01/29/2022
My name is Trish Lehman. I am one of five hospital district commissioners, having just served 2 years, and most recently re-elected for another 6 years. I moved to the island in 1971 and am a retired registered nurse. My parents donated the land, and helped build Sunset Point Fire Station on the west side of the island, where they were both volunteer firefighters.
My first job as an RN was at the Convalescent Center before we had Emergency Medical Services, when we had Dr. Heath, our one full time doctor who served our community, and when our medevac was San Juan Airlines.
I have lived through the development of our first EMS when it was a part of the Fire District. Then it was separated from Fire and became a stand alone agency supported by the Public Hospital District in 1995.
It’s quite evident that there are many, many different perceptions of what’s going on in regard to the merger (integration) of our EMS with our Fire District and WHY we are seeking to renew our current EMS levy. Unfortunately there is much misinformation about our EMS which is currently being perpetuated.
Our community is understandably confused by the vigorous negative campaigning of the group who wants you to vote NO on our current EMS levy renewal, and is attempting to force EMS into merging with Fire. And our community deserves a clear answer to what is going on.
I’d like to give you a little background to understand from my point of view and my experience.
In November of 2019, when I was first elected as a hospital district commissioner, the merger was on the table for our EMS and Fire District. This was based on the recommendation of the Citizens Advisory Group or CAG, who were tasked with looking into whether or not merging the two departments would be a good idea. The conclusion was that it was a good idea and they put forth a list of “absolute” requirements that needed to happen for a merger to occur.
Three members of the sitting board at the time, Michael Edwards, Rebecca Smith and Mark Schwinge had created an inter local agreement or ILA to basically hand over the management of EMS along with $30,000 a year for Fire Chief Norvin Collins to take over.
It was an agreement that two of the sitting board members at the time and the four new commissioners running for positions on the board did not support. Their concern was that hardly any accountability was required in their inter local agreement.
I’d like to again reiterate that it had nothing to do with whether or not we agreed with a merger and everything to do with the lack of accountability that the ILA failed to require of the Fire District.
Ultimately the ILA (interlocal agreement) was not fully executed due to the incoming commissioners objections.
I had only just met our Fire Chief Collins, so I had no opinion of his leadership and he had only been the fire chief for about one year, having moved to San Juan Island from Oregon. As a commissioner, I needed to do my homework, and I called and spoke with three different Fire Chiefs on the mainland about a merger. One who is a retired Fire Chief from Kirkland,Washington and one who had been queried by the Citizen’s Advisory members. What I learned was that leadership was paramount to this process. As well as a thorough and a well executed plan. But leadership was the BIGGEST issue.
In July of 2021 a memorandum of understanding was worked out between the hospital district and fire district boards and our Public Hospital District gave their support for the Fire District to put an EMS levy on the ballot in November. This was also contingent on voter approval and equally important, a cooperative leadership from Fire, and putting the Citizen’s Advisory Group “absolute requirements” into order.
I’d like to reference directly from the Citizen’s Advisory Group report, which is being referenced over and over again by the folks who want to force us into a merger. On Page 8 there are “The Absolute conditions of the Recommendation:
There were seven listed. One of those absolutes was to expand the Fire Board from 3 to 5, this was immediately shot down and we were told that no, this wouldn’t happen. Another absolute, a Capitol Equipment Plan, was not completed, and a third absolute, Operational Budgets, were asked for multiple times and again Fire has not done this. Combined budgets are essential to a solid implementation plan.
I hope this is giving you an idea of what we were up against.
After the failure of Fire/ EMS levy to pass by a super majority (60%) it gave each of us on the hospital district board, the opportunity to think about how the merger process was going. We did a poll of our EMS staff and the majority did not want to proceed with a merger and I had seen and heard enough from the leadership at the Fire District to convince me that it would do more harm than good. I did not see passionate champions in the Fire District ever saying “we would be honored to have San Juan Island EMS” become a part of Fire and Rescue.
I can’t change the perceptions of Adam Greene or Loren Johnson, Dan Paulson, George Johnson, Chuck Dalldorf, Michael Edwards, Rebecca Smith or many of the firefighter/EMT’s who are adamant that a merger happens at all cost. But breaking our EMS is a reality. Just check out what’s going on over on Orcas Island. Several days ago I SPOKE with someone who has worked closely with the Orcas Island Fire and Rescue, a COMBINED AGENCY, for MANY years, and it should be very noteworthy to us that the current Orcas Island paramedics do not live on Orcas Island, they come over from Anacortes. Can you imagine if we had to import paramedics from the mainland?
In fact I was told that the current Orcas Island fire commissioners are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Do we want that?
One person recently wrote a mass email to his friends and neighbors accusing EMS of being contentious? I respectfully disagree that we’ve been contentious and that we don’t want to work together. We’re happy to talk, We have wanted to work with Fire and have had numerous roadblocks which have not allowed this to happen. We have wanted to have one of our board members talk with Chief Collins and he has refused, only allowing his conversations to occur with our EMS leadership. It has also been clear that Fire does not want union membership. Our Paramedics and paid full time EMT’s are members of the International Association of Firefighters Union. And, it should be noted that the same International Association of Firefighters Union has come out publicly in support of the renewal of our EMS levy.
There are some who believe there is an underlying agenda and that we have not been transparent with our decision to stop this merger. I’m being as clear and transparent as possible today about why I voted to stop this process.
Have you ever found yourself going down a path that you thought was the right path and after a while you discovered numerous red flags, but you kept going down that path only to find you’d made an enormous mistake? Well, that’s exactly what I discovered as a commissioner when we were going down the path of merging EMS with FIRE, too many red flags. The failure of the Fire/EMS levy in November was the opportunity for me as a commissioner to say, “this is the wrong path right now”.
We know that the majority of our EMS personnel did not want to continue with a merger and if under the leadership at our Fire department, some could very well quit.
One thing I know is that EMS brings a lot of money to a Fire District and the chance that our EMT’s and paramedics could end up being the “step children” is too great a risk. This was the very reason our EMS became separate from the Fire District in 1995. Why risk that.
You also deserve to know that it will NOT cost taxpayers more money to continue to keep the EMS and Fire separate. This is a fact. And EMS is in one of THE most sound and solid financial situations that it’s been in for years and I credit that to our EMS Administrator, Nathan Butler, who has cleaned up numerous financial problems we didn’t even know we had until his discovery.
Renewing our EMS levy does not stop the possibility of a merger, it merely says NOW is not the time. I will not participate in breaking our current EMS. And it should be noted that a merger will not automatically happen should the EMS levy not pass. We WILL put it back on the ballot in April and try again.
I’d like to reference again directly from the Citizen’s Advisory Group Report…… ”Even a good plan poorly executed will do more harm than good. We need sound departmental leadership and governance, a solid implementation plan, interagency cooperation and passionate champions and without these, even the best plan will end up having a negative result.”
I will state my stance again….
If we merge with Fire at this time, the risk of destruction to our stellar EMS service is too great for me to support a merger with the current Fire District leadership.
I speak to you from my heart. Having been a Registered Nurse for over 45 years and knowing on the deepest level what it takes to work with people who are at their most vulnerable I want to assure that our EMS always has a healthy, nurturing, stable environment where vulnerability is rewarded and never punished and will always be a safe space to land after some of the most difficult and traumatic situations one could ever encounter in their work.
WE must take care of our people/ our EMS personnel. We owe that to them. And we owe that to the public who our EMS take care of.
I’ll not participate in the risk of breaking our emergency medical service for this precious community.
Know that there’s never been a time when emergency services have been more important or fragile than during this pandemic. And this current controversy, sadly fueled by our island firefighters and their leadership, risks undermining the emergency services that we depend on.
Thank you
Trish Lehman
