By Julia Scott
Inside Bay Area (California)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — Representatives of the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District expressed disgust over a plan conceived by district board members to outsource fire services to another fire agency, a move they said would result in the “destruction” of their troubled fire department.
Their comments came on the heels of a San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury report, released on Monday, which took a candid look at the fire department’s problems and concluded that the only practical solution would be to outsource its management, administrative, training and fire prevention service to another fire department by Dec. 31.
The Half Moon Bay Fire Department’s three stations serve more than 20,000 residents in Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated communities of Princeton, Miramar and El Granada.
The grand jury investigation was prompted by a controversial memo written in April bythen-interim Fire Chief Pete Bonano. He called on the district’s board members to address vacancies in the upper ranks of the fire department, a fire prevention program “in total disarray,” and “a culture of lawsuits, grievances, and excessive use of sick leave,” along with an unhealthy reliance on overtime to keep the district’s fire stations staffed.
Bonano recommended contracting out fire services to another agency in San Mateo County, implying that it was too late to save the district on a local level.
The board sent out a request for proposals to 15 fire agencies in May and received three bids last Friday: from the California Department of Forestry, the San Mateo Fire Department, and the North County Fire Authority, which includes Brisbane, Pacifica and Daly City. The board will take up each of the bids over the next two months.
Troubled department
The fire department’s problems, which have festered for years, are no longer a matter of opinion. No fewer than 28 firefighters have retired or left to find work elsewhere in the past six years, according to the grand jury report. The fire inspector and a division chief have both quit, and the district’s fire chief recently retired, leaving a top post open that will likely now be filled by the fire chief of whatever district takes over the department.
Current and former employees have brought lawsuits over issues ranging from wrongful termination to sick leave that have cost the district $707,500 in settlements and $516,000 in legal expenses, according to the report.
The district’s contract with its workers lapsed in 2005 and has not been renewed. The grand jury also recommended that the Half Moon Bay and Point Montara Fire Protection districts continue to consolidate their services to save money. Point Montara’s single station covers 10 square miles in the communities of Montara and Moss Beach. Since 1998, Point Montara has outsourced all of its services to Half Moon Bay, which also absorbed its employees; the two agencies are three-quarters of the way toward achieving complete consolidation.
The three agencies that submitted a proposal to Half Moon Bay district board members offered three different visions for what outsourcing would look like, although each is committed to retaining all staff members and keeping three engine companies on the Coastside.
The CDF, which is obliged by law to respond to all such requests, offered to take over the Half Moon Bay/Point Montara departments’ fire prevention, training and communications services for $6.9 million, while retaining its two battalion chiefs. CDF firefighters work longer shifts than those in Half Moon Bay, and switching to the state system would reduce overtime, said CDF Unit Chief John Ferreira.
If the district were absorbed into the North County Fire Authority, Half Moon Bay’s workers would remain under their own contract but would share a fire chief with the other cities in the group. The agency has not submitted an estimate yet, according to Donovan.
The San Mateo Fire Department envisions more of a merger, with identical operating procedures and contracts for everyone. San Mateo fire officials offered two options, ranging from $7.2 million to $7.75 million; the main difference was whether to retain two full-time battalion chiefs in Half Moon Bay or reassign them as deputies, while leaving a supervising role to San Mateo, according to San Mateo Deputy Fire Chief Dan Belville.
‘Easy way out’
Tony Slinick, a local representative of the Half Moon Bay Firefighters’ Union, called the outsourcing process an “easy way out” that avoided addressing any of the underlying problems that have plagued the fire department. He said the board ought to work on rebuilding the department from within.
“I’m concerned about adding fuel to the fire while we’re having a huge number of management issues,” said Slinick. “I want to find out what the real issue is here. Why are these guys quitting in droves? That’s unheard of.”
Half Moon Bay district board president Jerry Donovan said the “culture of grievances” observed by Bonano had built up over time, but that didn’t apply to everyone.
“There was a thought that there was favoritism, and that the other personnel were getting the short end of the stick. ... Some guys are unhappy, but other guys are very happy,” said Donovan.