BROCKTON, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Brockton paramedics are fighting for their jobs. They rallied Monday outside City Hall as questions still swirl around the mayor's decision to dump the city's existing ambulance provider for a new one.
Paramedics say they rallied today because they don't understand why they're about to lose their jobs.
"If this isn't broken, why fix it?" said AMR paramedic Stacy Horte.
The Brockton paramedics say the mayor's decision left them fighting for their jobs.
"I just want to know why the mayor decided to push away 33 years of experience," Justin Bois said.
As FOX25 first reported in May, Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter awarded the city's lucrative ambulance contract to a new company, Brewster Ambulance.
AMR, the company that served the city for decades, loses the contract in July.
"The city has complete discretion in terms of awarding the contract for ambulance service," Mayor Carpenter said.
But Mayor Carpenter told FOX25 he opened the contract to a bids and assembled a three-person review committee for transparency.
Three companies submitted proposals: AMR, Action EMS, and Brewster Ambulance.
Public records request revealed Brewster won despite the review committee's recommendation.
The score sheet from one committee member ranked Action EMS and Brewster as advantageous. They ranked AMR highly advantageous.
On April 15, the committee submitted a letter to the mayor's office recommending Brockton maintain AMR as its provider.
But emails reveal the mayor asked the committee to meet with Brewster again. After that meeting, two of the three committee members changed their recommendation to AMR or Brewster.
Citing safety concerns, Fire Chief Michael Williams maintained support for AMR.
"The new five-year agreement will bring the city of Brockton a million dollars in additional revenue," Mayor Carpenter said.
Some concerned residents told FOX25 they believe the mayor's decision was weighted by campaign contributions.
Between November and December of 2014 the owner of Brewster Ambulance ..And five family members made $500 contributions to the mayor.
Five other $500 donors were Brewster Ambulance employees.
Mayor Carpenter told FOX25 last week that he never solicited any campaign contributions and that they did not influence his decision.
The mayor's office did want to speak on camera Monday, but the city's legal office said it's important to remember that the way the city set up the bidding process, the ambulance contract was the mayor's decision all along.
AMR employee Stacy Horte said she thinks they can win their contract back.