Director Bonner to retire in July; authority debates hiring committee, qualifications and timeline

Director Bonner told the Ambulance Authority on June 18 that he intends to retire at the end of July, prompting an extended discussion about how the board should select his successor.

"It is my intent to retire end of July," Director Bonner (S3) said, and he asked the board to decide how it wanted to proceed with selecting a replacement. Several board members thanked Bonner for more than a decade of service and described the job as a public position that should generally be handled transparently.

Members debated two main approaches: the full ambulance authority conducting interviews in public as a quorum, or a smaller screening committee that could narrow a large applicant pool and deliver a short list to the full board for public interviews. Board member (S4) said a committee can be useful if there are many applicants, while Board member (S2) cautioned about optics and fairness and urged HR participation. Multiple members said Human Resources should prepare and provide the current job description and advise on posting timelines; Heather (HR) was asked to send the board the current description by email for review.

The board discussed timing and public‑records rules. Director Bonner and others noted county rules may limit when the opening can be posted; Bonner said he did not think the county could post the opening until he departed. Members also discussed minimum qualifications — whether to require a bachelor's or master’s degree, or to specify paramedic certification versus advanced EMT — and how those choices would affect applicant pools and internal morale.

Operational context from Bonner’s report framed the discussion: he told the board the service is short of five medics to fill ideal staffing, that one ambulance is currently on order, and that older vehicles are generating higher maintenance costs. Bonner also summarized a recent large event response: at Bonnaroo, the service reported 34 transports (three by air), triage counts of 21 green, 8 yellow and 5 red, and zero fatalities, and he noted the service staffed the event with its own personnel this year.

Next steps the board agreed on at the meeting included asking HR to distribute the current job description for review, considering a subcommittee to narrow applicants if the pool is large, and developing minimum‑qualification criteria ahead of posting. Members mentioned tentative July meeting dates (July 3 and July 16) for follow‑up; no formal hiring timeline was set in the meeting.