BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
LAKE BUTLER—The regular October meeting of the Union County Commission was, as has become usual, well attended with quite a few county residents on hand seeking their turn at the podium during the public comment portion of the meeting. This month the ire was focused on fire and emergency medical services, as well as the Union County Sheriff’s Office, although RV parks and code enforcement were also on the menu.
Substandard work by employee
Sergio Fernandez came to the podium with complaints concerning EMS operations and a particular employee. He talked through his allowed five minutes, then handed off his phone and materials to four other people to finish his comments, each allowed five minutes.
Fernandez is a former EMS employee and therefore he said he had nothing to gain by speaking out. He said that one EMT in the service was the subject of many complaints and he felt legally obligated to report instances where he believed incorrect actions or procedures were followed. He thinks the employee’s work is substandard and questions his skills, noting that in his opinion the department does little training. He also said that he had had a “run in” with County Coordinator Jimmy Williams concerning his reports and comments while employed by UCEMS. His comments were finished by Sean Newsome on the numerous incident reports he had filed.
Former EMS employee Lance Thornton then took over the podium, accusing the above-mentioned employee of failing to do his required truck checkoffs, ensuring that the truck was equipped with all of the necessary equipment and supplies. Justin Phillips read a statement from EMS Director Toby Witt and said it reflected a personal bias. Phillips also commented on the delays in service (that are alleged to have occurred).
Nick Aceveeo said that the above-mentioned situations should lead to the firing of Williams due to his inattention and inaction to the above situations. He alleged that these circumstances had led to the death of a patient but gave no concrete details.
Ashley Sullivan, who spoke earlier in the meeting said she wanted to address the use of UCEMS for prison medical transport. She told commissioners that she had talked to several people in the county who said if they needed EMS services, they would drive to the Bradford County line and call for their service from there. She also asked if background checks were routinely done on firefighters in the county.
Witt took the podium later in the meeting, responding to the citizens’ comments.
“Go back two years,” Witt said. “Me and Jimmy Williams worked together to get medics on the job and get trucks available. There has been a change of culture in the department, and some are not happy. Incident reports are one person’s side of a story. I don’t like my service being attacked. This is a couple of disgruntled former employees. We are doing well, and the service is moving forward.”
Body cameras for deputies
Jay Rex spoke to the commission and said he supported Fernandez, but his topic was the need for body cameras on county deputies. He said he had conducted a small survey and found that 93% of those responding favored the use of body cams on law enforcement officers (higher than the National average) and that 104 county residents did not know that they were not already in use. He said, “Trust in the police is shaken right now and we want transparency, better evidence quality – it will pay off in the long run.”
Sheriff Brad Whitehead also appeared in the meeting and responded to what had been said concerning his department.
“We do not have body cams on our deputies, but our cars are equipped with cameras and audio recording,” Whitehead said. “About two years ago I priced body cams, and the price was $98,000 to purchase the equipment, and other, recurring costs added another $28,500 a year. We do not normally have complaints about how we are doing things, and we must be doing something right because Union County has the lowest crime rate, per capita, in the state as well as the highest clearance rate.”
RV Park
The RV Park issue was addressed by two citizens. First, James “Jed” Douglas, from the Providence area, asked the commission what progress and plans had been made on the topic and whether or not the commissioners were getting an assist from attorney David Therique on the matter. He was informed that Therique had already been contacted and would appear at the regular November meeting to present three possible options for dealing with the issue. J.R. Davis then reported that the citizen’s committee concerning the RV park moratorium was active and that he had collected a great deal of information from other counties and was awaiting direction from the board.
Carol Pittman, from Providence, asked the board not to adopt ordinances and impose them on the county. He said he did not like city codes, rules, and homeowners’ associations. He said he had heard a figure of $70,000 for code enforcement in the county and he understands the constraints it would impose and was completely against it. He said he did not want to be fined for the antique car in his yard with no tag, nor did he want to be cited for a relative living in an RV on his property.
Investigating county coordinator
Other comments included a question from Lindsey Reddish concerning the progress on getting an inspector general from the Department of Ethics to come and investigate the allegations against Williams and others. She was told that the department had been contacted and that they no longer provided that service but would respond to individual complaints filed on a Form 50 (available online). Crystal Norman commented that she had never been disappointed in the board in her 15 years in the county, but she was now. Charles Clyatt asked about better control of speeders in District 4, citing Amazon vehicles and commercial trucks as the primary culprits and would like commissioners to address the issue with Whitehead before a child was involved in an accident.
