Torrance cuts ties with Gerber Ambulance, awards contract to McCormick
Minutes after the vote came in Tuesday evening, Gerber Ambulance Services founder and vice-president Rebecca Gerber stood in shock. After nearly two hours of discussion, the Torrance City Council voted to sever 20-year-old ties with Gerber, choosing to award its next emergency transportation contract to McCormick Ambulances. Emotions ran high among the more than one dozen Torrance residents speaking during public comment at the meeting and among council members struggling to make a decision. Ultimately, the vote was split, four to three, in support of the recommendation of McCormick by city staff. Mayor Pat Furey, and Councilmembers Tim Goodrich, Geoff Rizzo and Kurt Weideman voted in favor; Councilmembers Heidi Ann Ashcraft, Mike Griffiths and Gene Barnett dissented. McCormick was chosen from a pool of three potential contractors by a committee of city employees that included the Torrance Fire Department. The contract, which begins December 2, was an item of heated discussion within the community, fueled in part by an item published in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily Breeze, which linked donations made by both the ambulance company and the Torrance Firefighters Association to a…
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