(Guthrie Center, IA) — EMS has been a hot topic in Guthrie County and since the supervisors voted to make it an essential service, it has been unclear what the next steps would be.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Supervisors had a discussion about forming two committees to decide the future of EMS towards a ballot measure potentially in November of 2026. One committee would be an actual voting committee and the other an ad hoc committee. Supervisor Brian Johnson says the committees pretty much need to start at the beginning
Supervisors Steve Smith and JD Kuster explain why there has to be two different committees
The supervisors debated on who should sit on the committees, looking at city council members, representatives of current EMS and firefighters and which committee they would serve on. Dani Fink, the county auditor, says there is no code to guide who should serve on what committee. The supervisors also wanted to make sure that every area of the county will be represented and that they would come to some decision. Johnson says he wants committee members that are impartial
Smith then mentioned what the next step would be for the supervisors
All the supervisors gave input during the meeting and all agreed that something needed to be done about EMS service in the county. No action was taken at this meeting but Chair Maggie Armstrong says more discussion and action could be taken next week.
