Referendum? What referendum?! or Moco EMS fee is back

[Skins_Brew]

All i can say is how in the F can this guy even think about trying to bring this back? Does Ike suffer from memory loss??

http://www.gazette.net/article/20120...mplate=gazette

You can read his letter to the county council here..

http://ht.ly/agCHO

I need to GTFO of Moco......

[wizzer368]

It's not a bad idea it just gets the money from the insurance company that's there for transports. We bill where I work and it has no effect on care of you can or can't pay that's for the billing to figure out my job is to get you to the hospital

[Punch84]

Typical politics. Instead of making due with what they have, let's just find the money some where else. The answer will never be to cut only increase.

[Skins_Brew]

I am more pissed that leggett is completely disregarding a referendum and trying to push this through.

[swinokur]

I was an active volunteer in the 70's. The original reason IMO was to try and take control of Mo Co Fire Rescue from the volunteers.

It's about control and money.

[mayor_quimby]

So Leggett, who fought in 2010 to sway voters in favor of the ambulance fee, asked council yet again to implement the fee, saying that emergency services to residents would be impaired if the program was not established immediately.

Maybe I missed something....How does this tax impair emergency services when they want to use the money generated for teachers pensions? What does one have to do with the other ?

[MJD438]

Originally Posted by mayor_quimby

Maybe I missed something....How does this tax impair emergency services when they want to use the money generated for teachers pensions? What does one have to do with the other ?

Nothing more than Ike's favorite threat, which consistently seems to follow the mantra of "if I don't get my way, I am going to threaten to decimate the payrolls of the public safety community" (a hypothetical quote, not a direct quote from Ike Leggett).

[Doodads]

Hey Ike,

I have a novel idea. Why don't you try to reduce spending?

1. You could stop giving in-county tuition at Montgomery College and free services to illegals.

2. You could stop the take-home car program for county employees (including yourself).

2. You could stop what seems to be overtime abuse by some county employees.

That's just a start, Ike. Take the ball and run with it!!

[tsmith1499]

The biggest problem with this is that the money DOES NOT go back into the EMS service. IF you read the documents carefully like we did the last time it was defeated the money goes into the general fund. Which means Ike can do whatever the hell he wants to with it. Like remodel his crapper again!!! Leggett is a lieing POS. Like most politicians he talked a good game in the beginning to get elected and then turned on almost EVERY SINGLE GROUP that voted for him. Ask the local farmers what they think of him.

[WatTyler]

Leggett doesn't push anything that Leggett doesn't get a piece of.
If you look up "Graft" in the dictionary, you don't see his picture. But if you use the online version - yep - there he is.

[mpdc4511]

Most places actually have this and I wouldn't be opposed as long as the money goes back to ems or teachers but the general fund, no way.

Dc billed me 500 for my ambulance ride when I got stitches chasing someone. Obviously work paid for it but your insurance will take care of it.

[MJD438]

Originally Posted by mpdc4511

Most places actually have this and I wouldn't be opposed as long as the money goes back to ems or teachers but the general fund, no way.

Dc billed me 500 for my ambulance ride when I got stitches chasing someone. Obviously work paid for it but your insurance will take care of it.

This was the basis for most of the displeasure and lack of support for this from the volunteer public safety community every time the issue has raised its head. The fact that the language has, in every iteration, been placing the funds received in the general fund and not applying them to public safety (while Leggett has always threatened public safety funding whenever anyone complains about that fact) was one of several major concerns with the language of the proposals.

The language around post-billing to the consumer after insurance coverage was applied has also been very loose and subject to interpretation - it was never worded, to my recollection, to specifically state that the consumer would not be billed post-insurance in the proposed law, only in the non-binding PR statements from Leggett's office about how it would be implemented. Based on prior actions of this County Executive, many in the volunteer public safety community have taken a brazen stand against the legislation. Of course, the fact that Leggett is trying to backdoor the results of the referendum is nothing unexpected.

[mpdc4511]

Originally Posted by MJD438

This was the basis for most of the displeasure and lack of support for this from the volunteer public safety community every time the issue has raised its head. The fact that the language has, in every iteration, been placing the funds received in the general fund and not applying them to public safety (while Leggett has always threatened public safety funding whenever anyone complains about that fact) was one of several major concerns with the language of the proposals.

The language around post-billing to the consumer after insurance coverage was applied has also been very loose and subject to interpretation - it was never worded, to my recollection, to specifically state that the consumer would not be billed post-insurance in the proposed law, only in the non-binding PR statements from Leggett's office about how it would be implemented. Based on prior actions of this County Executive, many in the volunteer public safety community have taken a brazen stand against the legislation. Of course, the fact that Leggett is trying to backdoor the results of the referendum is nothing unexpected.

My brother is actually a moco batalliton chief and I was under the impression the volunteers hated this because of the fear that people would donate less to them under the impression they were paying more for the service. I know the volunteers rely and solicit heavily for donations to keep them afloat. I see that you mentioned the wording was always quirky and didn't specify if the citizens would pay on the back end but I was also under the impression that this was a insurance picks up the tab kind of deal.

If that's exactly what you said in different terms then my apologies.

[MJD438]

Originally Posted by mpdc4511

My brother is actually a moco batalliton chief and I was under the impression the volunteers hated this because of the fear that people would donate less to them under the impression they were paying more for the service. I know the volunteers rely and solicit heavily for donations to keep them afloat. I see that you mentioned the wording was always quirky and didn't specify if the citizens would pay on the back end but I was also under the impression that this was a insurance picks up the tab kind of deal.

If that's exactly what you said in different terms then my apologies.

Donations were/are a large concern for the volly community as well, but many of us focused more on the overall scheme when voicing our individual complaints (I know MCVFRS and the individual fire/rescue companies took advantage of both positions and tactics in their complaints and attempts to educate the public).

The wording that I recall reading did state that insurance companies would be billed, but it did not specifically prevent MoCo from issuing a bill directly to a consumer. Since it did not specifically prevent the government from reaching out to the consumer for billing, many of us worried that the County Executive would use PR-speak to cover this. His statements (both his actual statements and released statements from his PR lackeys) made it appear that the law would be "implemented" in a manner which prevented billing to the consumer. What some of us worry about is what happens when the insurance companies are not paying enough for the services - will the County Executive's office then change the regulations to allow consumer direct billing for the remainder when the budget targets are not achieved? These concerns, combined with the fact that the monies gained do not go to support public safety or transportation funding (the two main reasons that Ike likes to use to say it is necessary) leave a bad taste in the mouths of many.

For clarity purposes - I have been a volunteer in MoCo for years, but am no longer a voting resident of the county although I have family that remains in the county. In addition, these are my personal concerns and comments and do not reflect the actual stance of my department or the MCVFRS as a whole (and the concerns of some of the other individual members of the volly community).

[mpdc4511]

Originally Posted by MJD438

Donations were/are a large concern for the volly community as well, but many of us focused more on the overall scheme when voicing our individual complaints (I know MCVFRS and the individual fire/rescue companies took advantage of both positions and tactics in their complaints and attempts to educate the public).

The wording that I recall reading did state that insurance companies would be billed, but it did not specifically prevent MoCo from issuing a bill directly to a consumer. Since it did not specifically prevent the government from reaching out to the consumer for billing, many of us worried that the County Executive would use PR-speak to cover this. His statements (both his actual statements and released statements from his PR lackeys) made it appear that the law would be "implemented" in a manner which prevented billing to the consumer. What some of us worry about is what happens when the insurance companies are not paying enough for the services - will the County Executive's office then change the regulations to allow consumer direct billing for the remainder when the budget targets are not achieved? These concerns, combined with the fact that the monies gained do not go to support public safety or transportation funding (the two main reasons that Ike likes to use to say it is necessary) leave a bad taste in the mouths of many.

For clarity purposes - I have been a volunteer in MoCo for years, but am no longer a voting resident of the county although I have family that remains in the county.

Thank you for clarification. I see the concern with the wording. I was strictly under the impression it was a donating issue.

If this is the case then why did this put a lot of volunteers against the paid guys. I was under the impression that this initive created a small divide between the two groups.

[MJD438]

Originally Posted by mpdc4511

Thank you for clarification. I see the concern with the wording. I was strictly under the impression it was a donating issue.

If this is the case then why did this put a lot of volunteers against the paid guys. I was under the impression that this initive created a small divide between the two groups.

It widened a divide that has existed for years in MoCo. The arguments at the political management level (MCFRS v. MCVFRS) are, IMO, the largest divisive force on this issue. Individual members of both sides of the equation can usually have a rational discussion about this based on conversations that I have been involved in over the years (past years, not so involved at the moment due to my day job); the corporate heads forcing the corporate speak to their respective communities, and stifling individual thought/commentary, makes it more difficult to keep emotion out of the equation.

In the IT field, we call these Layer 8 problems...

[Skins_Brew]

Wanna know what else is BS?

Ike getting the paid FF's to stand in front of polling locations with signs that say "support your firefighters, vote YES on the EMS fee."

[garyad]

Originally Posted by MJD438

Nothing more than Ike's favorite threat, which consistently seems to follow the mantra of "if I don't get my way, I am going to threaten to decimate the payrolls of the public safety community" (a hypothetical quote, not a direct quote from Ike Leggett).

Sound exactly like what we have at the state level.

[Bohlieve410]

My sister is a volunteer EMT and her and her peoples are not cool with this. Of course, this is the same guy that built a taxypayer funded $60k personal bathroom for "security reasons".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031903325.html

[Skins_Brew]

I don't know if anyone is currently "Friends" with MoCo Government on Facebook, but they have been posting a crap ton of MCFRS articles lately. I think they want MCFRS in the spotlight so will think the EMS free is critical to their existence.

I am getting a blog off the ground which is going to track Leggett's shenanighans. I am still putting it together, but I should start posting soon. http://www.leggettwatch.com