Residents angry, confused on ambulance vote

Rescue 2 will be repossessed. (Matthew St. Jean photo)

LEBANON - Even as selectmen were scrambling Thursday to draft a letter advising the Rescue 2 ambulance leasing company they were executing a voluntary repossession of the vehicle, social media across Lebanon blistered with frustration and ridicule over the board's confusingly worded ballot question that puts the residents' stamp of approval on its demise.

The Lebanon Voice received several emails on Thursday noting residents' disgust with the ambiguity in the question, ambiguity that was so prevalent Town Clerk Laura Bragg had to ask selectmen to draft a clarifying document several weeks ago because she was inundated prior to the election with absentee voters asking her to explain to them what the question meant and said.

Bragg said on Thursday she wanted to be sure town offices personnel were trying to explain the question in a consistent manner.

Voters overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday, 1,360-730, to prohibit selectmen from paying the town's Rescue 2 lease payments, but some who wanted to keep the ambulance unwittingly voted the wrong way, they said.

Among them was lifetime town resident Debbie Finnegan, who said she realized she voted wrong after discussing it with her husband after leaving the polls.

"We had both decided we wanted to keep the ambulance, and I asked him how he voted on the question and he said 'No' and then I realized I'd made a big mistake," she said on Thursday.

Donna and Dave Butler, who have lived in Lebanon for 40 years, also said they voted "Yes" by mistake.

"Both my husband and myself thought we were voting to keep the ambulance. Very confusing," Donna Butler wrote in an email to The Lebanon Voice.

On The Lebanon Voice Facebook page Rose Woods posted, "I believe it was confusing." She also said older folks who didn't use computers might also have been confused but would have no social media outlet to vent their frustration.

Selectmen say they brought forth the question because the Rescue Department's Enterprise Account, which is supposed to be the sole provider of Rescue funds, could not shoulder the $40,000 cost to pay the lease payment for Rescue 2, the department's newest, smoothest riding and most technologically advanced rescue vehicle.

But instead of writing a question that asked voters if they wanted to pay the $40,000 and keep the ambulance, they crafted an attorney-drafted question that covered the town's liability if townspeople voted to give it up.

The result was the confusing wording, which is steeped in legalese many residents found tough to fathom.

The question read as follows: "Shall the Town of Lebanon vote to prohibit the Town from performing its obligations under the Lease with Option to Purchase Agreement with All American Investment Group, LLC, dated December 6, 2010 for the 2010 Horton ambulance and from using any moneys to pay the Rental Payments due under said Agreement for the 2014-2015 budget year and all subsequent budget years thereafter?"

The lease agreement for Rescue 2 called for 6 annual payments of $40,000, four of which have already been made.

Much of the anger vented on Thursday was because the town is now giving up a $240,000 purchase with just two payments left. Additionally the town will have to pay $20,000 for its use of the ambulance for about half a year since the last payment was made. That means the town is just saving about $60,000 by giving up the ambulance.

The remaining ambulance, a 2004 Ford, is rough riding, has far more miles on it and is in need of major repairs and all new tires.

Residents worry that if it were to die, the town would be faced with a nearly $200,000 expenditure for a new ambulance after giving up one that was 80 percent paid for.

Tuesday's question was recommended for passage by all three selectmen - Ben Thompson, Paul Philbrick and Royce Heath - and all six of the budget committee members who voted on it the night selectmen brought them the referendum. Among the budget panel members who voted to recommend a "Yes" vote were Budget Committee chairperson Nancy Neubert, Christine Torno, Gil Gerrish, Karen Gerrish (not the former selectperson) and Tom Torno.

An email sent to Neubert on Thursday requesting the minutes of the meeting to help identify the sixth voter had not been answered as of today.

Christine Torno said on Thursday that she did vote to approve the ballot question because as a budget committee member, "There was no future budget in the works" for the ambulance.

However, Christine Torno, who works at town offices as the excise tax clerk among other duties, also candidly said she didn't believe selectmen should ever have brought the ballot question forward and that they just should have paid the $40,000 annual payment.

"They just should have paid the thing," she said on Thursday.

Christine Torno said she voted "No" on the ambulance question in hopes of retaining it.

"It would be stupid not to," she said referring to all the money paid on it so far.

The first four annual ambulance payments were paid from the town's General Fund, but were supposed to have been backed by Rescue Enterprise Account revenues, which were found to be about $200,000 in the red late last year.

Town Treasurer Jeanette Lemay said today that practice was in violation of the Enterprise Account as set up in 2010, which said no town funds would be used in the running of the Rescue Department.

Selectmen to their credit did send out a mailer based on what they put together for Bragg, but it did not contain vital information that might have better helped residents understand the ramifications of a "Yes" vote for a voluntary repossession by the lease company.

For instance, the fact that executing a voluntary repossession will likely hurt the town's credit rating was not mentioned. Neither was it mentioned that the town will have to pay $20,000 of the current $40,000 payment for use of the vehicle half the year. In addition, they don't mention that the remaining ambulance is older, balkier and has an inferior ride and equipment. The mailer also didn't spell out the fiscal reality that the town would be giving up a vehicle almost paid for with nothing to show for it.

Meanwhile, Lemay said today that if the Rescue Enterprise Account doesn't have the $20,000 necessary to pay the pro rata payment for six months use, she'll have to go to selectmen to find out where they want to take the money from. Right now, the Enterprise Account has about $6,000 in it.

For Rescue Chief Jenny Sheriff, the vote was a bitter disappointment, but she said no one was ready to abandon ship and she and her group of volunteers would continue to do the best they can with the equipment they have.

In stark contrast to the dozens of social media posts and emails expressing dismay surrounding the ambulance question and its implications for the town not one post on any social media outlet conveyed a sense that Lebanon voters had done a very smart thing.

Lebanon selectmen said they had received no comments or complaints about the ambulance vote.

To read an earlier story and see videos comparing the two ambulances click here.