Residents and employees press Solano County over staffing, pay and an ambulance RFP designation

At the Solano County Board of Supervisors meeting, public commenters urged the board to address pay and staffing shortfalls and a caller raised a technical procurement concern about an ambulance request for proposals.

Amber Searcy, a nurse at the Family Health Services Clinic, told the board she and her co-workers struggle with high living costs and urged the board to approve a contract increase that will make a financial difference. "We pray that the board of supervisors realize how much the economy has impacted our lives," Searcy said, citing higher grocery, rent and utility costs.

Jennifer LaRiviere, a librarian with SCIU at the Springstown Library, said county services are strained by what she called "bad faith bargaining and chronic understaffing," and listed effects including longer dispatch times and reduced staffing in social services and mental-health programs. "Our demand is that you protect public services and protect the workers and stand with Solano for all," LaRiviere said.

A caller, James Pearson, raised a technical question about a change in the designated contracting agency for an ambulance services procurement. Pearson said the RFP requires proposers to acknowledge any written addenda and asked how bidders who already submitted responses could comply if the designation changes now. "All the RFPs have been submitted. So there's no possible way for bidders to acknowledge that," he said, asking the board to allow 60 to 90 days for the process to play out before final contract action.

County legal counsel Carrie Blacklock responded that staff had consulted the state and characterized the change as a designation or "name change," not a substantive change to terms, conditions or obligations that would affect fairness of the competitive process. "This is literally a name change... there's no impact to the fairness or integrity of the process," Blacklock said, adding that the county would notify the state officially and include notice as part of the addendum process.

The exchange did not result in an immediate policy decision in open session. Counsel said staff would provide official notice to the California EMS Authority and that the change would not alter contract terms already proposed, while the caller asked for additional time to ensure proposers are not disadvantaged.

The board did not take a public vote on procurement timing during the meeting; counsel's statement and staff follow-up were the principal outcomes recorded in the public record.

The board should expect any procedural follow-up to be recorded on the consent calendar or in future staff reports.