The City Council in Rochester, NY could take at least the remainder of this year and possibly into next spring before deciding whether to support Mayor Robert Duffy's proposal to switch city ambulance service. The delay, sought by the council at the request of the SEIU, would extend the city's contract with Rural/Metro from Sept. 30 until March 31. Spokesman John Halldow said Rural/Metro will decide by today whether to go along with the extension.
Duffy sent legislation to City Council late last month proposing the change from Rural/Metro back to Monroe Ambulance, which last had the contract in the mid- to late 1980s. The contract ensures that the ambulance provider is sent out on emergency calls in the city.
City Council's Finance and Public Services Committee was scheduled to consider the legislation and could have sent it to the full City Council for a vote on Tuesday.
But council members — more than half of whom have yet to serve a full four-year term — wanted more time to get up to speed on the contract's complexities and the city's requirements, and to visit the two companies, hospitals and other health care providers.
"To expect us to turn around in a week or two ... and make a decision of this magnitude is a little bit unfair," said City Councilman Dana Miller, chairman of the Finance and Public Services Committee.
For Monroe Ambulance, which appeared to have won the contract, the late development was "a little disappointing," said Thomas Coyle, the company's vice president.
"We had high officials on a committee that recommended us," he said after Miller and other City Council members endorsed the delay. "They're looking to go backward."
Monroe got the administration's nod after a committee chosen to study the issue concluded that the company could better meet city requirements for response times, connecting to the city's communication system and having an up-to-date vehicle fleet. The committee members included Fire Chief Floyd Madison and 911 Director John Merklinger.
The company is in the process of purchasing 17 new ambulances as part of the agreement and has six left to buy, Coyle said. Those orders now must be stopped, because the money won't be coming in to pay for the vehicles.
Meanwhile, Service Employees International Union Local 200United, which represents more than 200 employees of Rural/Metro, marched on City Hall with petitions on Thursday. Workers at Monroe Ambulance do not have a union. About 30 Rural/Metro workers and their children filled City Council's chambers for the evening's committee meetings.
"(The delay) leaves uncertainty not just for our members, but the citizens," SEIU spokesman Scott R. Phillipson said.
City Council next will set out a timeline for gathering information and making a decision. The delay does not cost the city financially because the service is paid for by users.
(democratandchronicle.com)
