A lawyer’s review of Valley Emergency Medical Services (VEMS) still isn’t complete, elected officials said Thursday.
The Valley Council of Governments (Valley COG) asked lawyer Thomas Welch in April to review the regional paramedic service’s “practices and procedures” after a VEMS vehicle was involved in an out-of-state highway accident.
The vehicle was being used on a personal trip, which raised eyebrows with some Valley leaders. VEMS leaders had said the vehicle was new and needed to accumulate mileage before being put into use.
Derby leaders, including Mayor Anthony Staffieri, have questioned whether the organization’s board of directors is accountable to the towns served by the organization.
Valley COG — made up of the top elected officials from Ansonia, Derby, Seymour and Shelton — specifically asked Welch to review:
- The VEMS bylaws, and weigh in on whether there are ways to improve the structure of the organization.
- Whether there are any conflicts of interest on the board.
- An accident summary report the VEMS Board of Directors presented after the out-of-state accident.
A discussion on Welch’s report was supposed to happen at Thursday’s Valley COG meeting — but it didn’t happen.
Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe, who serves at the Valley COG chairman, said Welch still has to interview a few more people. A discussion on Welch’s report could happen at Valley COG’s October meeting.
The video above is from last June and shows Welch talking about his review.
VEMS Executive Director Robert Pettinella said Thursday that so far he has been interviewed by Welch, along with the accounting firm that audits VEMS financial records.
Pettinella said Welch has also interviewed several VEMS leaders, including Noreen McGorty, Jared Heon and Jerry Schwab.
“Quite frankly, from what I got out of attorney Welch, it was all very positive,” Pettinella said.
Pettinella said he’ll attend the next Valley COG meeting. He said any questions about how VEMS operates have been driven by “politics at its best.”
“There’s nothing there to hide,” he said.
Past Developments
In January, the mayors of Ansonia, Derby and Shelton, as well as the First Selectman from Seymour, held a pow-wow with VEMS leaders to question them on the out-of-state highway crash and the initial VEMS review of what happened.
In March, the Valley COG board voted to have its attorney research VEMS and report back to them.
Then, last April, Valley COG detailed their concerns for Welch, so he knew what areas of VEMS to research.
“I think the biggest concern for me was that it seemed like the executive director was not running the operation,” Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller said at the time. “If you’re hiring a professional to run your operation, that person should be able to do so.”
Staffieri, Derby’s mayor, said he wanted to find out if any conflicts of interest exist within the organization.
Previous Stories
Valley COG Directs Lawyer on VEMS Review
Valley Leaders Launch Review of VEMS
Valley Leaders Put VEMS On The Hot Seat
VEMS Director: Board Needs To Be Gutted
VEMS Report Raises Questions About Vehicle Crash
