Parts of (San Bernardino) Grand Jury report could play into in $4M Fire Department cuts

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
POSTED: 11/12/13, 6:01 PM PST | UPDATED: 1 DAY AGO
SAN BERNARDINO >> Fire Chief George Avery said Tuesday he doesn’t yet have any details of a plan due Nov. 25 that must cut $4 million a year from the Fire Department’s budget, but he is “considering elements” from a report the city manager gave him that calls for completely reconsidering how fire and emergency service is delivered.

The 2010-11 Santa Clara County Grand Jury looked at the nine fire agencies in that northern California county and found that only 4 percent of the calls for service were to fires, with 70 percent being for medical service and the rest situations including rescues and hazardous materials.

“Fire departments should rethink their response protocols — which are based on an historically fire-oriented model that does not match today’s overwhelmingly medical-based demand for emergency services,” the report says. “Given that approximately 70% of calls to fire departments are reporting medical emergencies rather than fire, and that only one of every three crew members (33%) is trained to respond to medical situations and conditions, there appears to be a mismatch between service needed and service provided.”

A paramedic typically makes significantly less than a firefighter or firefighter/paramedic, while a fire engine costs five times what an ambulance does, causing unnecessary wear and tear on expensive vehicles, according to the report.

The report also suggests consolidating services from neighboring departments and reorganizing staffing so that seasons or times of day that are known to have a lower number of calls have fewer firefighters.

“In their responses to Grand Jury questions regarding firefighter staffing and salary levels, some interviewees described firefighting as ‘the best part-time job in America,’ conceding these well-rewarded firefighters wear ‘golden handcuffs,’” the report says. “Others acknowledged that firefighters are paid for ‘23 hours of sitting around for one hour of work’ because that is how ‘insurance’ works.”

Firefighters unions in Santa Clara County criticized the report, saying firefighters can respond more quickly, and no major suggestions from the report were implemented.

Scott Moss, president of the San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters, did not return a phone call.

City Manager Allen Parker, though, said the city’s financial situation requires serious changes.

“The report talks about how they (Santa Clara agencies) need to come into the 21st century, and they outlined a whole bunch of ideas that could work,” Parker said. “George has been very amenable to this, so I asked him to take a look.”

The reason for the quick turnaround is so a plan can be used in mediation with creditors, which begins Nov. 25, Parker said.

Avery said the plan was still being worked out.

“(My response to the report is) only that I am considering elements of those models as we attempt to design our own,” Avery said.

Avery said Monday that the critique of firefighters’ working overtime when there aren’t emergencies — and the suggestion that this would be mitigated by increased hiring — is often based on the mistaken assumption that firefighters are paid overtime for every hour they work over 40 hours.

In fact, he said, they aren’t paid time-and-a-half unless they work more than 56 hours in a week and are scheduled for 240 hours a month of work.

“Fifty percent of the time they come to work above and beyond their normal work schedule, they’re getting straight time,” Avery said.

Councilman Fred Shorett said he hadn’t seen the grand jury report but was open to any new ideas.

“My position is, $2 million is great, but we need to compare that to the $8 million or $12 million we could get,” Shorett said.

That’s the estimate Shorett said he’s gotten from Cal Fire, which he hasn’t backed up with specifics.

“It could change, that’s true — but prove me wrong,” he said. “The way to prove me wrong is to ask for an estimate.”

For a fourth time, Shorett said, he will ask the council on Monday to request proposals from outside agencies to provide fire services for the city. City firefighters are encouraged to make their own proposal to see if it could be more efficient, he said.

Councilman John Valdivia said the community couldn’t afford any cuts to public safety.

“I think we can’t pit our residents against our public safety division, and Mr. Parker would know that if he had the public workshops he promised,” Valdivia said. “Allen, you need to get your directive here from City Council, not from what the mayor’s telling you or what some shiny pencil finance guy is telling you.”

Asked if he might support a $4 million budget reduction if it doesn’t lower service, as Parker said could be the case, Valdivia said he might support one proposal.

“I would support cutting a fire station in Fred Shorett’s ward,” Valdivia said. “No, seriously — you’re so in favor of cutting services, you be the guinea pig and see how your residents react.”

http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20131112/parts-of-grand-jury-report-could-play-into-in-4m-fire-department-cuts