County commissioner requests EMS board member to resign; EMS audit discussed

All parties with the Logan County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) and the Logan County Emergency Medical Services District (EMS) agreed the 2009-13 EMS audit should have been addressed before a joint meeting was held. During the public meeting, a county commissioner asked the EMS Chairman to resign his post.

Guthrie News Page has linked the complete 71 minute video at the bottom of this story.

The Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office released their most recent audit on the EMS district on Nov. 6, 2014. Inside the audit (July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2013), there were eight findings and responses.

Guthrie News Page is linking the complete audit here: Logan County EMS Audit

The finding that was heavily addressed was the inventory records (found on page 9).

Toward the end of that discussion, Barry Anderson, Chairman of the EMS board, asked District 1 County Commissioner Marven Goodman, who asked majority of the questions, “What do you want us to do?”

Goodman promptly replied, “What I want you to do is resign as chairman of the board!”

Anderson followed up by saying, “I thought that would be it. I tell you what, I will resign as chairman of the EMS board if you will resign as county commissioner.”

“I will in four years,” Goodman said who recently took the District 1 office this past January and whose term expires in 2019.

Anderson, who was just reappointed to a 5-year term with the EMS board last month by a 2-1 vote with Goodman casting the no vote, said, “Okay, I will in five years.” See video reference at 48:50.

The EMS audit has been a discussion at the past two BoCC meetings, but due to language in the agenda and the absence of EMS board members the topic did not go into full detail until the Feb. 20 joint meeting.

Re-discussion not needed on conflict of interest topic

Both the BoCC and EMS board agreed they did not need to re-discuss the conflict of interest that Goodman had concerning Anderson being on the EMS board.

Goodman, in the Jan. 30 meeting, questioned the commissioners if they were following protocol when it came to appointing boards and commissions.

Goodman said, “I’m not sure that resolution is the way this is being conducted today. I’m not sure it is appropriate for a board member to also be a member of a banking financial institution.”

In the Feb. 13 commissioner’s meeting, Asst. District Attorney and the Commissioner’s legal counsel, Lowell Barto, confirmed a state statute does allow a banker or bank officer to serve on a county board.