Pingrey says vehicles don’t last long on a dealer lot and he felt it necessary to take action immediately to lock in the replacement. Chair, Gene Meiners, says he had a conversation with County Attorney, John Werden, who reported there was nothing remiss in the way bids were sought, but that it needed to be discussed in an open meeting and made part of the permanent record. Rich Ruggles did some research on the questions Schettler had raised.
Stephanie Hausman agrees with Schettler about communication, but says emergencies are beyond their control, they can only learn from this and it was good to hear the deputy was not injured. Meiners adds he would like to see the Sheriff’s Office be in a position to have a spare vehicle on hand for just such circumstances. Not only would this allow them to live up to their obligations without interruption, it would provide more time to get a replacement vehicle ordered and into use. Pingrey says the insurance company provided a check for $14,