HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD-30-96 City Declares Intention Regarding Provision of Ambulance ServicesORDINANCE NO. 30-
96 AN URGENCY MEASURE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF ORANGE DECLARING ITS
INTENTION REGARDING THE PROVISION OF
AMBULANCE
SERVICES.WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Orange has adopted a
comprehensive Ordinance pertaining to the provision of ambulance services as set forth in Orange
Municipal Code Chapter5.35;
and WHEREAS, that Chapter established a procedure to select an ambulance
service provider that calls for a fair and impartial means for selecting responsible private operators
to provide such services;
and WHEREAS, the City Council never intended, and the Ordinance does not state or
imply,that the City or any other public agency would be precluded from providing ambulance
services in lieu of a private provider;
and WHEREAS, the City Council never intended, and the Ordinance does not state or
imply,that the City would be required to competitively bid against an existing ambulance
service provider;
and WHEREAS, the City Council does hereby wish to declare its intention that the
City Council retained the authority to provide ambulance services by using City forces, or
another government entity's services, without competitively bidding against any private operator;
and WHEREAS, litigation is now pending which threatens to disrupt the manner in
which the City Council has determined to provide ambulance services for the public health and
safety;
and WHEREAS, the City Council does therefore determine, by a four-fifths vote,
that this Urgency Ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health and
safety of the community. The City Council has previously determined that the public health and
safety of the citizens of Orange are best protected by utilization of an integrated
Emergency Medical Services Delivery System administered through the City of Orange Fire Department
The City COlmcil has further determined that the level of the Emergency Medical
Services Delivery System will be decreased if this ordinance is not passed, which may result in an
increase in exposure to risk of damage to our citizens, including loss of
Due to a disruption ofthe City's Emergency Medical Services Delivery System Due
to increased Advanced Life Support response times Due to
increased Advanced Life Support treatment times All of which
may result in lower survival rates for citizens of our community OW, THEREFORE, THE CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ORANGE HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION I:That Section
5.35.
010 of theOrange Municipal Code is amended to read:5.35.010 Intent
and Purpose. It is the intent of this Chapter to establish general operating procedures and standards
for medical transportation services operating within the City in both emergency and
other situations, to provide a fair and impartial means of allowing responsiblt: private operators to
provide such services in the public interest and to provide a means for the designation
of emergency response areas. Nothing stated herein is meant to abrogate or limit the
right of the City to provide ambulance services utilizing its own forces or the services of another
public entity and nothing herein stated is meant to require that this City or another public entity
is required to competitively bid against any private provider, either existing or proposed. Nothing
stated herein is meant to confer any vested or contract rights to any servict~ provider to
provide such services to those persons within the City of Orange on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis.
Neither the City nor any other public entity shall be required to comply with the requirements
of this chapter. Whether the City Council shall provide such services itself or by
another public entity shall be a matter within the City Council's sole and absolute discretion regarding how
the public health, safety and welfare will best be served.SECTION.1l:That section
5.35.
020 of theOrange Municipal Code is amended to add the following definition:PRIVATE OPERATOR means
an
ambulance service operator other than the City of Orange, its employees, any
special district, joint powers authority or other public entity providing ambulance transportation services.
SECTIONllI:The City Council
further
finds and declares that this section is declarative of existing law,and that no action
of the City Council taken prior to November 26, 1996, violated this section as it read, then or
now.2 Ord. No. 30-
96
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SECTION IV:
This Ordinance is intended to supersede existing provisions of the Orange Municipal
Codle to the extent those existing provisions are inconsistent.
SE.CTIONV:
Severability. If any section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this
Chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or tmconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter. The City Council hereby declares that it
would have passed this Chapter, and each section, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause and
phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that anyone (or more) section, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause or phrase had been declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION VI:
This urgency ordinance shall take effect immediately in order to protect the public health,
safety and welfare.
SE.CTION VII:
A summary of this urgency ordinance shall be published once within fifteen (15) days
after this urgency ordinance is passed, in a newspaper of general circulation, published and
circulated in the City of Orange. The City Clerk shall post in the Office of the City Clerk, a
certified copy of the full text of such adopted urgency ordinance along with the names of those
City Council members voting for and against the urgency ordinance in accordance with
Goverrunent Code 36933.
Adopted this 26th day of November, 1996.
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of the City of Orange
ATTEST:
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Ord. No. 30-96 www:
STATE OF CALIFORNIA)
COUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF ORANGE )
I, Cassandra Cathcart, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Urgency Ordinance adopted as an urgency measure was introduced, duly passed
and adopted at the regular meeting of the City Council held on the 26th day of November, 1996,
by the foUowing vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Murphy, Barrera, Coontz, Spurgeon, Slater
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
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4'auuA:~ Ih' ,7/11flAP A'X
City Clerk ofthe tlty Of Orange
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