Sedalia-Pettis County Emergency Medical Services Committee vows petition, funding push

The group pursuing the formation of a Pettis County Ambulance District met Wednesday to discuss the progress and plans for signature collection and fundraising campaigns.

The Sedalia-Pettis County Emergency Medical Services Committee recently began circulating petitions to put the proposal, which would seek voter authorization to establish the district with a sales tax of up to one-half of 1 percent, on the ballot for the April 2012 election.

The group needs to collect a minimum of 1,900 signatures from registered voters in the county. A proposed timeline the committee adopted earlier this year called for gathering signatures and filing the petition with the county by the end of this month.

JoAnn Martin, administrator of the Pettis County Health Center, said while the early response to the petition has been largely positive –– which she credited in part to the support from Doug Briscoe, owner of current ambulance services provider American Paramedical Services Inc. ––  the group still had much work to do to collect the necessary signatures.

The committee has scheduled petition drives from noon to 6 p.m. for each of the next two Sundays, Sept. 18 and 25, at Walmart in Sedalia.

Members also plan to collect signatures at several events coming up on Sept. 24, including the Sedalia Regional Airport’s annual breakfast and fly-in, the Queen of the Prairies Festival of the Arts in downtown Sedalia and the Green Ridge Harvest Fun Festival.

Sedalia-Pettis County Emergency Management Agency Director Dave Clippert said he believed the latest the group could file the petition would be in mid- to late-October. A public hearing on the proposal would be required between 30 and 45 days from the time the petition is filed with the county clerk’s office.

Signatures are not the only thing the committee will make a push to collect in the coming weeks and months to get the measure on the April ballot. They will also need to raise at least $20,000 to cover election costs.

The committee discussed fundraising plans that included setting up donation jars during upcoming petition drives, hosting a fundraising dinner in November, sending letters to local businesses and including a donation feature on the group’s website, sayyestoems.com, which launched Wednesday.

Some members of the committee expressed uncertainty about the prospect of raising the estimated $20,000 to $30,000 needed in time to get the measure on the ballot.

Sedalia Fire Chief Mike Ditzfeld said while there was a need for the district, he was concerned that securing donations from local businesses and residents for a tax initiative would not be an easy sell.

John Fritz, treasurer of the Campaign to Establish the Pettis County Ambulance District, said he believed fundraising efforts could find success if the group focused enthusiastically on the need to preserve ambulance services in the county.

“We’re not talking about raising money for a new swimming pool or a community center here, this is about a vital community service,” Fritz said.

If the group is unable to meet its fundraising target by the filing deadline in January, it would likely have to look to an election later in 2012 on which to place the ballot measure.

“I think we will get the signatures, but if we don’t have a minimum of $20,000 by January, we won’t be able to get this on the (April) ballot,” Clippert said.

The committee is scheduled to meet again next week for an update on the progress of petition and fundraising efforts.