By Diana Samuels
The San Jose Mercury News
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Without concessions from Palo Alto’s police and fire unions, the city may be forced to shut down a fire station, eliminate an emergency rescue unit, or lay off more than a tenth of its police officers, according to a new report.
Though City Manager Jim Keene’s 2011-12 fiscal year budget counts on $4.3 million in concessions from police and fire unions, the city council’s Finance Committee asked the departments earlier this month to come up with a list of potential cuts in case negotiations don’t pan out.
Interim Director of Public Safety Dennis Burns will describe his proposals at a Finance Committee meeting today, including drastic cuts to both departments.
“The good news is the unions and the city continue to negotiate,” Burns told The Daily News. “And in the meantime, we’re also looking for other options. I don’t think these are cast in concrete, and I don’t think these are the only options.”
To save $2.3 million from the fire department, Burns offers two solutions. The city could shut down one engine company, cutting nine firefighter positions, and temporarily close one station at a time in “brownout” fashion. Or it could cut 18 positions by eliminating an engine company and the city’s only rescue company.
Burns and Tony Spitaleri, president of the Palo Alto firefighters union, said the brownouts would lead to longer response times for fires and other emergencies.
“You’re gambling,” Spitaleri said. “You’re gambling with the fact that you’d be able to get over there quick enough to keep it from becoming a larger problem.”
The rescue company works citywide, Spitaleri said, and its firefighters are specifically assigned and trained for rescue functions. They respond to every major accident or emergency and also make up the city’s hazmat team.
To cut $2 million from the police department, Burns said the city would need to eliminate 11 of 91 current sworn officer positions. The casualties would likely include a combination of patrol officers, detectives and traffic officers, he added.
Burns said the cuts likely would start with positions that were narrowly spared during last year’s budget talks, including fraud detectives and school crossing guards.
“We would go back to the drawing board and try to wring as much as we could out of the existing staff in a variety of ways,” Burns said. “We’d just have to be leaner.”
Spitaleri said he is “disappointed” that the city is discussing major cuts while in the middle of negotiations. He said they “seem like ultimatums” and could hurt talks between the city and union.
It could make firefighters feel like “you’re being bullied into something, instead of working to where you both are agreeable to the concession,” Spitaleri said.
Nevertheless, he added, “I feel confident that we’ll get somewhere” with negotiations.
Burns said he is also “hopeful” that negotiations will succeed.
“I think the city’s asking a fair question of what would happen if we can’t come to a successful resolution on these contracts,” Burns said. “We’re trying to give them a sense of what that might look like.”
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