SANDPOINT — Praise for Bonner County Ambulance Service District employees took center stage during a recent meeting, as Chief Jeff Lindsey and Assistant Chief Alan Brinkmeier commended staff while also addressing perceived concerns about the district’s structure.

The topic comes from Lindsey being made aware of comments made during a March 30 business meeting by Clerk Michael Rosedale and Commissioner Ron Korn, where Rosedale shared his opinion of having a separate board for the ambulance district to mitigate any conflicts of interest and make things “cleaner” all around. In making that statement, Korn agreed with Rosedale’s suggestion, citing his concern with being on the board for both the county and ambulance district.

“We have the ambulance district and Bonner County. Bonner County, right now, you are the board of both of those. It was set up that way 22 years ago, because it was one and the same, and now you are separate. And in some discussions, I’ve heard, it appears there could be a conflict of interest when it comes to property, who owes what, that type of thing,” Rosedale said in the March 31 meeting.

Korn responded: "I've always had a problem with that, turning the hat around and now representing the other entity, and how do we make good decisions? Who are we making it in the best interest of, but I thought we had a legal opinion on that, and it was similar to we'd have to disband and then recreate [the district].”

The comments concerned ambulance district employees, said Lindsey, as employees have faced a wave of uncertainty about job security since the district first found out about its financial deficit.

“I will put our ambulance service up against any other ambulance service our size,” Lindsey said. “What we do on a daily basis, and the amount of skill we have in our employees, is unreal.”

The EMS officials spoke highly of ambulance district employees, acknowledging the hardships they endured over the course of a year, when the district was unsure if it would have to cut employees due to a major budget deficit discovered in November 2024.

“I just want to give a kudos to all our guys that sit on that ambulance, day in and day out, and the stuff that they’re doing is next to none, and I’m impressed,” Brinkmeier said. “I think it was the April meeting when you guys said we’re pushing forward with what we’re doing, staying status quo. To see the change in our guys, our command structure, the sense of morale, and what they’ve done with continuing education, and just pushing through the glass ceiling of the uncertainty has been great to see.”

Lindsey and Brinkmeier emphasized the professionalism and stability of the staff, and asked the Bonner County commissioners, who also serve as the BCASD board, to formally acknowledge that the district would not be dissolved in an effort to continue the stability. 

In April 2025, commissioners and the ambulance district participated in a hearing to discuss options for the ambulance district, where the Bonner County commissioners could either remain the board for the ambulance district pursuant to Idaho Code 31-3908, or dismantle and form a new ambulance district board. The latter option would require a 25% approval from the county’s registered voters.

After the April 2025 meeting, it was decided that county commissioners would continue to be the board for the district, although no official decision was made.

“If I go tell [my employees] ‘no, we’re not going to dissolve it,’ but then they hear the county commissioners say, ‘we’re going to explore that option,’ then obviously there’s no stability there,” Lindsey said. “There’s going to be times where it’s a bucking bronco, like you said earlier, but at the end of the day, we want to be left to be able to do what we do best, and our employees know that they’re supported by the folks that are over them.”

Lindsey shared concerns about a lack of security for EMS employees, as the words “dissolving the district” have been thrown around for over a year.

Commissioners agreed to the idea of holding a discussion and making a formal decision on the district’s structure to provide further clarity at a future meeting.