Contracting public services to competitive private industries is how we downsize Big Government.
Elimination of duplicate government services between cities, counties and state is another we downsize Big Government.
These are sound business management solutions to the oppressive and partisan growth of Big Government, which has now become fundamentally unsustainable. We have reached the tipping point where out of control Big Government is now overwhelming our entire US Constitution based system of governance..
Thank you, Andy. Yesterday with all the heated discussions here about Kamala, I kept wondering why these pro-Kamala commenters kept insisting that Trump is the problem. You, Andy, remind us that Trump is not the problem. The Leftist Dem uniparty is the problem. On the national level, on the state level, on the city level, on the most basic human level that defines civilization. Why can't these pro-Kamalites stop for one second and look at their own city - a jewel that is being destroyed by the Democratic government? When I read your column today about the level of corruption and ineptitude in just one aspect of Santa Barbara life, all I can think is that the people in power don't care about us, their lowly taxpayers. In fact, when I deal with what they're doing to Goleta with the airport and the Old Town mess, and downtown Santa Barbara and that mess, I realize they hate us. They just wish all of us would move away so they could turn Santa Barbara into the high rise monstrosity of their Leftist real estate dreams. As for maintaining their future dream globanonymous 15-minute city … well, that doesn't pertain to any place anyone might absolutely have to get to, like a hospital.
Democrats are verbal bullies, used to striking first and fast. Trump and Vance are finally giving them a run for it. This same fortitude must now trickle down to local, county and state offices. Only thing missing in our mono-media, mono-party town is a forum where this critical debate can take place.
Democrat-fostered "election reform", creating this months long election season instead of our one historic election day, has undermined both the focus and ability to concentrate on our critical local issues.
Yes, a ride in a AMR ambulance, even for a few blocks can cost thousands. Ambulance fees are rarely, if ever covered by private insurance, so patients typically have to pony up. The out of pocket expense for air ambulance (I believe a different company) can be in the tens of thousands, again typically not covered by insurance.
In scrutinizing the cost benefit analysis, what would be the cost to the taxpayer for added salaries, benefits and pensions by adding dozens of Union represented firefighter/paramedics to the current ranks by virtue of eliminating AMR services?
You know in Santa Barbara County, Calstar (the medical helicopter) has a membership that is a annual cost (cheap like $120 a year for your entire family) that covers what your insurance won't on medical flights. It also covers other county's that calstar or it's affiliates operate in.
A family member of mine had to be airlifted and their insurance did not cover the whole flight, but because they were a Calstar member they did not have to pay anything out of pocket. ZERO!
If you want to see a ball park idea of what the taxpayers are going to pay, think about the money county fire has already asked for... to buy 35 ambulances, pay to hire people for the ambulance to be staffed, and for the dispatch center. That's just the start to all this.
For years, there was a back-and-forth between insurance companies and ambulance providers, where the insurance would cover only a portion of the bill, unilaterally deciding what they considered a fair price. The patient was then left to pay the remaining balance, along with their co-pay. Insurance companies often justified this by claiming the ambulance provider was "out of network." What they failed to mention is that there are no "network" providers operating within the 911 system, and patients who call 911 have no control over which provider responds—making this reasoning quite flawed.
However, starting this year, insurance companies are now required to accept ambulance fees set by local governments, so patients should only be responsible for their deductible.
So, let me see if I understand this. Fire Leadership/Chief wants to dump AMR, resulting in a lawsuit against the County. Then hire dozens of FF/PM’s and assume those future pensions, even though the County is over a $1 Billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
Continue to charge patients for ambulance services while at the same time, receiving tax monies. Then the BOS blindly supports County Fire’s purchase of unauthorized equipment and the BOS in return gets political cover during elections, from the Union?
Do I have this right? This is so FUBAR…that’s right, this is beyond repair!
Admittedly, I am not sure I understand all the nuances of this issue as there are multiple moving parts. It would seem County Fire jumped the gun and purchased 35 EMS units while under contract with AMR and are now trying to breach the contract claiming “safety concerns?”
I wonder why they did that? Was it solely for public safety or was there something more nefarious? Could it have anything to do with controlling the service and adding to the Firefighter Union roles? This, while the taxpayers are left holding the bag for purchasing, maintaining and storing millions of dollars worth of emergency equipment? Who signed off on the Purchase Order for the 35 ambulances? Seems to me a Grand Jury ought to be asking that question.
Andy makes reference to the lack of reporting by the press. My question is; what press? We have no viable newspaper here locally, unless you count the weekly, lefty rag, “The Independent.”
Ya, I’m sure the “Angry Poodle “ will get right on this! Yes, the local “press” is either nonexistent, too lazy or doesn’t want to make any waves.
Also worth mentioning is the local “One805 Live” festival, rock concert, wine tasting and celebrity bash. Last year they even had Royalty show up! Where do all the proceeds go? I read where portions go for mental health counseling for First Responders suffering from PTSD? Hey, I am all for supporting our First Responders, but there needs to be full and clear transparency of anything involving fundraising for public services.
I am reminded of the legal term “Cui Bono”…who stands to benefit? Clearly, the public is NOT benefiting from the confusion in emergency services this is causing nor the enormous cost burden.
Government employee unions like growing their numbers of dues-paying members. Dues, which in turn get sanitized to support political causes, which in turn leads to their inherent political dominance of elected offices.
Who in turn collectively bargain with those very same government employee unions. In case anyone still does not understand what happened to America these past few decades.
AMR is a private organization....each and every new county ambulance types will be gov. employees requiring long term benefits and retirement on the back of an already broken middle class taxpayer.
Who does seiu back during elections? Think about it.
Ultimately, today SEIU = Democrat party totalitarianism. Who knew this is what our "democracy" would look like in 250 years.
BTW: SEIU member employees dominate virtually all county election offices in the entire United States of America. They run the elections, they oversee election processes, they train the poll workers, they count the votes, they adjudicate questionable ballots.
They also have a direct and immediate self-interest in election outcomes. Who will be their next bosses? How are tax payers protected from this inherent conflict of interests. What safeguards do we have; what safeguards are missing that need to be corrected?
Murky at best, particularly now that Democrat Party "election reform" has turned our former Election Day into the now notorious weeks-long "long counts". What volunteer election monitors have the stamina to provide this degreee of concentrated oversight.
Are these SEIU election office union members as pure as Caesar's wife? How would we know. All we know viewing after Transparent California is what SEIU collective bargaining has been able to reward this particular group of "civil servants".
Does our election process today answer to a **zero tolerance** for error standard for its entire operations? The sloppiness I found in my own volunteer poll working experience bordered on sheer incompetence, if anyone assumes we are operating at a zero tolerance for error standard today. . That is all I can offer from my own direct experience.
Thank you, Andy, for a eye opening article. I have not been in the loop of the issues you raised and am happy to see them laid out in good fashion. I do have to wonder, though, if it might not be a good idea, after reading Jim Henderson's experiences with AMR, if we should not have another private company in to break up the monopoly . On the other hand that might be opening up a Pandora's Box.
So the fire association finagled a multi-provider system, then said such a system would harm the public and now expects the solution to be excluding AMR from further participation and competitive bidding.
Did the ambulance purchases and dispatch center build out occur before the decision to have a multi-provider system?
The Fire Department in general have less structure fires then back in the day, due to advances in construction and other changes to the building codes. That's why fire departments are now doing EMS. And it's funny to see Dave's comment, because I know if you call 911 during a fire (that is near you) for a medical emergency, you will get an ambulance and possibly a fire truck from another area. This happens more then people know. As it says in there name it's fire first, ems second (SB Fire / Paramedic). So there I helped you with the research part. I have more stats, but I think this makes the point.
I want to start by expressing my support and appreciation for the Current staff and their mission. While I agree with the majority of what is published here, I believe this article missed the mark.
AMR’s lawsuit centers on administrative processes because, frankly, that's their only viable angle. However, claiming that the SBSO dispatch center is sufficient overlooks some critical facts. There's a reason not all agencies in the region use the current dispatch system, and agency attrition is a key factor that should be considered before making such a broad statement.
I do not support government overreach or any form of political maneuvering that resembles communism. However, placing emergency transport under the Fire Department, which is already mandated to provide EMS services, makes practical sense. It would result in faster response times, increased operational efficiency, and a significant boost in vital staff resources.
Let me emphasize this point: AMR is a private company, and like any private enterprise, its primary mandate is profit. The SB County contract is extremely lucrative for AMR, and this case could set a precedent for the entire state and potentially the country.
This issue is more complex than a simple case of government overreach. There's fault on all sides. However, there is also an opportunity here for the County and AMR to operate in partnership. By working together, we can achieve the best possible service for our community, which should be the ultimate goal.
If this is a lucrative contract then why did the county only get two bidders on the contract. And you say fire would be faster to respond, what's your evidence or proof of this other then what you hear from others. In that third party evaluation of all county emergency service it did not show that the fire department was faster even at its current job. So how can you say they would be faster. Also if you ran a business would you not want to make money as well. Almost all of the hospitals in the santa barbara county are privately own and want to make a profit too. Should the county go after them next? Let's be real everyone wants to complain, or talk about AMR, but if this was your company and the county tried to take over your contact you would be upset, especially if county are making promises that the can not support.
How many companies are there who would bid? My evidence is first hand experience. There are many more dept. locations than AMR has. In rural areas AMR response is much slower.
Again, I am not making the case for gov. overreach. Of course I would want to make money as a business owner. In this case we are talking about publicly funded vital lifesaving services.
Hospitals are already quasi government business akin to a utility.
AMR upcharges anywhere they can, drugs, special services, COGS, personnel and maintenance, the list goes on.
What is your support for the claim the county is making promises they cannot support?
Please understand I am stating there is room for both to operate. AMR's record in the county is far from spotless. Having 2 operators would make both more accountable. Competition drives efficiency.
Reminder - look up all local Santa Barbara county, city and special fire districts full compensation schedules on Transparent California: https://transparentcalifornia.com
Eye-popping. Then analyze if this is the time for consolidation and eliminatton of duplicate fire agencies as step number one. Particularly when taxpayers also support state CalFire services too. Instead of adding on more"fire" services; it is time to subtract over-lapping fire services.
I suspect the corruption runs even deeper than Andy mentioned. Let's not forget that the County likely shelled out a hefty sum to assess its EMS system, only to have the consulting firm proclaim it as one of the best in the state. There was even a Board meeting where they initially decided to put the ambulance contract out to bid. The consulting firm and what felt like every doctor in town urged the county to stick with AMR, saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
But then, the fire agencies insisted on a competitive bid, eyeing the contract like it was the last slice of pizza. And guess what? They lost. By a landslide. Twice, they tried to overturn the decision through the appeals process and failed both times. But when the EMS agency went to finalize the RFP, the Board, bowing to pressure from the fire unions, decided to scrap the whole thing.
Just because all the Fire Chiefs/Fire Unions want something doesn’t mean it’s automatically a good idea—sometimes it just means they all stand to benefit, whether it’s more power, more money, or both. I guess the same can be said about the Board of Supervisors.
Thank you for keeping this issue current.
Soooo, follow the money? Whose pockets are being fleeced with all this wasteful spending?
Or are the people in charge just this incompetent?
And tax payers are paying for these lawsuits.
Are certain local law firms being enriched at the same time? FOIA is in order.
Thank you for keeping this story of corruption front and center.
The Supervisors are complicit and hiding under their desks.
Hello Mike, They, the SB So-Called-Leaders just do not hide they also conceal.
Kind of like swimming in the Ocean on a nice sunny day and all of a sudden
a Great-White hits you from below with absolutely no warning whatsoever.
Howard, member of a Military Family
Contracting public services to competitive private industries is how we downsize Big Government.
Elimination of duplicate government services between cities, counties and state is another we downsize Big Government.
These are sound business management solutions to the oppressive and partisan growth of Big Government, which has now become fundamentally unsustainable. We have reached the tipping point where out of control Big Government is now overwhelming our entire US Constitution based system of governance..
Thank you, Andy. Yesterday with all the heated discussions here about Kamala, I kept wondering why these pro-Kamala commenters kept insisting that Trump is the problem. You, Andy, remind us that Trump is not the problem. The Leftist Dem uniparty is the problem. On the national level, on the state level, on the city level, on the most basic human level that defines civilization. Why can't these pro-Kamalites stop for one second and look at their own city - a jewel that is being destroyed by the Democratic government? When I read your column today about the level of corruption and ineptitude in just one aspect of Santa Barbara life, all I can think is that the people in power don't care about us, their lowly taxpayers. In fact, when I deal with what they're doing to Goleta with the airport and the Old Town mess, and downtown Santa Barbara and that mess, I realize they hate us. They just wish all of us would move away so they could turn Santa Barbara into the high rise monstrosity of their Leftist real estate dreams. As for maintaining their future dream globanonymous 15-minute city … well, that doesn't pertain to any place anyone might absolutely have to get to, like a hospital.
Democrats are verbal bullies, used to striking first and fast. Trump and Vance are finally giving them a run for it. This same fortitude must now trickle down to local, county and state offices. Only thing missing in our mono-media, mono-party town is a forum where this critical debate can take place.
Democrat-fostered "election reform", creating this months long election season instead of our one historic election day, has undermined both the focus and ability to concentrate on our critical local issues.
I agree completely.
Yes, a ride in a AMR ambulance, even for a few blocks can cost thousands. Ambulance fees are rarely, if ever covered by private insurance, so patients typically have to pony up. The out of pocket expense for air ambulance (I believe a different company) can be in the tens of thousands, again typically not covered by insurance.
In scrutinizing the cost benefit analysis, what would be the cost to the taxpayer for added salaries, benefits and pensions by adding dozens of Union represented firefighter/paramedics to the current ranks by virtue of eliminating AMR services?
You know in Santa Barbara County, Calstar (the medical helicopter) has a membership that is a annual cost (cheap like $120 a year for your entire family) that covers what your insurance won't on medical flights. It also covers other county's that calstar or it's affiliates operate in.
A family member of mine had to be airlifted and their insurance did not cover the whole flight, but because they were a Calstar member they did not have to pay anything out of pocket. ZERO!
If you want to see a ball park idea of what the taxpayers are going to pay, think about the money county fire has already asked for... to buy 35 ambulances, pay to hire people for the ambulance to be staffed, and for the dispatch center. That's just the start to all this.
For years, there was a back-and-forth between insurance companies and ambulance providers, where the insurance would cover only a portion of the bill, unilaterally deciding what they considered a fair price. The patient was then left to pay the remaining balance, along with their co-pay. Insurance companies often justified this by claiming the ambulance provider was "out of network." What they failed to mention is that there are no "network" providers operating within the 911 system, and patients who call 911 have no control over which provider responds—making this reasoning quite flawed.
However, starting this year, insurance companies are now required to accept ambulance fees set by local governments, so patients should only be responsible for their deductible.
So, let me see if I understand this. Fire Leadership/Chief wants to dump AMR, resulting in a lawsuit against the County. Then hire dozens of FF/PM’s and assume those future pensions, even though the County is over a $1 Billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
Continue to charge patients for ambulance services while at the same time, receiving tax monies. Then the BOS blindly supports County Fire’s purchase of unauthorized equipment and the BOS in return gets political cover during elections, from the Union?
Do I have this right? This is so FUBAR…that’s right, this is beyond repair!
Is this not another example of malfeasance in office! Or, inter-departmental corruption?
Are the taxpayers and voters powerless to act? After all, it is their money going down the drain.
Admittedly, I am not sure I understand all the nuances of this issue as there are multiple moving parts. It would seem County Fire jumped the gun and purchased 35 EMS units while under contract with AMR and are now trying to breach the contract claiming “safety concerns?”
I wonder why they did that? Was it solely for public safety or was there something more nefarious? Could it have anything to do with controlling the service and adding to the Firefighter Union roles? This, while the taxpayers are left holding the bag for purchasing, maintaining and storing millions of dollars worth of emergency equipment? Who signed off on the Purchase Order for the 35 ambulances? Seems to me a Grand Jury ought to be asking that question.
Andy makes reference to the lack of reporting by the press. My question is; what press? We have no viable newspaper here locally, unless you count the weekly, lefty rag, “The Independent.”
Ya, I’m sure the “Angry Poodle “ will get right on this! Yes, the local “press” is either nonexistent, too lazy or doesn’t want to make any waves.
Also worth mentioning is the local “One805 Live” festival, rock concert, wine tasting and celebrity bash. Last year they even had Royalty show up! Where do all the proceeds go? I read where portions go for mental health counseling for First Responders suffering from PTSD? Hey, I am all for supporting our First Responders, but there needs to be full and clear transparency of anything involving fundraising for public services.
I am reminded of the legal term “Cui Bono”…who stands to benefit? Clearly, the public is NOT benefiting from the confusion in emergency services this is causing nor the enormous cost burden.
Government employee unions like growing their numbers of dues-paying members. Dues, which in turn get sanitized to support political causes, which in turn leads to their inherent political dominance of elected offices.
Who in turn collectively bargain with those very same government employee unions. In case anyone still does not understand what happened to America these past few decades.
Was waiting for someone to get to this.
AMR is a private organization....each and every new county ambulance types will be gov. employees requiring long term benefits and retirement on the back of an already broken middle class taxpayer.
Who does seiu back during elections? Think about it.
Ultimately, today SEIU = Democrat party totalitarianism. Who knew this is what our "democracy" would look like in 250 years.
BTW: SEIU member employees dominate virtually all county election offices in the entire United States of America. They run the elections, they oversee election processes, they train the poll workers, they count the votes, they adjudicate questionable ballots.
They also have a direct and immediate self-interest in election outcomes. Who will be their next bosses? How are tax payers protected from this inherent conflict of interests. What safeguards do we have; what safeguards are missing that need to be corrected?
Murky at best, particularly now that Democrat Party "election reform" has turned our former Election Day into the now notorious weeks-long "long counts". What volunteer election monitors have the stamina to provide this degreee of concentrated oversight.
Are these SEIU election office union members as pure as Caesar's wife? How would we know. All we know viewing after Transparent California is what SEIU collective bargaining has been able to reward this particular group of "civil servants".
Does our election process today answer to a **zero tolerance** for error standard for its entire operations? The sloppiness I found in my own volunteer poll working experience bordered on sheer incompetence, if anyone assumes we are operating at a zero tolerance for error standard today. . That is all I can offer from my own direct experience.
Make sure you’re playing chess and not checkers when you consider the opinions and the players involved in this article.
Thank you, Andy, for a eye opening article. I have not been in the loop of the issues you raised and am happy to see them laid out in good fashion. I do have to wonder, though, if it might not be a good idea, after reading Jim Henderson's experiences with AMR, if we should not have another private company in to break up the monopoly . On the other hand that might be opening up a Pandora's Box.
"...their own pants on fire." Very funny.
So the fire association finagled a multi-provider system, then said such a system would harm the public and now expects the solution to be excluding AMR from further participation and competitive bidding.
Did the ambulance purchases and dispatch center build out occur before the decision to have a multi-provider system?
This story focuses around the hidden fact that the already highly paid firemen are UNION people
looking to expand their power.
Would be interesting to know truly how many engulfed structure fires occur each year in S.B. county.
Not just the occasional large "weed" fires in the back country.
The Fire Department in general have less structure fires then back in the day, due to advances in construction and other changes to the building codes. That's why fire departments are now doing EMS. And it's funny to see Dave's comment, because I know if you call 911 during a fire (that is near you) for a medical emergency, you will get an ambulance and possibly a fire truck from another area. This happens more then people know. As it says in there name it's fire first, ems second (SB Fire / Paramedic). So there I helped you with the research part. I have more stats, but I think this makes the point.
County Fire doesn’t just respond to fires. Hopefully you’ll never need them. You should do your research.
I want to start by expressing my support and appreciation for the Current staff and their mission. While I agree with the majority of what is published here, I believe this article missed the mark.
AMR’s lawsuit centers on administrative processes because, frankly, that's their only viable angle. However, claiming that the SBSO dispatch center is sufficient overlooks some critical facts. There's a reason not all agencies in the region use the current dispatch system, and agency attrition is a key factor that should be considered before making such a broad statement.
I do not support government overreach or any form of political maneuvering that resembles communism. However, placing emergency transport under the Fire Department, which is already mandated to provide EMS services, makes practical sense. It would result in faster response times, increased operational efficiency, and a significant boost in vital staff resources.
Let me emphasize this point: AMR is a private company, and like any private enterprise, its primary mandate is profit. The SB County contract is extremely lucrative for AMR, and this case could set a precedent for the entire state and potentially the country.
This issue is more complex than a simple case of government overreach. There's fault on all sides. However, there is also an opportunity here for the County and AMR to operate in partnership. By working together, we can achieve the best possible service for our community, which should be the ultimate goal.
If this is a lucrative contract then why did the county only get two bidders on the contract. And you say fire would be faster to respond, what's your evidence or proof of this other then what you hear from others. In that third party evaluation of all county emergency service it did not show that the fire department was faster even at its current job. So how can you say they would be faster. Also if you ran a business would you not want to make money as well. Almost all of the hospitals in the santa barbara county are privately own and want to make a profit too. Should the county go after them next? Let's be real everyone wants to complain, or talk about AMR, but if this was your company and the county tried to take over your contact you would be upset, especially if county are making promises that the can not support.
How many companies are there who would bid? My evidence is first hand experience. There are many more dept. locations than AMR has. In rural areas AMR response is much slower.
Again, I am not making the case for gov. overreach. Of course I would want to make money as a business owner. In this case we are talking about publicly funded vital lifesaving services.
Hospitals are already quasi government business akin to a utility.
AMR upcharges anywhere they can, drugs, special services, COGS, personnel and maintenance, the list goes on.
What is your support for the claim the county is making promises they cannot support?
Please understand I am stating there is room for both to operate. AMR's record in the county is far from spotless. Having 2 operators would make both more accountable. Competition drives efficiency.
Reminder - look up all local Santa Barbara county, city and special fire districts full compensation schedules on Transparent California: https://transparentcalifornia.com
Eye-popping. Then analyze if this is the time for consolidation and eliminatton of duplicate fire agencies as step number one. Particularly when taxpayers also support state CalFire services too. Instead of adding on more"fire" services; it is time to subtract over-lapping fire services.
The Board of Supervisors are all corrupt and have their heads in their asses. Keep giving yourselves raises you morons. You guys don’t do shit.
I suspect the corruption runs even deeper than Andy mentioned. Let's not forget that the County likely shelled out a hefty sum to assess its EMS system, only to have the consulting firm proclaim it as one of the best in the state. There was even a Board meeting where they initially decided to put the ambulance contract out to bid. The consulting firm and what felt like every doctor in town urged the county to stick with AMR, saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
But then, the fire agencies insisted on a competitive bid, eyeing the contract like it was the last slice of pizza. And guess what? They lost. By a landslide. Twice, they tried to overturn the decision through the appeals process and failed both times. But when the EMS agency went to finalize the RFP, the Board, bowing to pressure from the fire unions, decided to scrap the whole thing.
Just because all the Fire Chiefs/Fire Unions want something doesn’t mean it’s automatically a good idea—sometimes it just means they all stand to benefit, whether it’s more power, more money, or both. I guess the same can be said about the Board of Supervisors.