Do you want to see what a Huether Public Input is going to be if given a chance? Watch the Sioux Falls REMSA (Regional Emergency Management Service Authority) board from July 26, 2017 to find out. What good is government if it is done behind closed doors with no chance for the people to have a voice for their concerns?
The June 2017 REMSA board meeting got out of control with the people who showed up to talk about the crappy wambulance service provider. You know the one, the service who has Metro Communication (911 EMS) dispatch Phantom ambulances to priority calls so they can finish their Subway sandwiches during a priority call heart attack incident.
Look at these new rules:
1. You will be able to speak only once in three months
2. You will be able to speak for only three minutes
3. Public Input will be at the end of the meeting
4. Public Input will be limited to the time available
5. If Public Input is too long, they will stop it
6. If there is an executive session scheduled, there might not be a Public Input period at all
What is going on? Why should a board of citizens who are afraid of our cameras be allowed to shut down the public’s ability to have a voice. These people, by their own admissions, are not experts in the way the system works. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to show up, ask for help and or give advice to fix the system?
There is more to catch in this video, how about 97% and better response times for ambulances. They don’t tell us how they do it in the 711 page contract but we are figuring it out. We’ll keep letting all know as we can release more information.
One thing about attending these “open” meetings with the chief number one attorney for the city. It gets stuffy when he allows the doors to closed so the public doesn’t come in. There is a little inconvenient South Dakota law requiring the door to be opened during government meetings to allow the public to freely enter and leave the room. The only time the door can be closed is during the Executive sessions for 1) contract negotiations, 2) personnel issues and pending litigation. There was a violation of the statute, care for a photo?
