Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.
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KAMIAH — The Kamiah City Council voted unanimously to cease offering a city EMS service starting July 1.
The action took place during a special meeting June 3.
The purpose for the development was not specifically stated, however, following an almost hourlong executive session, Council Chairman Dan Millward said, “recently we’ve had a couple more bad decisions made. Due to privacy laws we really can’t talk about it.”
“Our job as the council is to do the things that need to be done to make Kamiah work better and smoother,” continued Millward. He explained that the council is not directly over any entity, such as the fire department, EMS, or maintenance, but works with the mayor to make decisions. “She can either listen to us or she doesn’t have to listen to us.”
The city of Kamiah submitted a June 5 letter addressing the situation: “The Kamiah City Council, along with the Mayor, made the difficult decision to discontinue city-sponsored emergency medical services, effective July 1, 2020.
“The most recent EMS Supervisor gave her notice to resign effective July 1, 2020 and the City does not have anyone qualified to assume her duties.
“The Mayor and City Council want the community to know that this was a difficult decision. The city has been grappling with a number of events which, based upon the nature of the events/incidents, cannot be discussed with the public. While we would like to tell you the nature of these issues, Idaho and Federal law protects an individual’s privacy, whether they relate to personal protected health information, employee misconduct, complaints and discipline or litigation. This is not a financial issue as the fees charged pay for the costs of the service, but rather is a management/administrative challenge.
“The Mayor has already begun reaching out to other entities who may be able to assume the role and responsibility of providing these services. These entities include other governmental entities, private for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
“The Mayor and City Council are doing all that they can to find an appropriate entity to continue to deliver the services to the citizens of Kamiah and the surrounding area.”
Based on the present situation, Millward felt the EMS crew might be better served with a different organization managing it or as a privately operated unit.
“The city of Kamiah has tried really hard to do everything we can to keep them,” Millward said. “I would like to be able to provide a service but I don’t know how anymore, because things aren’t going the way they should be.”
Mayor Betty Heater asked if it was the council’s position to terminate EMS services. Councilor Genese Simler made a motion to terminate.
City Attorney Dan Chadwick said if the city chose to terminate the service, they would have until July 1 to deal with logistics.
Millward wanted to “keep a small door open” between now and July 1 as an effort to make the situation workable.
“I think that’s really difficult. You need to actually have a decision but then you still have the ability to come back and deal with issues as they arise,” Chadwick said.
The motion to terminate the service passed.
Chadwick then briefly described the options initially presented in December when Heater accepted the EMTs’ ultimatum letter as a resignation and the city looked to rebuild.
“St. Mary’s Clinic could very well be one of your options to take over the EMS service for your community and surrounding area,” Chadwick said. “I think they would have substantial resources. They can deal with personnel issues and provide you with a road map.” He clarified that it would be the mayor’s job to have that discussion with SMH brass.
He said the mayor could also ask Lewis County if it was interested in assuming ambulance service.
Chadwick recommended talking to Commission Chairman Greg Johnson. “It will have to move quickly because in order for Lewis County to take over the service they have to do it prior to July 1.”
The third option is the creation or merger with a private entity.
The fourth and final option is based on legislation that passed during the last legislative session. A new law allows the creation of an ambulance district that is not tied to the county but consists of counties and cities and is governed by an independent board.
This option requires petitioning the board of commissioners in Lewis and Idaho counties, a public hearing, followed by a vote by residents. The district will have taxing and governing authority over that jurisdiction. The city of Kamiah would have to approve a resolution to join the formed district.
Chadwick felt the soonest a vote could be held on the issue would be the November election. Following the successful passage at the ballot box, the soonest the district could go into effect is Jan. 1, 2021.
— Ben Jorgensen, The Clearwater Progress (Kamiah), Thursday
Salmon River district votes to hire additional staff
RIGGINS — In a special meeting held Tuesday, May 26, the Salmon River Joint School District 243 board of trustees voted unanimously to hire additional personnel to address staffing needs.
“Due to a new program offered by Lewis-Clark State College, Ty Medley will be able to teach the junior-senior high P.E. and health classes, eliminating the need to hire for that position from the outside,” superintendent Jim Doramus said May 27.
He added the district will hire a social studies/history teacher, allowing them to move Laura Maribelle to an elementary teaching position, which will eliminate the need for mixed-grade classes at Riggins Elementary School.
“We have yet to determine who will be teaching at what grade level at the elementary school,” he said, adding the district will also hire an additional paraprofessional to meet the need of a one-on-one position at RES.
SRJSD 243 left the Grangeville Joint School District 241 in 2006. Since that time, the district has garnered continued community support to pass levies.
The district passed a $525,000 maintenance and operation levy May 19 with a nearly 67 percent approval rate.
— Lorie Palmer, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
