Ambulance Clarification
If there is anyone on council that is sad over the decision to eliminate that ambulance service it is me. This was a service I learned about it at a NYCOM meeting many years ago and the State that had the service was Maryland. I brought it back to the city when Keith Hunt was our fire chief. It is unfortunate that the service was never set up in a way that the city was going to be responsible for most of the cost. Our city medics have demonstrated an exceptional high quality service for all county residents. I well reiterate this decision was very personal and tough for me to eliminate this service.
The county has definitely made a decision to have ambulance service by September 1st and working all the details out with private providers.
The union has misinformed you of putting the blame on council when the blame from the union’s greed has brought us to where we are. Their salaries are out of control and they want more. Let me shed some light on the cost of retiree health care benefits that are over a few million dollars and that will continue until age 65. That does not include the outrageous salaries.
The towns are also to blame for this mess because, they did not want to come up with their fair share of this service. It just was not feasible to have the majority of city residents to have most of the financial burden
I also want to say it’s a dirty shame to scare our elderly residents the way this union has portrayed this decision.
I want to thank all of the elderly and those for calling me and expressing your concerns. THERE WILL BE AMBULANCE SERVICE IN BATAVIA. All of council wants a service here.
Rose Mary Christian