SAVANNAH, Mo. - Andrew County Ambulance District board members were on edge but polite during a sometimes contentious meeting Monday.
Board members and the director took issue with the way board member Marvin "Ed" Chrisman has started a petition for a state audit.
"Do you understand that with no proof we couldn't take action," said Theresa Schneider, the board secretary. "You called for the suspension of the director."
Board president Tracy Stroud said, "You were bullying us."
Ms. Schneider went on to say she's "not comfortable" unless a police officer is present at the meetings. A Savannah police officer was present Monday.
Mr. Chrisman said he felt he had to take action.
"I'm not the bad guy," he said. "I lost sleep over it but I had a responsibility to taxpayers."
The board's attorney, Frank Foster, confirmed that the lack of an audit was a legitimate concern.
The board is having an audit by a certified public accountant during the 2010 budget year, Mr. Foster said.
"Hopefully, this will solve things in the future," Mr. Foster said.
Questioned about whether the audit would include previous years, he said it would, but didn't specify how far back.
Mr. Chrisman said it's been 10 years or longer since the last financial audit.
Because of the cost involved and the disruption of administrative services, Mr. Foster said he personally didn't recommend a state audit.
Mr. Chrisman also questioned the employee 401(k) program.
This continues to be an issue, said Vicki Groce, the district's director. The consensus after talks with Mr. Foster is that the board should move all monies into a not-for-profit plan administered at the state level.
The current plan is for a for-profit business and inappropriate for the ambulance district, Mr. Foster said.
The use of the district's credit card also required changes in policy, he said.
The public meeting ended after more than two hours when the board went into an executive session with its attorney.
Ms. Groce said she'd obtained outside legal advise because questions could be damaging to the district's and her reputation.
Marshall White can be reached
at marshall@npgco.com.
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ibelieve says...
This board member should have worked within the system to get an audit if he feels the current overview system is not adequate. He is a very poor excuse for a board member to expose his district to the bad publicity without using the power he has to just get an audit done by a CPA. This running to the newspaper and wanting an expensive state audit is a grandstand play. I would like to know if he has made a motion to have an audit. He has some other goal in mind, more than correcting a failure to have an audit. I would guess he has someone else he wants in as manager and sees this as a way to attack the current one. The News Press is just taking his information at face value and helping him whip up a tempest in a teacup. By now, they should have seen enough of this type of thing to not let him use them this way.
May 20, 2009 at 12:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )