Top elected officials from four Valley towns are requesting a meeting with leaders from the Valley Emergency Medical Services (VEMS).
The request comes through the Valley Council of Governments (COG), comprising First Selectmen and Mayors from Ansonia, Derby, Shelton and Seymour.
The meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m., Jan. 31 at Derby City Hall.
VEMS is a non-profit agency that provides paramedics to emergency medical calls in the lower Valley.
A message seeking comment was left Thursday afternoon with Robert Pettinella, the VEMS executive director.
Note: Pettinella returned the call Friday morning. The Valley Indy is writing a follow-up story based on his comments.
Controversy
The meeting comes on the heels of an internal controversy at VEMS after Madalene Taggart used a VEMS-owned SUV on a personal trip to Virginia.
Taggart was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a tractor-trailer on her way back to Connecticut on Dec. 21.
An internal VEMS report on the issue raises questions about the way Taggart’s son, Jerry Schwab, handled the situation.
Taggart is the treasurer of the VEMS Board of Directors. Schwab is the president of the VEMS Board of Directors.
The VEMS Board of Directors met in private Jan. 3 to discuss the incident. No disciplinary action was taken, but the organization is reviewing its vehicle-use policies.
Schwab told the Valley Independent Sentinel earlier this month his mother used the VEMS vehicle as a way to break it in since it was brand new. The vehicle needed to accumulate miles before it could be officially used as a response vehicle, Schwab said.
Derby Not Happy
The use of the vehicle — and the operation of VEMS as a whole — has been questioned by Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri, who pushed the Valley COG to hold the meeting.
Staffieri, in a statement sent to the Valley Independent Sentinel Jan. 4, called the VEMS Board of Directors a “good old boy network,” as evidenced by the handling of the car accident.
Staffieri said the parties involved in the accident should resign, or the communities that VEMS serve should “volunteer their town attorneys” to investigate the incident.
“Having an internal investigation does not satisfy me,” Staffieri said in his statement.
Prior to the vehicle controversy, the City of Derby has declined to pay its $30,000 annual contribution to VEMS, citing issues with the composition of the Board of Directors.
As of March, Derby hadn’t paid in three years.
The Meet
Staffieri’s office Thursday referred questions about the issue to Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe, who serves as Valley COG’s chairman.
Della Volpe said the Jan. 31 meeting wasn’t necessarily to talk about VEMS’ vehicle use.
Instead, the meeting is to talk, in general, about VEMS operations, Della Volpe said.
The meeting will provide local leaders to ask questions. Della Volpe said he assumed the meeting will not be held in executive session, which are closed to the public.
“We have nothing to hide,” Della Volpe said.
