Despite the recommendation of the county mayor, the Overton County Commission voted against Chris Masiongale’s appointment as EMS director Monday night.
Masiongale, who also serves as 911 Director, has served as interim EMS director for the past year. Barlow said he received eleven letters of support for Masiongale from the county’s EMS employees.
“I went to every employee which life is being messed with and I asked their opinion,” Barlow said. “I went to the state level, asked their opinion, I went to the EMS director association their opinion, and every one of them recommended Chris.”
Multiple commissioners said last month they believed the county needed a separate person in both the EMS Director and 911 Director roles. Commissioner Donna Savage said the letters of support for Masiongale could have come from a conflict of interest. Savage said she questioned whether any other reports were not entirely in his favor. Savage said it was important to consider multiple perspectives before making a decision.
“It could be a conflict of interest that these people who work for an acting director is in fact asked to give these statements,” Savage said. “Because if they said hey no, the repercussions might be quite great.”
Commissioner Darwin Clark said there are still too many unanswered questions with Masiongale holding both roles.
“The only information we got in the packet is the letter of recommendation from you (Barlow) which doesn’t detail how much Mr. Chris is going to work at EMS,” Clark said. “What his hours are going to be, where the savings are going, are they going back into the general fund or back into EMS?”
Commissioner Patrick McCurdy said he supported Masiongale holding both positions. McCurdy said he was concerned about hiring outside sources, as it reflects on the county.
“People say we should hire out from Nashville, or maybe out of state or whatever else. What does that tell the people who work there for twenty years, fifteen years, five years to think they have a future if they can’t go up the ranks and be hired,” McCurdy said. “I think it’s sending a signal, hey we don’t have a future here because when we get to that point, we’re gonna get someone else from the outside.”
Barlow said Masiongale was willing to take a pay cut for holding two positions and allocate the excess funds to county projects.
In other business, the Ambulance Service has been authorized to apply for two grants and EMS training through the State of Tennessee. A new traffic signal modernization grant was also approved. Part of Highway 52 will be dedicated as John Turnbull Highway.
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