Following an investigation into
Mokelumne Rural Fire District operations, the San Joaquin County Grand Jury is
recommending that eight rural fire districts across the county consolidate.
The Grand Jury opened an
investigation into Mokelumne Fire after receiving a complaint accusing the
district of illegal activities, political misconduct and bargaining in bad
faith.
Many of these allegations have
been addressed by a new chief and administrative assistant, the jury found.
“There was a noticeable
improvement after the Shared Services Agreement with Waterloo-Morada Fire
District was put in place,” the jury wrote in its report. That agreement was
signed on Aug. 4, 2014.
However, the jury reported that
it found evidence to support some of the allegations made in the complaint
prior to the service agreement, including Brown Act violations and ineffective
leadership.
Mokelumne Fire’s previous chief
resigned due to pension requirements and a board member resigned abruptly after
conflict on the board, the jury reported.
And finally, after district
funds were spent on non-essentials, phone services were briefly cut off,
forcing the chief to pay out of pocket to have them reinstated. Luckily, no
calls for services from the public were lost during that time, the jury found.
While investigating the
situation at Mokelumne Rural Fire District, the jury looked at other rural fire
districts throughout the county, and found that several of them are in
financial distress, while others have entered into agreements to share
resources.
The Grand Jury is recommending
the consolidation of Waterloo-Morada Fire District, Mokelumne Rural Fire
District, French Camp-McKinley Rural Fire District, Montezuma Fire Protection
District, Linden-Peters Fire District, Clements Rural Fire District, Woodbridge
Fire District and Liberty Fire District.
“I think (consolidation) is an
answer. I don’t know if it’s the answer,” said Waterloo-Morada Fire Chief
Robert Tuitavuki, whom the Grand Jury has credited with turning Mokelumne Fire
around. He has served as the chief of both districts since August 2014.
One alternative could be
contracts for service, he said. For example, three small fire districts began
contracting with the City of Stockton for their fire services instead of
maintaining fire departments, he said.
A joint powers agreement could
create a central board that controls the finances of all of the districts, with
a representative from each fire board, he said. The districts could then share
costs of service and equipment, but continue to have their own staff and board.
The shared services agreement
between Waterloo-Morada and Mokelumne Fire could be a model for other
struggling, Tuitavuki said.
Still, consolidation shouldn’t
be discounted, he said.
“It’s not off the table. It’s
something to consider,” he said.
The districts should ask
questions such as how much consolidation would cost and look at successful
consolidations such as the Sacramento Municipal Fire District, he said. They
should do the same with other options for sharing resources.
The Grand Jury has ordered all
eight of the fire districts to come together with the Local Agency Formation
Commission and discuss the possibilities by Nov. 1, he said.
The jury wrote in its report
that consolidation or reorganization of the fire districts could take years to
fully implement. However, the situation at Mokelumne Fire prior to its shared
service agreement with Waterloo-Morada shows what can happen without transparency
and oversight, the jury stated.
The foremost goal for
consolidation or any other action taken by the eight districts should be
providing a high level of quality fire service, the jury wrote.
Tuitavuki agreed.
“At the end
of the day, what we’re trying to achieve is a higher level of public service,”
he said.
June 24, 2015
Lodi
News-Sentinel
By
Kyla Cathey
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