By Kevin Clerici
The Ventura County Star
VENTURA, Calif. — Dozens of residents in Ventura’s east end gathered Wednesday to voice their displeasure with a proposal to leave empty a nearby city fire station, with many cheering a suggestion the city reduce its mounting pension costs.
Residents worry the closure of Station 4 on Telephone Road would leave their homes susceptible to longer response times. Many urged city leaders to reconsider, calling the proposal “unconscionable,” and offering suggestions for its survival that ranged from slashing funds from other departments to using volunteer firefighters to increasing fees on alcohol sellers.
“People who moved into this neighborhood trusted that this station would always be there,” said an area resident, among the more than 100 people who attended the community meeting inside Citrus Glen School on Darling Road.
Fire Chief Kevin Rennie and City Manager Rick Cole took turns in the uncomfortable position of explaining their proposal, which Rennie said was difficult to do, but would cause “the least damaging impact to response times citywide.”
Among the city’s six strategically placed stations citywide, Station 4 had second fewest calls for service last year — 1,428, or about 4 calls per day — and the largely residential neighborhood around it was best positioned to be served by the remaining stations, according to response times modeling, the chief said.
The chief offered no alternatives. He said five fully staffed stations was the best he could come up with and still live within a $14.5 million Fire Department budget.
The city is facing a $7.7 million shortfall in the fiscal year that begins in July, and leaving Station 4 empty and redeploying firefighters who work there would shave $1.2 million in costs and reduced overtime, Cole said.
To produce a balanced budget, Cole also has proposed millions in cuts to police services and the elimination of 46 city positions across virtually every department, as well consolidating the city’s two senior centers and reductions in parks, tree and street maintenance.
Cole, responding to complaints that safety should be a top priority, said the city already spends 52 percent of its diminishing revenues on police and fire - a figure set to grow to 56 percent in the new fiscal year, even with the station closure. While vacant safety positions will be eliminated, no officers or firefighters would be laid off.
“You can see the math,” Cole said. “We are making deeper cuts in the rest of the city.”
But that appeared to do little to allay concerns of residents, some of whom who were convinced their ailing loved ones are alive because firefighters were able to get to their sides so quickly during past emergencies.
Wednesday’s community meeting was suggested by the mayor and was a follow-up to last week’s City Council meeting, when a standing-room-only crowd urged the council to reject the proposal. Many showed up after members of the Fire Department who oppose the cuts went door to door to notify residents of the possible station closure.
One of the night’s biggest cheers Wednesday was generated by a suggestion the city continue to press for concessions, particularly on pension costs, from employee unions to free up money to prevent the closure.
Cole told the crowd he was working on it. And later, city firefighter-engineer Ben Davis, president of the Ventura City Firefighter Association, addressed the crowd, saying the city’s 66 firefighters have discussed contributing to their pensions and “were more than willing to share in the costs” if it ensured the firehouse would stay open.
Though no figures were presented Wednesday night, the city could save about $500,000 if rank-and-file firefighters agreed to contribute 9 percent of their pay — the highest percentage allowed — to the state’s pension system, budget documents show. That would still leave a gap of some $700,000 to keep Station 4 open and full 24 hours a day. The city also would have to hire three additional firefighters to meet minimum staffing requirements, or be faced with forcing the existing staff to work overtime.
Davis did respond to an earlier suggestion of using volunteer firefighters, arguing residents would be best served by trained professionals. “You don’t want to do that in a city of 110,000,” he said.
And while the station would be empty under the proposal, it could still be used by engine companies to fill coverage gaps on that part of town when crews from nearby firehouses are responding to emergencies, said Rennie, who repeated tried to reassure people.
“We are still going to serve you,” he told the audience. “It may take a little longer, but we are still going to arrive.”
Proposed Fiscal Year 2010-11 Operating Budget: Ventura Department Spending plan
Police: $26.97 million
Fire: $14.54 million
Public Works: $13.24 million
Citywide Obligations: $7.11 million
Community Services: $5.81 million
Finance & Technology: $4.28 million
Community Development: $4.48 million
City Attorney: $1.42 million
City Manager: $1.41 million
Human Resources: $921,966
City Council: $225,902
Total$: 80.4 million
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