HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 RESOLUTION NO. 14-27 (SPECIAL MEETING)
RESOLUTION NO. 14-27
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, REQUESTING THE CALIFORNIA
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AUTHORITY GRANT
AN EXTENSION OF ONE YEAR FOR EXISTING
AMBULANCE SERVICE EXCLUSIVE OPERATING AREAS
IN ORANGE COUNTY
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN HEREBY FINDS AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, ambulance services are provided throughout Orange County,
California within 19 existing “Exclusive Operating Areas” (EOAs) pursuant to State law
to ensure reliable and safe provision of emergency medical transportation while
maintaining anti-trust protections for the providers and the City of Tustin (“City”) and
other public agencies; and
WHEREAS, the existing EOAs are set to expire August 31, 2014; and
WHEREAS, the County of Orange Health Care Agency is preparing a draft
Request for Proposals (RFP) 9-1-1 Emergency Ambulance Transportation Services
(RFP) to be submitted for review to the California Emergency Medical Services
Authority (CalEMSA); and
WHEREAS, without an extension of the August 31, 2014 expiration date for
EOAs in Orange County, public input and the transition to new ambulance transport
providers as a result of any completed process cannot proceed in a manner that
ensures the protection of our citizens; and
WHEREAS, Tustin City staff have expressed the City’s concerns to County staff
and the Orange County Board of Supervisors that the proposed timeline of completing
the RFP process is unrealistic and impractical; and
WHEREAS, the County’s RFP process to date has provided very little
opportunity for public review or comment on the draft RFP; and
WHEREAS, due to the time constraints related to the existing expiration date,
the draft RFP was released after County staff had conducted its three public outreach
sessions regarding the RFP; and
WHEREAS, those public sessions involved no details of the RFP other than a
rather superficial discussion of consolidating the existing 19 EOAs in to 5 “jumbo”
regional areas; and
WHEREAS there was no public discussion at the public outreach sessions of
key issues such as minimum qualifications for service providers, response time
standards or other quality control and performance measures that will be used to
determine contract compliance; and
WHEREAS, the draft RFP was made public on March 27, 2014, and since the
release, only a single public forum has occurred at the County Board of Supervisors
meeting on April 1, 2014; and
WHEREAS, any written comments were required prior to April 4, 2014 in order
to meet the goal of submitting the RFP for CalEMSA review by April 10, 2014. Such
timelines do not provide sufficient time for careful deliberation, analysis and
consideration by the public or City staff of the RFP, nor by County staff of substantive
comments received, concerning a complex and vital topic of significant public concern;
and
WHEREAS, Ambulance providers will be expected to bid to serve within the
newly formed “jumbo” EOAs, which have not even been approved, in an extremely
compressed timeline; and
WHEREAS, the City is informed that in some cases review by CalEMSA of a
proposed RFP takes several months; and
WHEREAS, the County of Orange Health Care Agency staff had this timeline
thrust upon them. The determination by CalEMSA that the County could no longer
designate OCFA to conduct the RFP process has forced County staff to react in an
extremely rushed timeline, not of their choosing; and
WHEREAS, transitioning to new ambulance service providers can involve a
number of critical steps for providers, City and County staff, and for the City’s fire and
emergency services provider, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA). Such steps
are likely to include hiring staff and working with OCFA and other agencies to ensure
dispatch information can be reliably relayed to the provider’s compatible radio and
computer equipment; and
WHEREAS, the proposed timeline to make contract awards in late July or
August is not adequate enough time for new providers to begin operation on
September 1, 2014.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Tustin
that the City Council requests that a one-year extension of the existing EOAs be
provided to allow all agencies and the public the opportunity to work together to design
and implement a practical and fair RFP and ambulance service provider selection
process.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of
st
Tustin held on the 1 day of April, 2014.
__________________________
ELWYN A. MURRAY,
Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________
JEFFREY C. PARKER,
City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS
CITY OF TUSTIN )
I, Jeffrey C. Parker, City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of
Tustin, California, do hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City
Council is five; that the above and foregoing Resolution No. 14-27 was duly passed
st
and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council, held on the 1 day of April 2014
by the following vote:
COUNCILPERSONS AYES: ___________________________________
COUNCILPERSONS NOES: _____
COUNCILPERSONS ABSTAINED: _____
COUNCILPERSONS ABSENT: ____
____________________________
JEFFREY C. PARKER,
City Clerk