As Cambria
citizens participate in the current workshops regarding local fire protection,
I encourage all of them to read the actual San Luis Obispo County grand jury
report on this topic. It can be found at:
http://slocourts.net/downloads/grand_jury/reports/2014/Making_the_Case_for_Efficiency.pdf
The report
does not recommend contracting with Cal Fire, but only to explore that
possibility. Rather, its focus is on several issues with local emergency
services, including use of outdated equipment based on national standards, lack
of plans or reserves to replace that equipment, staffing issues and the
lack of a long-term overall strategy for fire services.
It
encourages the community to explore all opportunities to improve service
and costs by looking at potential synergies with both the Cambria Community
Healthcare District and with Cal Fire. Its first recommendation is to hold
exactly the kind of public workshops now underway.
Like every
county grand jury report, this one was written by a team of 19 individuals from
across the county who volunteer a year of their time to provide oversight of
local governance. It is a process highly free of bias. As noted in the report,
the grand jury’s recommendations are a result of interviewing leaders from
every impacted party, as well as impartial local and national sources.
When
providing input, I hope everyone keeps focus on what needs to be better
managed, not just on who is doing it.
September 10, 2015
The
Cambrian
Letter-to-the-editor
by Dennis Frahmann, Cambria
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