Jerry Daniels did his best to make everyone feel uncomfortable on Tuesday morning at a meeting of Allen County commissioners. He was not pleased and he wanted everyone to know about it.
The commissioner started the meeting by saying recent Iola Register and KOAM TV news stories were a bunch of lies. The stories referred to the countys 2020 budget.
Of note, Sheriff Bryan Murphys budget requests were for the most part denied, though he was ordered to give 3% cost of living and 1% percent merit increases to his 17 employees. Meanwhile, Angie Murphys budget for 911 Communications was cut by $5,000, the only department to receive a decrease in funding.
Daniels would not elaborate on why he thought the reports were false.
Neither Commissioner Bruce Symes or Bill King joined Daniels in criticizing the media reports.
Daniels has been absent from the last two commission meetings, participating by phone.
COMMISSIONERS broke the tension by calling for an executive session to approve the contract of new county assessor Jami Clark. Clark will officially take over for the retiring Sandra Drake on Sept. 14.
MICHAEL Burnett, director of emergency services and paramedics, said that calls to the department were at a four-year high. In 2015, the department received 1,206 calls through the month of July. This year the department has received 1,226. According to EMS data, 54.3% of those calls originated in Iola, with 14.5% of the runs coming from Humboldt. Seventeen percent of the runs were transfers.
EMS financial officer Terry Call reported that there have been 270 hospital transfers this year, with over half of the money the department brings in coming from transfers. Call said the county receives $1,700 for medical transfers and $500 for calls.
Commissioner Symes asked Iola city manager Sid Fleming about the recent survey city employees took recently that was handed out by Wichita State Universitys management center.
According to WSU representative Matt Stiles, the EMS departments biggest complaint was medical transfers.
The full report hasnt actually been released to us yet, Fleming said. I think it is best to wait and see what that actually says.
When EMTs go to school, they are not told that more than half of their time is going to be spent traveling. Its a boring part of the job. I think one of the biggest complaints with it is the unnecessary transfers. The transfers where someone (else) could drive them to be treated, rather than having us do it, Iola Fire Chief Tim Thyer said.
