In 2018 Mohave County got $3,646,670 for 6,421,734 acres of BLM land.

LMRFD got NOTHING.

https://www.nbc.gov/pilt/counties.cfm?term=county&state_code=AZ&fiscal_yr=2018&Search.x=43&Search.y=16

That's how much those bastards care about us.

I actually visited the BOS offices recently.  They work in style.  You'd never guess that they're in charge of one of the poorest counties.

https://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2019/05/16/how-could-lmrfd-chief-tony-demaio-not-notice-24000-payroll-fraud/

The criminal investigation just started and I hope they'll have a hard look at DeMaio!

Incredibly, DeMaio could NOT prepare an equipment replacement schedule.

Ellen Reh-Bower prepared the schedule FOR him, discussed with the chief during a board meeting equipment, cost and life expectancy. 

Ellen volunteered HER time because chief DeMaio is THAT incompetent. 

We need to know what really happened.

WHAT did he sell?
WHO did he sell to?
HOW MUCH did he sell the assets for?

I've heard many times that Flynn ripped the district off and sold assets cheap to his buddies.   Since he did NOT respond to my request for the listing I can only assume that the rumors are true.

We all DO know that he recommended attorney Bill Whittington, who promptly made LMRFD his personal cash cow.

Flynn also had hired accountant Gabe and recommended that LMRFD retain those services.  Gabe is a nice guy, but we cannot get ANY reports on how profitable (or not) our ambulance runs are.

LMRFD is in BAD shape, Meadview has practically no services and the LMRFD board is in utter disarray with no plan whatsoever to bring the badly needed MEDICAL services to Dolan Springs and Meadview.

There is NO hope for LMRFD if we can't even get records from Flynn, who got paid almost $7,000/month to "administer" the district while it was insolvent.

We need ACCOUNTABILITY and an ACCURATE HISTORY.

I am certain that we would ALL be much better off if LMRFD had been DISSOLVED.

http://www.mohavedailynews.com.....99492.html

Obviously, don't vote for that sexual predator!

Here's the relevant excerpt relating to chief DeMaio:

...

Bryan Whitney said that Gordon was fired by the Whitney law firm after working there for several months. Gordon was fired for several issues including professionalism, legal knowledge, work ethic, insubordination, inability to handle a minimal caseload and tardiness, Whitney said.

 

According to Whitney, the main reason Gordon was fired was because he was allegedly engaging in “sexually harassing” behavior with his staff. Another agency that his law firm worked with also reported that Gordon was allegedly “sexually harassing their staff members” and behaved inappropriately.

“We were told that he could no longer be in or around that agency which made it impossible to continue to employ him since we are in or around that agency all the time,” Whiteny said.  “Obviously, the behaviors in our office and outside our office were cause for immediate termination and that is the action we took.”

Gordon worked at the Whitney law firm from Oct. 10, 2017, until he was fired June 6.

No charges have been filed against Gordon.

Gordon was also reportedly fired from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, accordin to Whitney. 

 

Gordon told Whitney that he was not given a reason but believed he may have made inappropriate comments about a mother involved in a court case in front of other female staff members, Whitney said. 

AGO Communications Division Chief Ryan Anderson confirmed Gordon’s employment through July 10, 2017 but said he could not comment further without pulling his personnel file.

...

It is SO important that there is a RECORD of professionals that are fired. 

I hope we'll find out why Gordon was fired from the AG's office and whether / why DeMaio and Jackson were fired from the Golden Valley fire district. 

After all, it is makes NO sense for DeMaio and Jackson to want to work in Dolan Springs when they live in Golden Valley / Kingman.

SOMETHING must have happened!

• ANOTHER issue:  the ongoing debate over ambulance and fire billing, collections and lawsuits.

It's been discussed many times that LMRFD was not billing for refusals etc.  Ellen finally convinced the chief to bill for everything, as required by state law.  Of course that "required by state law" is very odd because even SMALL Arizona fire districts like Rio Rico provide not just ambulance service, but general medical care to the residents FREE OF CHARGE:

https://forum.highdesertdirt.com/mohave/arizona-community-paramedicine/

My comments on Community Paramedicine:

https://forum.highdesertdirt.com/mohave/arizona-community-paramedicine/community-paramedicine-how-it-works/

After reading the LMRFD billing policy, I realize that I can't afford these ambulance rides for THOUSANDS of dollars.

https://lmrfd.org/operational#1954f38a-6c5c-40cc-a424-a24133204a5e

The pdf: 2018-9-18-LMRFD-ambulance-billing-policy.pdf

I better start putting up some signs around my place:

NEVER CALL 911 UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR THE AMBULANCE.

I don't want bill collectors harassing me and getting a judgment against me because I made the bad choice of moving to Meadview. 

Quite frankly, I'd rather die.

My questions:

• Someone is injured.  Will I be billed if I call 911?
  Does it matter whether that person is at my property or off my property?
• How can I ensure that nobody ever calls 911 for me?
  I could have an accident, pass out in the heat ...   How do I protect myself from this HUGE bill?
• How much can someone in Meadview expect to pay for a transport to Kingman with no insurance?
• How much is billed to residents on Medicare?
• How much is billed to residents on AHCCCS?
• How much is billed to residents covered by VA?

LMRFD is doing so poorly because NOBODY has the vision and compassion to bring free routine medical care into our so underserved rural communities.

Apparently nobody in this County understands how business works and that a fire district is no different from any other business.

When you pay HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars for medical equipment, you have to USE it!

On average, LMRFD gets around 50 - 60 calls a month.  That's less than 2 calls a day and includes both the Meadview and Dolan stations.

While $12/hr doesn't seem like a lot of money to pay paramedics, they work 48 hour shifts, make $576 and get benefits.   And then they have 5 days off and I heard that some of the LMRFD employees also work for other fire districts!

• Chief DeMaio FAILED to figure out how to turn LMRFD around by getting more business. 

Paramedics could get paid MORE because they'd actually be WORKING much of the day.

We already documented that an 80+ year old man refused transport to the hospital after a fall because he didn't have the extra cash for the $300 cab ride home from the hospital. 

We have many residents living on minimal social security or disability income and this billing policy is so wrong.

Unsurprisingly, many residents move away as soon as they're diagnosed with some illness.

And I forgot to list chief DeMayo's refusal to comply with Open Meeting laws.

So now that there's finally a semi functioning website, there are hardly any minutes:

There are actually FEWER approved minutes than DRAFT minutes!

Not to mention that the administrative assistant Karen Jackson either incompetently or deliberately omitted a number of issues discussed at the August board meeting:

https://forum.highdesertdirt.com/mohave/2018-august/items-omitted-from-the-lmrfd-draft-minutes/

Incompetence or conspiracy / collusion?

At the 8/18 meeting DeMaio informed the board that "the Phillips monitors are going out of service, altogether."  The four heart monitors have to be replaced and a special discounted price of $135,712.33 was available for a SHORT time. NO alternatives were presented.  No funds were budgeted to replace the monitors.  Do we really need FOUR heart monitors?  What's next, chief DeMayo?

https://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2016/03/18/camille-mcdowell-perished-in-deadly-meadview-mobile-home-fire/

I told him about it after a town hall meeting in Dolan Springs, but I did not want to burden the new chief with a formal complaint as he was just starting out.  But after over two years of chief DeMaio's DISRESPECT not just for me, but for the residents in general, it's time to find someone who actually cares about the people here.

So here is my list and I'll be updating as I remember more issues:

• Chief DeMayo DISRESPECTS the residents. 
   
  Countless times have I heard that LMRFD does not HAVE to provide a subscription button at the LMRFD.org website and that they comply with the law.  I should take this up with the legislature as it is not appropriate to require residents to make daily 20 mile trips just to see if the post office has a notice about a meeting date/time change.
  Of course, this really shows DeMayo's mindset.  He does NOT want the residents to show up for meetings.
• Chief DeMayo REFUSES to fire his incompetent administrative assistant Karen Jackson and even allowed her to work from home.
  
  I have wondered at the blog several times whether he is the father of Karen's baby or whether he is being blackmailed.   I have attended almost all board meetings, yet have NO idea why he refuses to fire Karen.
• Chief DeMayo cannot attract volunteers.
   
  In 2008, Meadview had a thriving volunteer fire district and they kicked ass! 
• Chief DeMayo failed to provide the fire district reports I requested and paid for.

  My checks were not cashed and I never got the reports.

The SETTLEMENT figures for AHCCCS and Medicare are DEDUCTED from the revenue, so apparently that's what does NOT get paid by AHCCCS and Medicare.

Our total Revenue was $788K and $304K were DISCOUNTS to AHCCCS and Medicare.  That brings the revenue to $484K.

And then there was another $129K in bad debt.

It looks to me like Gabe just fudges the numbers to get close to zero.

Check out the 2013 report -- INCREDIBLY DIFFERENT FIGURES!

Total Revenue: $924K, discounts were only $253K, adjusted revenue $671k.  Bad debt only $9K!  But so many expenses, $198K LOSS!

2014 report:

Total Revenue: $558K, discounts were $192K, adjusted revenue $367K.  Bad debt $91K and ZERO profit / loss.

This report is 35 pages and has all sort of detailed info, but very hard to comprehend.  Some pages are blank, many pages are forms that are NOT filled out.  Can anyone find who submitted this report?

We have absolutely NO idea which ambulance bills get paid and how much servicing 93 and tourists actually costs the people in the district.  

I have asked for itemized ambulance billing so we can have a discussion based on FACTS (as opposed to tourist bashing), Rick Sherwood asked for ambulance billing records during his short stint as a board member -- nobody ever got anything.

It really makes me wonder whether there is some embezzling going on.  The board members aren't even allowed to look at Quickbooks.

We are WEST and there's all sorts of great info.

lake-mohave-ranchos-arcr-2017.pdf

lake-mohave-ranchos-arcr-2016.pdf

Lake-Mohave-Ranchos-ARCR-2015-1.pdf

Lake-Mohave-Ranchos-Fire-Dept-ARCR-2014.pdf

Lake-Mohave-Ranchos-Fire-District-ARCR-2013.pdf

Why are so few districts listed?  Nothing from LMRFD or any district up here.

Here is Rio Verde's filing:

rio-verde-fire-district-arcr-2017.pdf

MUCH less revenue at $167K and MUCH higher expenses, salaries $398K

Local Supportive Funding:  $290K

Eat THAT, LMRFD!

It looks like it was prepared to end up with a very small income.

Looking at these screenshots, I wonder what all the complaints about bad debt are about. 

It's NOT supposed to be a profitable corporation. 

And it certainly does NOT indicate that 93 and tourists are a problem or that the CON area ought to be smaller.

However, considering that MOST calls are medical, why isn't a much higher percentage allocated to personnel?

Why is none of the $128k in managerial cost allocated to ambulance?

It would be good to have the actual complete documents.

Is the Ambulance Service Operating Revenue filed with the AZ DHS?