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December 22, 2024

Shelby County – Ignorance, Misrepresentations and Lies Continue

By Kirk Allen & John Kraft

On August 22, 2022

Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

During the last Shelby County Board meeting which we first covered in this article, we sat in amazement as we listened to the comments from certain board members and one particular lie from a county employee who misrepresented the matter being discussed on a grand scale.

With the current ambulance provider in Shelbyville announcing their business closure in the area, an organized push to replace them has taken place.  As board members asked some great questions, those questions were deemed as an attempt to block ambulance services from coming into the county.

Teresa Boehm made the following misrepresentation as can be found in the video below.

“There’s a building out there like a bus garage that I think there are ambulance services that are willing to come to this area, and to sit, and try to block that is just asinine.”

The discussion at hand was in regard to a standard of care adopted by the board that was voted down during the prior committee meeting, for good reason.  The discussion had nothing to do with “blocking” ambulance services from coming to the area. In fact, blocking it opens the door to more services being able to operate in the county.

Boehm fails to understand that her motion and vote actually restricted the ability of ambulance services in the area and basically narrowed the field to one provider, Abbott Ambulance.  Even worse, by adopting a county-wide standard of care different than what IDPH and Region 6 require, they have potentially limited the operation of other ambulance providers currently in the county who do not have the “unnecessary” equipment found in what they adopted.   Rather than making it attractive to ambulance providers to come to the area, this action did the opposite and created a whole new set of problems and potential liabilities.

We must note the city of Shelbyville recognized there was no need for such an adopted standard for the very reasons referenced above and others raised by EMS personnel during the city council meeting which can be viewed at this link.

What we would consider asinine is adopting a document filled with unnecessary items which would limit competition and literally block services from coming, with one exception, Abbott Ambulance.

Why did 11 board members do what they did? Was it because of the lie told by Troy Agney, the EMA director?  Agney claimed the standard of care document board member Ohrman read from was the same requirements as Region 6, which is totally false.

We have asked multiple people as to the source of the standard of care document in question and those people have indicated that Agney has provided several sources of the document in question.

  • He prepared it
  • He got it from a bunch of stuff off the internet and information from another county
  • It came from a contract in another county
  • It came from an attorney in Effingham County

We have asked Agney several questions including why he would claim the standard of care document in question as being the same as Region 6 when in fact it was not the same as he claimed. We also inquired about his employment history with Abbott.  At the time of this publication, he has not responded to our inquiry.

When a county chairman defaults to the input of their EMA Director, one would expect him to be truthful about the matter as people vote based on input provided. When such input is false, uninformed votes are cast.  When such information is false, red flags are raised.

Why is Agney sitting with Abbott at the last two county board meetings and at the city council meeting?  In the case of the city council meeting, Agney met with the Abbott employee out front in advance of the meeting.  We ask these questions because ambulance operations and contracts with the city and county have nothing to do with County EMA duties and responsibilities.  It appears as if Agney has injected himself into the matter for reasons unknown at this time.

What we do know about the adopted standard of care is it’s almost an exact duplicate of the one put in place in Effingham County several years ago (Effingham County Ambulance Standard of Care document), when Abbott was awarded a contract to operate there.  Abbott no longer has that contract in Effingham yet not a single question was raised on that point.  Were there issues in Effingham County that Shelby County needs to be made aware of?  How many are aware of the legal challenges Effingham County faced from another provider when they awarded Abbott the ambulance contract for services?  The county tried, unsuccessfully, to block other providers from providing transport services in the county.

One thing is for sure, what the county adopted needs to be rescinded as it is not needed and only serves the purpose of limiting future agencies from operating in the county and creates a whole new set of problems and potential legal challenges.

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4 Comments
  • Cindy
    Posted at 12:16h, 23 August

    I’m starting to believe as Droopy does that this is on purpose. Something is hugely fishy here. It is just impossible that that many morons are in charge.

    • Droopy: Master Sergeant
      Posted at 16:18h, 23 August

      Cindy, a board member asked to hear from Abbott in the meeting but one of the rhino republicans (who lost his agenda in committee) wanted Troy to speak. Troy has nothing to do with this other than funnel money.

      To Harry I would say, those running for the board know what the pay will be. For those who chose to educate themselves, money is not the issue. It is about servant leadership. Sadly the many that refused to cut the board in half so that it could function, they chose not to seek re-election. They chose to try to sink the ship instead of consider all the good people of the county who have been stolen from, lied to and flat out cramped on.
      Hopefully, taxpayers vote for people who want what’s best for Shelby County. LEGAL!! FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE!!!

  • Harry A Jackson II
    Posted at 11:12h, 23 August

    I’m not so sure as Master Sgt is above, that the boards weakness is that they care only about power and control. My GUT feeling is that it’s simply more about the fact that being on the County Board, is a very low paying activity, and such that putting in the considerable time and effort to educate and prepare themselves for their duties, is just not WORTH it. I may sound like I’m making excuses for the County Board members, and to some degree, I am, but I hope to do so while also recognizing that it is also true, that for SOME, it certainly may be about EGO, and a PERCEIVED power they feel they are granted and to an extent, bestowed from those that empower such.

    I moved here 8 years ago…as a step toward retirement, hoping for a peaceful community that revolves largely around the Lake…which I think in a significant way, it should…as well as farming and the retail/service industry. What the hell is going on? Why has our society devolved into a WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME society, vs. what can we all do even if it takes a bit of compromise, to make this community work together…even when we have our differences of opinion and philosophical differences. Where, in your life has everything always been without compromise? At your home, perhaps? In your micro-community? This is about an entire COUNTY. The sole focus should be, I would think, to make the entire county, as nice and peaceful place to live as we can. For most of us, 20 years is about as long as we have left. Can we put down our insistence that it be OUR WAY, for the greater good? To create a County that’s goodness is something that spreads to other counties…a BEACON of CHANGE, and working together…TOGETHER.

    It’s sad that we just missed the opportunity to reduce the enormous number of board members (look around, we have more per capita that nearly EVERY COUNTY BOARD in the State) down to perhaps, 11. It will increase the ability to come to agreements, which is what we need. Maybe we could double the salary (if you will) of the board members, so that PERHAPS they may feel better compensated for and encouraged to, put in the enormous amount of time it requires to read and understand the many RULES the board is required to follow, so in the future it does not become more fuel for Edgar County Watchdogs to fan the flames of dissent, or if and when someone inadvertently and unknowingly makes a mistake when offering a solution, or making a simple comment. I LVE LIVING HERE…and I like many of the people….there are A LOT of good people here, but there are also a lot of good people who are getting caught up in POLITICS that have become us in the last 15 years or so, and thus moving farther and farther away from being GOOD PEOPLE who we all want to stop and talk to, or sit and talk to over a meal, or at an event.

    Sorry, for my rambling…and please disregard any typos, I type with 2 fingers and rarely look up.

    Have a GREAT DAY folks. See you around (often at one of the areas fine restaurants (any that know me, know I don’t miss many, if any, meals) See you on the Lake, See you playing pool at an APA event, see you in a parade, or at a fundraiser. Put in the effort, if you want this to be a great place to live, retire, and to die…PEACE

  • Droopy: Master Sergeant
    Posted at 05:17h, 23 August

    Sadly the majority on this board care only about power and control. They are too prideful to truly educate themselves and work for the people. The tribalism is disgusting. It will all be exposed and majority will be gone. Votes matter.

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