BOCC addresses ambulance district drama

WALLACE — The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) hosted an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to address a distressing sequence of events that culminated in the potential resignation of several Shoshone County Ambulance Service District board members.

Much of the underlying drama came to a head last week during the SCASD’s regularly scheduled meeting at the Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 firehouse.

The SCASD board members went into the meeting with a full agenda, including discussions about purchasing a new ambulance — however, once they arrived at the agenda item concerning reviewing open meeting laws, they adjourned into executive session and things within the meeting changed.

When the meeting reconvened, no mention was made of the executive session discussion and the board quickly adjourned.

Following the meeting’s abrupt conclusion, several board members were asked by the News-Press why such measures were taken, to which their responses were all indicative of one specific cause — or rather one specific person.

Rumors concerning a number of formal complaints made by Shoshone County resident Matt Beehner had been swirling for months — including an alleged recent complaint made by Beehner concerning the placement of the board’s meeting notices and agendas.

The Shoshone County’s Prosecuting Attorney’s Office received an email from Beehner in April where he expressed his discontent with what he has perceived as a violation of open meeting law.

According to SCASD board members, the meeting notice and agenda were posted on a bulletin board in the lobby of SCFD No. 1, which is outside from the building’s conference room, but not on the door into the building.

Deputy prosecutor Britney Jacobs responded to Beehner’s email with the following:

“This ambulance district does not keep a principal office, and therefore the location in which the meeting is being held would apply in this instance,” Jacobs wrote. “In speaking with the ambulance district members, we are of the understanding the agenda and notice are posted on the bulletin board in the lobby of the fire department where the meeting is held and at the location in which your attached photos were taken. A bulletin board at this location would be a prominent place in the building where the meeting was held, and thus the requirements for posting under Idaho Code have been met. However, if you attempt to go to this venue in the future and cannot visibly view the agenda at its current location because the door is locked, please advise our office and I will request that the agenda for the ambulance district relocate to allow posting to be visible to the public at all hours of the day.”

Jacobs also cited Idaho code in her response, specifically Idaho Code 74-204 which concerns meeting laws — specifically notice of meetings.

“Idaho Code § 74-204 requires that the notice and agenda be posted in a ‘prominent place in the principal office of the public agency or, if no such office exists, at the building where the meeting is held,” she wrote.

SCASD chairman Bruce Van Broeke said that this was the most recent example of what has been a consistent trend.

While this singular issue is just the “tip of the iceberg” according to Van Broeke, he said he can provide several other examples and that he and his fellow board members are “sick of it.”

“It’s gotten to the point that the entire board is fed up,” Van Broeke said. “We cannot function and keep this district running with him constantly nitpicking at us.”

Beehner also mentioned concerns over the potential for misappropriation of funds by the board, as well as the use of the appointed alternate board members.

The April 22 email from Beehner prompted the more than one-hour long executive session during the May 19 meeting and was the proverbial straw that broke the board’s back.

SCASD board member and treasurer Jerry Brantz was so upset with everything going on that he surrendered the board’s checkbook and financial records to the BOCC the following day when the commissioners weren’t in the office.

Upon their return to the courthouse on Monday, the BOCC was frustrated when they heard what had happened and subsequently scheduled the Wednesday emergency meeting.

During that meeting, tensions became very apparent as the BOCC asked questions and received clarifications that they needed from Van Broeke concerning the current state of the board and SCASD board frustrations — all while Beehner sat less than 10 feet away from them.

“I’m very disappointed when complaints take our citizenry, who volunteer their time to make sure that an ambulance shows up, into this position where they are quitting,” said BOCC Chairman Mike Fitzgerald. “I want to make that very clear. I don’t like that.”

As far as addressing the potential for misappropriation, according to Fitzgerald, when the SCASD was set up in 2020, it was decided that the new board would operate with near-autonomy, meaning that:

• The county would levy funds from Shoshone County’s tax base for the SCASD to utilize.

• The SCASD is required to submit a budget to the BOCC for review and approval, as well as a monthly expense ledger to make sure that no payments were being missed or funds being misused.

• SCASD would handle all of their budgeted monthly expenses and capital expenditures without having to seek approval for each use of the district’s funds.

• The SCASD is required to bring any non-budgeted capital expenditures before the BOCC for approval.

As Fitzgerald further explained, this was the recommended direction for the SCASD board, per the county’s legal representation.

“Our intent was to create a completely separate taxing entity — complete with its own board,” Fitzgerald explained to the News-Press. “What we have is an advisory board that answers to the BOCC.”

This is a similar approach that other counties in the state have used, particularly in Kootenai County, according to Fitzgerald.

When it was determined that the BOCC would be creating such a district in mid-2020, they decided to appoint the first batch of board members as recommended by the county’s legal team, to serve in its first term and be a part of the creation and foundation for the district moving forward. Any future terms will be decided through a standard election process.

These appointments came from a list of individuals, who either submitted their names or were submitted by others.

The BOCC selected five people to serve as the SCASD’s inaugural board that same year, but also appointed two alternates — who could step into the role of board member any time should one of the other board members step down.

“The alternates were also part of the recommendation of our legal team,” Fitzgerald explained to the News-Press. “We did question what their role would be, but it was recommended that we have them.”

The role, as explained by Jacobs in her response to Beehner, is that the alternates are only available if a board member steps down from their position.

“Should there be an absence of one advisory member, alternatives would not have a formal role in the decisions or meeting processes,” Jacobs wrote. “That spot would remain vacant and any individual attending would be a member of the public attending in that capacity.”

Commissioner Jay Huber was incensed by the situation during the Wednesday meeting and openly called out Beehner’s behavior.

“We picked seven fantastic individuals, John (commissioner John Hansen), Mike and I studied over it and we got great guys to do the job,” Huber said. “It’s a shame, because they don’t get paid a dime. It’s a shame that one guy can harass them so bad they are ready to quit. I guess now we don’t have an ambulance board, so if they need an ambulance, they should call you and you can go pick them up because you ran the ambulance board out. I just think it’s really terrible. You don’t ever help with a solution, you only come up with complaints.”

Fitzgerald also mentioned during the discussion that, while this meeting was specific to the SCASD, other county entities were not strangers to complaints and concerns from Beehner over the years — some of them going as far as the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.

Despite Beehner’s repeated inquiries, no punitive action has ever been taken by the AG’s Office against any Shoshone County department.

It was also brought to light during the discussion that Beehner had been offered a position on the ambulance board during the formation of the board, but when he didn’t respond to the offer, it was extended to another person.

Fitzgerald reiterated that the purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to identify the problem(s) and begin the process of finding solutions — which he believes they accomplished.

They will now seek out further guidance from their legal counsel regarding how to move forward.

Following the meeting, Beehner took a few moments to address what had just transpired.

He told the News-Press that outside from any formal complaints concerning open meeting laws, his emails to the Shoshone County Prosecutor’s Office have been “concerns — not complaints.”

He also acknowledged that part of his reasoning for looking into SCASD is the same reason that he was hesitant to join it when he offered a spot on the board.

Beehner believes that the county has misinterpreted Idaho Code 31-3908, specifically where it states that, “the board of county commissioners shall be the governing board of an ambulance service district created pursuant to this section and shall exercise the duties and responsibilities provided in chapter 39, title 31, Idaho Code.”

However, as stated previously in the story, the ambulance service district and its board were set up in their current form based upon a recommendation from the Shoshone County Prosecutor’s Office to the BOCC.

Essentially, Beehner believes that the board is invalid, which is why he didn’t agree to hold one of the board positions.

Beehner told the News-Press that he supports having an ambulance district, but believes that the SCASD board is a demonstration of the current BOCC passing the buck on being responsible for the recently created district.

“The whole thing boils down to, these guys are the board (referencing the BOCC), they’re the ones who are supposed to run the show,” Beehner said. “They want to shove down responsibility to somebody else so they don’t have to do more work.”

The News-Press will continue to follow the story.