County EMS chief put on paid leave

SANDPOINT — Bonner County Emergency Medical Services Chief Robert Wakeley has been placed on administrative leave pending a disciplinary hearing, according to county commissioners.

“He was suspended with pay pending a hearing in early April,” Commissioner Mike Nielsen said on Tuesday.

Nielsen said he could not elaborate because it is a personnel matter.

“I can’t comment,” Wakeley said on Tuesday.

Wakeley was hired in 2009 with an annual salary of $52,000.

Wakeley is credited with bringing relative stability and accountability to the department, which had a high turnover rate.

In the year preceding his hiring, a Sandpoint councilman warned commissioners that the county’s three-year-old EMS system was beset with problems that were jeopardizing public safety. The alleged problems involved substantial narcotics-control issues, inadequate medical direction and a faltering relationship with Bonner General Hospital.

Wakeley, however, appeared to turn the battleship around after he was hired, although there was still some periodic internal and political strife.

The department’s deputy chief and three lieutenants resigned their managerial duties in 2010 due to a lack of confidence in Wakeley, whom they accused of being egotistical and difficult to work with.

Some viewed it as an attempted mutiny that was meant to convince commissioners to withdraw their support for Wakeley.

But commissioners stood behind Wakeley and went on to take the extraordinary step of publicly defending him when the walkouts filed suit in U.S. District Court in 2012. County officials typically never candidly speak publicly amid pending litigation.

The suit was dismissed last year with prejudice and without costs or attorney fees being awarded to either party, federal court records show.

Wakeley also drew criticism from the city when an agreement was brokered to station a county ambulance with the Sandpoint Fire Department. Wakeley’s critics contended he used the improved response times in the city to justify moving the EMS headquarters from Kootenai to Sandpoint.

County workers who face disciplinary action, such as suspension or termination of employment, are given an opportunity to rebut the allegations against them. The hearings, however, are held behind closed doors.