Lack of interest in ambulance issues causes concern

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials said Monday they are concerned by the lack of response to the town hall meetings the county has held on the rural ambulance revenue plans set for a vote Nov. 4.

While some of the early meetings drew sparse crowds, meetings held Thursday in Bentonville and Rogers and Saturday in Bentonville and in Lowell failed to attract crowds.

"Thursday night in Bentonville, we had zero," said County Judge Bob Clinard on Monday. "Thursday night in Rogers, we had one person show up. Then Saturday, we had two meetings, one in Bentonville and one in Lowell, and not one constituent attended either meeting."

Clinard said he's uncertain what the lack of response means for the county's plans to pay for rural ambulance service.

"I think the county, the JPs and myself, we've all made the case for the fact that, if we don't find another source of revenue for EMS and the JPs decide it's going to be funded, we're going to have to cut other services," Clinard said. "I don't know where those cuts are going to come from. We're cut to the bone."

Voters have been asked to consider two plans to pay part of the cost of ambulance service in unincorporated areas. The county will pay about $942,000 this year to the cities providing ambulance service.

One proposal would levy 0.2 mills to raise an estimated $834,000 annually. The tax would apply to all residents. All residents can vote on the millage question.

The second proposal involves creation of an emergency medical services district with a $40 fee. The fee would raise about $528,000 a year. The district would include the unincorporated areas of the county, except the area served by the Northeast Benton County Fire Department. Only residents in the proposed district can vote on the plan to form the district and levy the annual fee.

Brent Meyers, justice of the peace for District 14, said his first town hall meeting, held Oct. 13 in Lowell, drew about 20 people. Saturday's session saw Meyers in attendance along with Clinard, a county information technology employee, Lowell Mayor Eldon Long and Mike Morris, the city's fire chief.

"I can't even venture to guess why," Meyers said. "I'm severely disappointed."

Barry Moehring, justice of the peace for District 15, hosted the Thursday town hall meeting in Bentonville at which he and other county officials waited a full 30 minutes before calling off the presentation. Moehring also said he doesn't know what to make of the sparse turnout.

"I'm a little perplexed that there's no more interest being shown," he said. "I'm not sure it's accurate to say there's a lack of interest in the issue. There might just be a lack of interest in attending town hall meetings on the issue."

Moehring said he thinks the county could benefit from having someone directly responsible for public information and communication. He said there's no one working for Benton County now who fills that role.

"I do believe that if we had a public information function, not necessarily a public information officer but someone whose job it was to handle public information, we would've been able to generate more interest in the issue," he said. "That's not anybody's job at the county right now. I don't want to see a position at the county just have that added on to it. It shouldn't be somebody's hobby. It should be someone's actual job function."

Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7, was to host a town hall meeting in Bella Vista on Tuesday at Riordan Hall. Jones said he's concerned city residents don't fully understand the millage proposal, which is the only measure on which they will vote.

"I'm concerned that they will look at it and say it's a county issue that doesn't concern them," Jones said.

Jones said he's satisfied justices of the peace have done what they can to raise awareness of the issue and the election.

"Beyond going door-to-door, I don't know that there's anything more we could have done," he said. "The level of interest does concern me. That's what we've been trying to fight. We've been posting on Facebook. There's been articles in the newspaper. It's been on Twitter. The university has done the handouts on it. We've done the town hall meetings. I think it's a PR problem. I've talked with a group in a subdivision in the unincorporated area, and they're aware of it. They're concerned about having the service. People in the cities may think it's a county issue that doesn't concern them."

Tom Allen, justice of the peace for District 4 and chairman of the county's Finance Committee, said he's concerned county residents, both rural and urban, aren't taking the issue as seriously as they should. Allen warned other county services will have to be cut if the revenue plans are defeated.

"About a year from now, if the funding plans are defeated, they're going to notice when we have had to cut services, whether it's in the Road Department, the Sheriff's Office or just across-the-board cuts," Allen said. "It's going to affect things like veterans' services, the assessor, collector or county clerk's offices, things people take for granted when they need it."

General News on 10/22/2014