Two aldermen and a member of the city fire board are voicing concerns, and more so anger, about a meeting of two other aldermen, a former alderman and a new fire board member at city hall this past Saturday morning.
In conference room M-24 across the hall from the mayor’s office, Common Council president Kathryn Fogle, 1st Ward Alderman John Craig, former 5th Ward alderman Kristin Barnard and recently appointed fire board member Andrew Nemi were gathered to discuss the Lockport Fire Department-run ambulance transport service and its costs.
Current 5th Ward Alderman Margaret Lupo discovered the group when she returned to city hall after working with Lockport Pride, the city-overseen community service group. Immediately, Lupo said, she called 2nd Ward Alderman Anita Mullane, who came to city hall, poked her head inside M-24 and then left.
Lupo said she stayed and learned the group was using numbers from December 2023 to parse the overall expenses and revenue of the LFD ambulance service and compare that to an offer made by the private ambulance service company Mercy EMS in December 2022.
According to year-end reporting, LFD ambulance service generated $200,000 more revenue than what the council budgeted for fiscal year 2023, Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said during the fire board’s Tuesday meeting. Budgeted revenue was $500,000 and bills paid added up to $707,000 with potentially more to come from Medicare and Medicaid.
In a letter delivered to Mayor John Lombardi III on Tuesday, fire board president Charles Morello chastised the “public officials” who met privately to discuss the city ambulance service, and suggested those officials were spreading misinformation and falsehoods.
“This lack of transparency in communication raises concerns about the inclusivity of the decision-making process and the adherence to principles of open governance,” Morello wrote.
Mullane and Lupo agreed, both saying the private meeting should not have taken place.
Craig, who is the council’s liaison to the fire board, participated in the board’s Tuesday meeting via phone. That did not discourage Quagliano from directly addressing him and the private meeting.
“I called you because I found out about (the Saturday meeting), not because you called me to inform me or ask my opinion on anything,” Quagliano said. “Honestly, I made the same phone call to President Fogle who told me she didn’t give a f- — about my opinion, and she’ll talk to whoever she wants whenever she wants.”
During the fire board meeting, Craig acknowledged he’s reluctant to sponsor a council resolution authorizing the use of contingency funding to secure repair of a downed LFD ambulance. The chairman of the council’s finance committee said he’d prefer the money comes from LFD’s budget. The repair estimate is $21,000.
“I’m not throwing it under the bus and saying not to repair the engine … if the council agrees it’ll come from the contingency, that’s where it’s coming from,” Craig said.
If Craig won’t sponsor the resolution, Mullane said, she will.
“My taxes are supposed to be for public safety and I’m not going to nickel and dime the department of $21,000.”
Fogle could not be reached Tuesday to comment on the private meeting about LFD ambulance service.
Lombardi declined to comment on that meeting, saying he had just received Morello’s letter.
New fire board member Anthony Nemi was appointed by Lombardi, effective Feb. 21, to succeed Robert Bates.