Week in Review: Ambulance Wars
"give us all the wisdom to process the material"
Week in Review
County Commissioners, Tuesday, February 11
Opening Prayer
Commissioner Wiley: “Heavenly Father. . . give us all the wisdom to process the material in front of us today.”
Public Comment
Township residents and officials from the east side of the county excoriated the board for pulling millage funding from Hudson’s ambulance service, which is outside the county, but closer to the eastern townships (Pittsford, Jefferson).
Tim Shaw of Somerset Township: “Word on the street is that we have got an ambulance company that really can’t cover their area; they’re contracted to do so. And we’ve got other ambulance companies stepping in and filling in the gaps for them. . . It’s a mutual aid contract, and mutual means something different to me than it does to you. . . [The Reading Emergency Service Unit] gets more than a million dollars to cover a major part of this county, and they failed to do that, and you people let it slide.”
Steve Wismar, Jefferson Township Supervisor: “Back in 2013, we asked Reading to stand out and brought in Hudson in a formal way. . . It’s been that way ever since. We’ve had not one complaint. We’ve had an excellent relationship, and we’d like to continue with that.”
Leaann Zimmerman, Pittsford Township Supervisor: “Why would I want Reading Emergency Unit showing up to my house? That’s like 30 minutes away. . . We pay Reading way too much money for not doing a thing. You hardly ever see a Reading Emergency Vehicle unit out there.”
Steve Shipman, Pittsford township resident: “This is nuts. . . I would advise that you redo your initiative here; it’s just not acceptable. . . I assure you that this problem is not going away because there are many residents that are fired up.”
Some board members responded later in the meeting—
Commissioner Benzing, sensible?: “We are not saying that Hudson cannot provide ambulance services; we are saying that we will no longer pay millage monies to Hudson. . . Either we’re going to terminate our agreement with Hudson, or we’re going to waffle on this. And if we waffle on this, we are going to give up any oversight we have on our contracts.”
Benzing again, now triggered & Decent: “I’ve received more commentary from constituents and the public in regards to the $40,000 being appropriated from the Opioid Fund than I did about the $150,000 we are potentially taking away from the ambulance. So, evidently, quiet rooms are of significantly greater import than whether an ambulance shows up at your house or not.”1
Commissioner Leininger, on Pittsford Township: “Many citizens are. . . disappointed that the Commissioners have taken the action to cancel the contract with Hudson.”
Commissioner Ingles: “We are not trying to disrupt the service; we are trying to fulfill the ambulance service.”
Legislative Changes to PTO
The State of Michigan has deemed that every employee—seasonal, part time, full time—must get a minimum of one hour of PTO for every 30 hours worked. The policy would require more Human Resources in the form of new hour-tracking mechanisms. The current legislature is reportedly considering making changes the relevant statute, but would likely lack the votes to override a Whitmer veto. The Board discussed as follows:
Benzing: “It is their strong suggestion—their legal opinion—that we need to live with the act as it is written right now, have that in place. . . Compliance is going to be a big factor. . . and so it is legal counsel’s suggestion that we set up a mandatory training for all department heads, both elected and appointed, so we can show compliance. . . The dispute resolution process is that they can sue us.”
Leininger: “It’s quite clear: anybody who’s a salaried employee works 40-hours per week, and our PTO that we offer provides more. . . So we’re in compliance.”
Benzing: “Evidently, they want us to track it.”
Leininger: “The more tables we have, the more schedules we use, the more cumbersome it is for whatever payroll system we’re using.”
The dejected Board sent it to the Personnel Management Committee for more discussion.
Miscellaneous Updates
Ingles: “The City of Hillsdale has requested me to find out. . .the process for making a request to the Opioid Committee.”
Commissioner Collins: “Community Action Agency—I went to that board meeting and I did get accepted to be on that board.”
Collins: “Had a Senior Center meeting. I guess for the last three years the Meals on Wheels has doubled. They are trying to get another Meals on Wheels vehicle.”
Wiley, on LifeWays: “The property that LifeWays is buying on the corner of Industrial Drive and Beck Road. . . LifeWays now owns that property.” On the resignation of LifeWays CEO Maribeth Leonard: “Maribeth has tentatively set a date of February first of 2026.” On good LifeWays meetings: “A lot of good breakout sessions.”
Councilman Bentley States the Issues
Tell us about your Hillsdale background.
I am a proud alum of the Hillsdale Public Schools, beginning in Kindergarten at Gier, through Davis, and graduating from Hillsdale High School in 1985.
I returned to Hillsdale in 2020 as a refugee from Ann Arbor’s twin tyrannies of Covid and bike lanes. I will fight to stop such evils from threatening this fair city.
As an admirer of our esteemed Hillsdale College and an enjoyer of many of its offerings, I hope to play a conciliatory role between Town and Gown.
(The councilman refused to divulge any more personal details for our “profile,” with the exception of the following rant.)
What did you think about the meeting several weeks ago whereat city staff presented their road diet plans?
The city staff did not anticipate the large number of road users who attended, or that the clear majority would be hostile to their arbitrary plan to fundamentally transform the major traffic artery through town. The people remained unpersuaded by the experts and their studies. The presenters provided no clear answers regarding the accident rates that these changes were intended to alleviate, the monies involved, or the next steps in the process.
While there were a few anecdotes from some of the attendees concerning “near-misses” and the dangerous nature of pedestrian life in Hillsdale, it seemed all but unanimous that bike lanes are unnecessary.
There will always be an inclination to prioritize personal predilections over and against the real costs imposed on the vast majority. Those of us who offer resistance to this proposal do so not because we are inflexible, nor out of animus: it’s just business. We generally drive to whatever daily business we have to attend to, and then drive to our homes to be with our families. We are not inclined to sacrifice these daily rhythms to managers who would domesticate and herd us to behave according to their preferences in the name of some “Road Diet” fad.
For further information, I suggest the YouTube video of the meeting (particularly comments from Matt Bell {39:30} and Joseph Amorós {50:15}), the Collegian article (featuring Paige Conway’s comments and petition), and the excellent (long) article by Josh Colletta.
I would have preferred that this polarizing plan had not been proposed at all. I am hopeful that an alternative vision, originating from the people’s representatives and business stakeholders will be available soon.
External Links
“It’s outrageous and offensive that anyone would feel that charter school students are only worth about 2% of what other students are worth.” Dan Quisenberry.
“I look forward to using my knowledge of the agricultural, natural resources and infrastructure to help produce policy changes that protect rural Michigan families.” Jennifer Wortz.
“Rep. John James . . . telling two people last night that he’s running for governor of Michigan.” Kadia Goba.
“The MAWA plan is to apply pressure on business allies in Trump’s inner circle . . . they’ll seek to influence Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Agriculture, and Kristi Noem, his secretary of Homeland Security.” Business Insider.
“Trump’s inevitable following through on his campaign promises to suppress fentanyl ups the chances of a conflict between the Mexican military and the cartels.” Todd Bensman.
“It appears that Democrats, who vainly placed their faith in lawfare to keep Trump out of the White House, are now again placing their faith in lawfare to constrain him in the presidency.” Byron York.
“The US is no longer a nation of small business.” Heather Long.
“I foresee a crisis in Catholicism.” R. R. Reno.
Does Benzing need his own Mindfulness Box? Voters, take note of Wiccan Benzing’s scorn for you and your retrograde opinions!