Last modified: Monday, April 21, 2008 1:02 AM EDT Attleboro city councilor revives paramedic debate BY GEORGE W. RHODES SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - A proposed ordinance that would require the mayor to hire only paramedics for the fire department is expected to face an amendment Tuesday. City Councilor Walter Thibodeau said he plans to offer a change that would eliminate the "paramedic only" language and impose a hiring ratio of one paramedic for every two regular firefighters. The hiring ratio would become effective after the expiration of the current civil service list and the issuance of a new one, he said. He claimed the ratio would allow enough paramedics to be hired to staff the city's two advanced life support ambulances, but would not force the city to become "top heavy" with paramedics. Bowles, the chief proponent of the current proposal, slammed Thibodeau's amendment. "It's a huge step backwards, from a public safety standpoint," he said. Bowles said it would "obliterate" efforts to increase the number of paramedics to levels that would eventually ensure that a first responder to a medical emergency anywhere in the city would be a paramedic. Public safety committee chairman George Ross will push for his own proposal, which is based on Bowles', he said. Meanwhile, the Thibodeau plan could require another public hearing because it's different than the legislation under consideration. Former city councilor Roxanne Houghton, who's pushing for more paramedics after a medical emergency at her home, also criticized the amendment. It destroys the goal of improving public safety and opens the city to "nepotism," she said. "It's irresponsible," she said. "It would stop the mayor in his tracks from hiring more paramedics. It's vague and would open the door for the hiring of relatives, which some city councilors have wanted from the beginning." She was referring to Councilor Peter Blais, who argued that the sons and daughters of current firefighters should get preference in hiring, even if they are not paramedics.