of PVAS "any vacancy occurring on the Board of Directors shall be filled by the Board of Directors with the advise and consent of the City Council of the City of Peru, Illinois." Does anyone ever remember this occurring and why would Peru have any say if the service itself is not affiliated with Peru?
None of you REALLY get the argument! PSI charges LaSalle about $14,000 per month for 6 paramedics, that is $168,000 per YEAR. Plus the City has to buy 2 ambulances, use other personnel and pay their wages insurance and benefits to run those ambulances, and oh yes, buy all the medical supplies and eqipment required. And that is for just 2 crews to cover. Then there is maintainence, fuel costs and a reserve for future needs. Also, this city used to have its fire service "contracted" via Liberty Fire, and has done the same for the ambulance service. I do not think 30 years of committed people who have worked and stayed in Peru serving the medical needs of a community who now are UPSET that people NEVER involved in EMS are trying to decide the future yet are ignoring the great service they already have. Last, who does NOT defend their jobs when they are at risk? And, between the wrong info released prior about PVAS and the way this whole meeting came without knowledge to PVAS until the day before the committee meeting....I give credit Chief King with finally sharing the vision for the future, I only wonder why this was not done at the first meeting.
1:19 PM
No one and I say no one has every criticized the people who are employed by PVAS.
You seem to have a lot of knowledge about LaSalle, true or false I don't know but I bet they did not give you the data you are posting. But now that you brought up the subject, many in Peru would like the same financial information put into the public by PVAS.
Liberty Fire is only a fund raising organization after a long and proud history of being the PERU FD. and they maintained records which the public had access to regarding their finances.
Right or wrong, members of Liberty are now Peru city employees
As Jeff King said last night, change happens because we cannot continue to do things in the same old way, cities change and their services do to as a matter of necessity.
Both of the previous informational meetings were fact oriented and informational. Last night all the facts were lost by the emotional fracas that occurred and I was truly sorry to see that take place.
It seemed to me that chief king was neutral, but made his statements. Let's not forget he's hoping for a $120.000 a year salary eventually and would love to see a full-time department!!!!!!! Sugar coat both sides??? Is fire chief king a certified paramedic or EMT??????? I'm sure he has a CPR certification. Let's get a fire department with a working website and one that's up to date on everything!!!!!!!
Anon 1:19. Do you realize lasalle keeps the BILLING FOR THESE CALLS? The are profiting from the ambulance service
PVAS doesnt just operate on 48,000 from peru. They keep 100% of collected bills. Why do you think they drive new rigs, have a nice building, and have adminstrative positions as well?
THEY ARE MAKING MONEY PEOPLE THAT OUR CITY COULD BE MAKING
Evidently peru's fire chief jeff king knows more than we taxpayers by commenting in today's newspaper,"change is likely in five to 10 years if Peru keeps growing. The fire department likely will stop being volunteer, he said." In my opinion in 5-10 years Peru won't have the funding to pay for a full-time department and fire chiefs salary/benefit package. And new fire station to go with it. Wondering if secret meetings etc..have been going on with the mayor. King seems to know something. We taxpayers don't. Imagine the tax increase in the future. PERU better start saving NOW! The sensible one at the meeting in regards to the ambulance service was Baker and his so called cronies. Those were the days, if lower taxes. Etc...
Evidently peru's fire chief jeff king knows more than we taxpayers by commenting in today's newspaper,"change is likely in five to 10 years if Peru keeps growing. The fire department likely will stop being volunteer, he said." In my opinion in 5-10 years Peru won't have the funding to pay for a full-time department and fire chiefs salary/benefit package. And new fire station to go with it. Wondering if secret meetings etc..have been going on?????Peru should start saving NOW! The sensible one at the meeting in regards to the ambulance service was Baker and his so called cronies. Those were the days, of lower taxes, etc...
What's best for a city is for houses not to go into the foreclosure process, because this lowers the property values which in turn affects the tax revenue in a community. And tax revenue is what supports a city. In 09 and 2010 ( 3 times in news tribune) I saw under legal that a person in a appointed position with the city of Peru had their house in the foreclosure process. U would think a persons heart about the city and what's best for the city would have existed then. Mr. Bakers comment last night regarding the fire-emergency medical service as being quoted as "Baloney," It doesn't take Einstein to tell one that that combined service wouldn't involve higher taxes. Good job Mr. Baker and for all the years you served as Peru's Mayor.
Who had their house in foreclosure process?
Peru is not taxed for the ambulance or fire protection. All other communities that have the combined efforts are taxed for the service. If your willing to pay more taxes than I would venture to say that the decision of having a larger department and combined service would make sense for you. If you own a home or business in Peru, I can't imagine that you would want to pay higher taxes. After all,you do not currently have a tax for the service. In today's economy taxing is a great way to chase Peruvians out of their homes. I can't believe that some of those believe that PVAS is a profit taking business that pays off stockholders or anybody. Its a group of people that work hard in our community to provide the most effective ambulance service in Peru.
The population of Peru has been in the 10,000 range for 20 years. From a residential aspect the city has not added more residents. Good or bad! The future growth in ambulatory obligatons should not be a factor in affordable services for the residents of Peru. Change is likely in Peru. I see no evidence from a residential standpoint that change will occur. Fire and Police, maybe?
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