By James Burger
The Bakersfield Californian
KERN COUNTY, Calif. — The Kern County Administrative Office has delayed, for now, a plan to reduce staffing at nine largely rural fire stations after the Kern County Firefighters union objected.
“The union requested a ‘meet and confer’ on the staffing adjustment late last Friday afternoon. We’ve temporarily delayed implementation due to their request,” County Administrative Officer Ryan Alsop said in an email Monday.
“We felt like there was a need for further discussions,” said Kern County Firefighters President Derek Robinson.
The county plan to reduce “constant” staffing at nine stations from three firefighters to two was announced last week and set to take place Monday.
County officials have the ability to reduce staffing in a fiscal emergency under a contract with the Kern County Firefighters, which it was planning to invoke. But union President Derek Robinson challenged whether the county truly faces a fiscal emergency.
Two years of dramatic declines in the price of oil have gutted the value of oil and gas properties in Kern County, resulting in a roughly $70 million loss in property tax revenue.
But Robinson argues the county has nearly $180 million in reserves that could be used to preserve firefighter jobs that, he said, are critical to maintain the safety of firefighters and the public.
“If there is really a fiscal emergency, then prove you don’t have the money to pay for these positions,” Robinson said Monday.
In a letter to supervisors last week, Robinson argued that three firefighters are needed to do proper CPR on patients. And four firefighters are needed to do proper entry into a burning building.
He wrote that Kern County is about to “enter into extremely unsafe territory.”
Alsop responded in an email to supervisors Friday.
“The demand from the fire union’s attorney tonight is their right under current state law, and came at the 11th hour,” Alsop wrote. “Specifically, they are demanding a meet and confer regarding what they are claiming would be adverse effects on working conditions, work load, job duties, safety, exhaustion, and the assignment of overtime.”
He wrote that, in consultation with the County Counsel’s office and the Personnel Department, it was decided to delay the implementation of the staffing reductions.
Alsop wrote that interim County Counsel Mark Nations was consulting with outside labor counsel and, until that advice came back, he had directed Kern County Fire Chief Brian Marshall to delay implementation of the staffing change.
Marshall did not return calls from a reporter Monday.
Copyright 2017 The Bakersfield Californian