A report critical of the fire department serving Mountain House describes district leadership of the past, but not the present or future, according to the department’s new leadership.
The San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury released its latest report, “French Camp McKinley Fire District: A District in Disarray,” on June 20, citing “an excessive number of grievances and lawsuits” along with “high employee turnover, a lack of policies and procedures, and ineffective board oversight.”
The French Camp McKinley Fire District serves the community of French Camp, an unincorporated community of 3,700, as well as the San Joaquin County Jail, San Joaquin General Hospital and Mary Graham Children’s Center. Since September 2015, the district has also been the fire department serving about 20,000 Mountain House residents, with one station at 911 Tradition St. at the intersection with Mustang Way and another station in the works.
Interim Chief Mario McArn did not dispute the basic findings of the report, but he suggested that the complaints that led to the grand jury investigation came from individuals formerly employed by the district and with grievances against the district.
“I believe the past leadership was self-serving and was not transparent to the board. I feel they took advantage of the board,” McArn said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It left the board with the assumption that the leadership was taking care of business when the leadership was self-serving.”
The grand jury report does not name individuals, and neither did McArn.
“I’m not going to give a time frame. I’d just say, leadership in the past,” he said.
Paul Tualla was chief from 2009 to 2016, and Fred Manding replaced Tualla and then went on leave in July 2018. McArn has been interim chief since then.
Reasons for Manding’s departure are unclear. McArn said it was a personnel matter that he could not discuss, though he confirmed that Manding is still employed by the district.
Among the grievances outlined in the grand jury report is a finding that a policy manual adopted in 2016 lacks updates to reflect the need for specific direction on matters such as equipment management and promotion of personnel.
The report also describes a “toxic work environment” where disrespect between firefighters, and between firefighters and supervisors, is common. The district employs up to 25 firefighters, but administrative leaves, resignations and terminations left the district with only 16 firefighters at one point. The report goes on to cite three personnel-related lawsuits settled over the past three years, with several more pending.
The grand jury also commented critically on poor board oversight and expressed doubt that French Camp McKinley can continue to operate as an independent special district.
The Mountain House Community Service District board of directors president, Daniel Harrison, said the report seemed fair, but he took issue with the grand jury’s recommendations that the French Camp McKinley Fire District consider consolidating with another district and that San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors look into whether the district was capable of providing effective fire protection.
Harrison said that McArn briefed him on the district’s ongoing issues when he took charge last summer, and he’s confident that changes were under way at that time.
“I do know they’ve had some problems. That was brought to my attention before the grand jury report came out,” Harrison said, adding that from an operational standpoint, the fire department has served Mountain House well. “I’ve been real happy with him as the interim chief there. They have made some positive changes since he’s taken over.”
Harrison said the internal issues with the fire district didn’t seem to affect the service that the district provided to Mountain House.
“There was nothing that was alarming to us, that showed any indication that there were any problems with their district,” he said. “We really didn’t find that information out until McArn came on.”
He added that McArn was up front about what the problems were and how they would be resolved.
“He divulged information that there were some problems, and he has a lot to do in front of him,” Harrison said. “Even before the grandjJury came out, some of those deficiencies he has already tackled.”
Mountain House CSD board member Brian Lucid said the CSD board doesn’t get involved in the details of the fire district’s operations or politics, but he was glad to see that the grand jury made its inquiry and came up with recommendations for improving the district.
“I’m a systems guy, and you need to audit what you’re doing and have a third party, a disinterested party, look at what you’re doing so that you make sure you are in compliance with the authorities, and that’s what that grand jury did,” Lucid said. “Now that we have identified the problem, I’m hoping that they take action to be in compliance with those authorities.”
He said that if there was any dysfunction within the fire district leadership, it didn’t appear to hurt the service the department provided in Mountain House.
“I think they’re doing a good job. And their stats, I’m perfectly happy with their response times and the service that they provide to us,” he said.
“Those administrative things are important and I do believe they affect organizations,” he added. “If anything was adverse, we haven’t seen or experienced it yet. That doesn’t mean it can’t have a bad effect for us later. I’m glad they audited what they’re doing over there and that we’re aware of the problem.”
McArn said that his goal since taking over in August had been to change the culture in the department. He was deputy chief of operations for the Stockton Fire Department when he retired after 27 years. He said he came out of retirement to try to restore morale and efficiency to the French Camp McKinley department.
He said he respected the personnel in the district and believed they were due for more effective leadership.
“When you let members participate in development of the organization, you make tremendous strides,” he said. “They want to come to work, they want to do their jobs and they want to do their best. This is a new day.”
June 28, 2019
Tracy Press
By Bob Brownne
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