With all the votes counted, the team of Karen Plummer, Tommy Ripley and Robert Pinard each earned a commissioner's seat in the May 7 race to serve on the Emergency Services District No. 11 board of commissioners.
The race included three incumbents, Plummer, Robert Berleth and Kevin Brost, and four newcomers, including Pinard, Ripley, Fred Blanton and Matt Folsom. Berleth, Brost and Folsom ran as a team as did Plummer, Pinard and Ripley. Blanton ran independently.
Plummer won with 2,301 votes, or 24.7 percent. Ripley won with 1,828 votes, or 19.6 percent. And Pinard won with 1,465 votes, or 15.7 percent.
Ripley said he is interested in pursuing inefficiencies in the budget to help lower costs and save tax dollars to help the organization function well.
“It's going to be part of our agenda, regaining the trust of the community," he said. "The community really rallied around us and made their point in the right direction."
Pinard said he ran because he believes the ESD board is broken and is concerned the problems and controversy will eventually affect patient care. He advocates for transparency.
"I would to thank everyone who voted for us," he said. "I would like to thank everyone who worked hard in getting the vote out. I want the people to know who did not vote for us, that we will show them why they should have."
Plummer said she ran for re-election to work to innovate, train and teach to guarantee the same level of service residents have come to expect, even as the area continues to expand.
"With this win, I believe the community has spoken," she said. "The ESD 11 [board of] commissioner[s] can now get back to business, as it should, to ensure our emergency medical service to our public is second to none. I am hopeful the falsehoods and accusers will cease their attacks, let us continue the master plan, which allows us to keep 'boots on the ground' and serve our residents."
ESD No. 11 contracts with Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services to provide emergency medical services to the community. The board consists of five commissioners, who are elected on a staggered schedule and serve four-year terms with no term limits.
The annual budget for Cypress Creek EMS is $22 million, of which ESD No. 11 contributes 51 percent from tax dollars, said Norm Uhl, Cypress Creek EMS public information officer. Cypress Creek EMS picks up the rest of the expenses from funds raised through ambulance fees, communications fees and tuition paid by students in the academy.
Cypress Creek EMS covers 177 square miles in north Harris County, east of Hwy. 290 to Hwy. 59, north of the Sam Houston Tollway to the Montgomery County line.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
