By Jim Smilie

Following lengthy and often contentious discussion that led to one audience member being forcibly removed from the meeting, members of the Alexandria City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday night in opposition to an ordinance allowing additional ambulance service providers to operate in the city. The vote keeps in place the current agreement with the Rapides Parish Police Jury that names Acadian Ambulance as the sole provider for Rapides Parish. That agreement, signed in 2019, expires at the end of October, 2024.

Prior to the vote on the ordinance, which was introduced as part of the consent agenda at the Sept. 19 council meeting, council members had to consider a resolution related to ambulance services “reaffirming ambulance services authorization to the Rapides Parish Police Jury” and to “declare a moratorium on further council actions pending expiration of the current contract for emergency and non-emergency ambulance services for the Parish of Rapides.”

District 1 Councilman Reddex Washington, who proposed the ordinance, objected to the placement of the resolution, which he called “an obstacle to the ordinance,” and offered a motion to remove the resolution from the agenda. District 3 Councilwoman Cynthia Perry seconded the motion to remove the resolution. In a roll-call vote, Council President Lee Rubin, Councilman At-Large Jim Villard, District 5 Councilman Chuck Fowler and District 4 Councilwoman Lizzie Felter voted against removing the measure while Washington, Perry and District 2 Councilman Gary Johnson supported removal.

Discussion then began regarding the resolution. Rapides Parish Police Jury Vice President Sean McGlothlin encouraged the council to adopt the resolution and to honor the existing agreement. McGlothlin said the Police Jury will work with communities throughout the parish next year as a new agreement is formulated, at which time the committee can explore the options of a sole-provider or multi-provider system. McGlothlin said it would be “catastrophic to change now.”

Perry told McGlothlin she didn’t see the matter as an issue of competition, “it’s about saving lives.” McGlothlin, who noted he has worked as a first responder, agreed, adding “seconds count” and said changing the system now could result in delays in response.

Washington said he objected to the Police Jury making the choice for the city, noting, “why do we continue not to make a decision and let someone else decide?”

Felter said she didn’t want to rush into a decision, and to Washington’s point, stressed that the city works with the Police Jury in making the selection and is a part of the process. “The Police Jury is the overseer. I’m not sure we are ready as a city to be an overseer.”

Local resident Shicola Jones was the next to speak and started her comments to the council by referring to an incident resulting in a person’s death in which she said Acadian took more than 30 minutes to respond. As she started to cite another incident, Rubin cut her off saying remarks should be limited to the resolution to continue with the existing agreement and not debate the benefits of adding additional providers. Jones replied that Rubin was trying to silence her because she filed a recall petition against Rubin, Villard and Mayor Jacques Roy, to which Rubin replied, “oh, you’re the one who filed that?”

When Jones continued with her comments regarding response times, Rubin ordered her to be removed from the meeting. As an Alexandria Police Officer escorted her from the room, Jones repeatedly told Rubin, “Your days are numbered!”

The next audience member to speak was MedExpress Operations Manager Steven Simon. Simon noted that last year council members approved an ordinance to allow multiple providers only to have the measure vetoed by then-Mayor Jeff Hall. “We want to work with Acadian,” Simon said. “We’re not asking to be put on rotation. We want to help.” Simon said making a change now would provide an opportunity to test the effectiveness of a two-provider system before the contract renewal next year. “It’s all about working together,” he said.

Simon’s remarks prompted a reminder from Rubin that comments should be limited to the resolution, and not to addressing the question of sole-provider versus multiple-providers. He said those comments should be held until the debate on the ordinance.

When the question was finally called, the resolution failed on a 4-3 vote with Rubin, Villard and Fowler voting in favor while Washington, Perry, Johnson and Felter opposed.

Following approval of five routine matters, including agreeing to co-sponsor the annual Christmas parade and awarding various landscape maintenance contracts, attention turned to Washington’s proposed ordinance that would terminate the city’s agreement with the Rapides Parish Police Jury and create a system to allow multiple ambulance service providers to operate in the city.

Simon, with MedExpress, said a vote in favor of the ordinance would give residents access to solutions to help. “A vote yes will allow an existing business to operate in the City of Alexandria. A vote yes will allow customers to choose. A vote yes will improve response times,” he said, adding MedExpress has invested more than $2 million in the Alexandria area.

Referencing his earlier comments, Simon said MedExpress is not seeking to create a rotation system. “Our vision is that all calls would go to Acadian, and they would decide if they roll a call over.” Jerod Meaux, an operations supervisor with MedExpress, said they work with Acadian in nine parishes currently and indicated that the rollover process works well. “When given a chance to work together, it works out,” he said.

Eric Talley, a local attorney, spoke in favor of the ordinance. “The only thing that happens when you have a one-entity provider is the customer suffers,” he said. He cited an instance in which his son had to wait 12 hours to get a non-emergency transport. “It’s not about 911. What is best is competition,” he said.

Local resident Cornelius White spoke against the ordinance, saying Acadian saved his life as well as the life of his father. “Mayor Hall was right to veto this last year. The council was wrong,” he said.

Villard noted he was concerned that breaking the current contract could lead to litigation against the city, asking Washington, “do you want to get sued again?” He also expressed concern over the wording of the ordinance that would have the council overseeing the ambulance service in the city. He also said he was concerned outlying communities could lose service as providers concentrated their resources in Alexandria.

Based on the legal concern, Rubin asked City Attorney Jonathan Goins directly if adopting the ordinance would be a violation of the current contract. Goins replied, “we do have a contract, and passing this would breach that contract.” Fowler asked Goins if the ordinance as written violated the City Charter, and Goins indicated that as written, the ordinance would violate the City Charter.

Paul Fusilier, representing Acadian Ambulance, noted Acadian has served the Alexandria area for the past 29 years. “There’s no proof we’ve breached our contract,” he said. “We’ve done our job, but here we are pleading for the rest of our contract.” Fusilier said rollover systems exist, but noted they are not good. “We stand tall and proud of what we have done for 29 years.”

Once public comment ended, Rubin offered his final thoughts, explaining, “we have a contract and I feel we are obligated to fulfill the contracts we make.” He noted the Police Jury made its agreement based on the city participating and that there could be negative consequences if people can’t trust the city to honor the agreements it makes. And, echoing previous concerns about the ordinance’s wording making the council the overseeing authority, Rubin said, “I don’t believe there is anyone on this dais who can regulate an ambulance company. It’s more efficient to do it with the parish.”

When the final vote was held, the measure failed 4-3 with Washington, Perry and Johnson voting in favor of the ordinance and Rubin, Fowler, Villard and Felter voting no.

In other business, council members voted unanimously to enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Louisiana Department of Treasury and the State of Louisiana to receive a $250,000 allocation for improvements to the basketball courts at Cheatham Park. City officials noted accepting the money is the first step in the process, and there is no timeline for when work will begin or when the improvements will be completed.