County agrees to work out a fire-EMS merger
DESOTO COUNTY -- Like the mythical Phoenix, the idea of a merger of the Arcadia and DeSoto County fire-EMS services keeps rising from the ashes. The latest reincarnation of a possible merger appeared before the DeSoto County Commission last Tuesday in the form of a letter from the city council suggesting that the city and county agree to a mediation process to work out their differences on merger issues.
"I would ask that you give me some directions as to how you would like to see staff proceed with this request," County Administrator Jim Chisholm told the board.
After a very short-lived attempt, the most recent talks broke down abruptly last summer.
Then on June 20, the county commission contacted the city council by letter, saying that the board was still "interested in developing a plan to integrate the city and county EMS and Fire services into one agency to deliver coordinated, efficient emergency services to our citizens."
The city council discussed the matter and concluded that it would be "in the best interests of all concerned for the city and the county to jointly engage the services of a consultant to develop a plan and for the cost to be shared on a 50/50 basis."
On Tuesday, Board Chairman Ronald Neads agreed with the city concerning the consultant. "Whether it be an individual or a group that is in the business of mediating, one that wouldn't show any favoritism or any partiality toward either department."
But Neads added that he was skeptical of success, and unless everyone involved in the merger talks wanted the merger to work, it wouldn't.
"If we don't have a full consensus of the Board of County Commissioners, then we're spinning our wheels," he said. "There's no sense wasting the taxpayers' money."
Commissioner Bill Altman, a former city firefighter-paramedic, who initiated the ending of last summer's merger discussions, took a harder line.
"We worked aggressively on this last year," he said, "We tried to get it done, but we didn't get it done. I made the motion to end the talks. I said at the time that I didn't want to go into anything, if any side thinks they're getting a raw deal. I haven't changed my mind not one bit."
Altman also questioned the usefulness of a hired consultant.
"What good is it to hire a consultant to pay him to tell us what to do, and then we're not going to do it anyway because we don't get along?" he asked.
Altman said he did not think the time was right for a merger.
"I make a motion that we end the talks."
Commissioner Jerry Hill said he did not know if the city and county could ever make a merger work, but said he agreed with Neads and Altman that the board needed to be "110 percent" in favor of trying to make it work. "If we're not in the spirit to make it work, there's no need to pay the money for a consultant," Hill said.
Commissioner Terry Welles did not mince words. "It'll come in time when the time gets here," he said. "And with that, I second Mr. Altman's motion."
Commissioner Felton Garner weighed in on the side of not going ahead with the merger talks without a board consensus.
"It'd just be a waste of time and money," he said.
The Rev. Paul Matthews, of Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, appealed to the board not to dismiss the merger process without trying a mediation process. He noted it would not be necessary to spend money on a paid consultant, and that there were individuals with mediation skills locally that would be willing to volunteer their services to try to help make the merger work.
City resident James Sorenson told the board he served on a committee that considered a city-county merger in DeSoto County 20 years ago. "It was booted out," he recalled. "Now, 20 years later, we're looking at the same thing. Are we going to boot it out and it's going to be another 20 years?" He said the city and county should substantiate why the merger would not work, "not just throw it out."
The board began to back off from its skepticism.
Commissioners Hill and Welles agreed that the county ought not to give up yet.
"Rather than just totally abandon it," said Hill, "let's see if we, as two bodies, can't sit down and work this thing out." Welles then withdrew his second to Altman's motion.
Garner and Neads joined in the effort to jump start the discussions, both agreeing to have another go at it.
Only Altman held firm. Asked if he wished to withdrawn his motion to stop the talks, Altman replied, "The motion stands."
With that, Altman's motion died.
And Chisholm got his directions: he was to contact the city council and administration and try to arrange a joint workshop for the two governing bodies to sit down face to face and talk.
You can reach John Lawhorne at [email protected]
By JOHN LAWHORNE
Staff Writer
DESOTO COUNTY -- Like the mythical Phoenix, the idea of a merger of the Arcadia and DeSoto County fire-EMS services keeps rising from the ashes. The latest reincarnation of a possible merger appeared before the DeSoto County Commission last Tuesday in the form of a letter from the city council suggesting that the city and county agree to a mediation process to work out their differences on merger issues.
"I would ask that you give me some directions as to how you would like to see staff proceed with this request," County Administrator Jim Chisholm told the board.
After a very short-lived attempt, the most recent talks broke down abruptly last summer.
Then on June 20, the county commission contacted the city council by letter, saying that the board was still "interested in developing a plan to integrate the city and county EMS and Fire services into one agency to deliver coordinated, efficient emergency services to our citizens."
The city council discussed the matter and concluded that it would be "in the best interests of all concerned for the city and the county to jointly engage the services of a consultant to develop a plan and for the cost to be shared on a 50/50 basis."
On Tuesday, Board Chairman Ronald Neads agreed with the city concerning the consultant. "Whether it be an individual or a group that is in the business of mediating, one that wouldn't show any favoritism or any partiality toward either department."
But Neads added that he was skeptical of success, and unless everyone involved in the merger talks wanted the merger to work, it wouldn't.
"If we don't have a full consensus of the Board of County Commissioners, then we're spinning our wheels," he said. "There's no sense wasting the taxpayers' money."
Commissioner Bill Altman, a former city firefighter-paramedic, who initiated the ending of last summer's merger discussions, took a harder line.
"We worked aggressively on this last year," he said, "We tried to get it done, but we didn't get it done. I made the motion to end the talks. I said at the time that I didn't want to go into anything, if any side thinks they're getting a raw deal. I haven't changed my mind not one bit."
Altman also questioned the usefulness of a hired consultant.
"What good is it to hire a consultant to pay him to tell us what to do, and then we're not going to do it anyway because we don't get along?" he asked.
Altman said he did not think the time was right for a merger.
"I make a motion that we end the talks."
Commissioner Jerry Hill said he did not know if the city and county could ever make a merger work, but said he agreed with Neads and Altman that the board needed to be "110 percent" in favor of trying to make it work. "If we're not in the spirit to make it work, there's no need to pay the money for a consultant," Hill said.
Commissioner Terry Welles did not mince words. "It'll come in time when the time gets here," he said. "And with that, I second Mr. Altman's motion."
Commissioner Felton Garner weighed in on the side of not going ahead with the merger talks without a board consensus.
"It'd just be a waste of time and money," he said.
The Rev. Paul Matthews, of Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church, appealed to the board not to dismiss the merger process without trying a mediation process. He noted it would not be necessary to spend money on a paid consultant, and that there were individuals with mediation skills locally that would be willing to volunteer their services to try to help make the merger work.
City resident James Sorenson told the board he served on a committee that considered a city-county merger in DeSoto County 20 years ago. "It was booted out," he recalled. "Now, 20 years later, we're looking at the same thing. Are we going to boot it out and it's going to be another 20 years?" He said the city and county should substantiate why the merger would not work, "not just throw it out."
The board began to back off from its skepticism.
Commissioners Hill and Welles agreed that the county ought not to give up yet.
"Rather than just totally abandon it," said Hill, "let's see if we, as two bodies, can't sit down and work this thing out." Welles then withdrew his second to Altman's motion.
Garner and Neads joined in the effort to jump start the discussions, both agreeing to have another go at it.
Only Altman held firm. Asked if he wished to withdrawn his motion to stop the talks, Altman replied, "The motion stands."
With that, Altman's motion died.
And Chisholm got his directions: he was to contact the city council and administration and try to arrange a joint workshop for the two governing bodies to sit down face to face and talk.
You can reach John Lawhorne at [email protected]
By JOHN LAWHORNE
Staff Writer
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