Important Information Regarding Station 23
Dehesa Station, San Miguel Consolidated Fire Protection District
Service Delivery changes For The Area Served by
Station 23
A
message from Fire Chief August F. Ghio
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To
contact Chief Ghio: |
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| 619 670-0500 | 619 670-0500 | |
| Aghio@smgfire.org |
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STATION 23 CALL ACTIVITY
Below is the information from 8AM November 1, 2011 to 8AM January 1, 2012.
41 EMS Calls(medical aids)
10 Non EMS Calls :
- 6 Traffic incidents
- 2 Illegal Burns
- 1 Lift Assist
- 1 Ringing Alarm (false alarm)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Click on links to get answers)
1. Why are you closing our fire station on Dehesa Road?
3. Why was Station 23 selected for the service reduction?
5. How much does the District save by taking the action to reduce staffing at Station 23?
9. Will there be other community meetings with sufficient advance notice?
10. What has the District done to trim the budget to try to avoid these types of service reductions?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
RELATED TO SERVICE REDUCTIONS AT FIRE STATION 23
The following are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) that have been compiled from phone calls, emails, and community meetings related to the recent decision by the
District to modify service delivery
at Fire Station 23.
1. Why are you closing our fire station on Dehesa Road?
Answer: Station 23 is not closing. We are keeping Station 23 on Dehesa Road open. What has changed is they are now a Two Person Medic Squad vs. a Three Person Engine Company. The station will be staffed 24/7 and on high hazard fire days (based on wind, heat, humidity, and fuel moisture), the Fire Chief will up Station 23 staffing to a Three Person Engine Company.
2. What other alternatives were looked at other than changing Station 23 to a Two Person Medic Squad Unit?
Answer: There were several alternatives that were investigated prior to the decision to reduce Station 23’s service delivery in the Dehesa area:
• First, two years ago, the District initiated a ballot measure that would have established a Service Benefit Fee of $49 per parcel to properties within the original San Miguel Fire District. This ballot measure failed by a wide margin.
• Second, a recommendation was made to Brown Out one day of every three days either Station 23 or rotate the Brown Out between various fire stations in the District. That would have meant no service delivery on those Browned Out days. The Board of Directors and the Fire Chief determined that this was too great a risk to the community as 73% of Station 23’s incident volume is medical aid related and having at least a Two Person Medic Squad with Paramedics would cover that portion of the incidents.
• We also looked at a contract with CAL FIRE for the remainder of the year to cover the station for fire-related calls. The estimated cost would have been over $327,000, and this would have been more expensive than the cost of funding our three positions for the remainder of the year.
• We have also initiated conversations with the Sycuan Fire Department and Tribal Leaders. We are looking at the potential for them to support funding strategies for returning Station 23 to full service as part of the possible mitigation to our property tax loss should they secure 1,300 acres in the Dehesa area into the Tribal trust.
3. Why was Station 23 selected for the service reduction?
Answer: Station 23 was selected for the service changes based
primarily on the following
factors:
• Station 23’s first-in area has the lowest population in the District.
• Station 23 has the least commercial/industrial risk, with only 8
occupancies of the 2,300
occupancies of this type in the overall District.
• Station 23 has the least number of incidents (359) of all our
stations; however, there are a
large number of responses to other incidents into the City of El Cajon.
• Station 23’s response volume is 73% medical aid related, which will
stay at the same
level of timely response.
4. This service reduction seemed to come up fast with no notice to the community. What caused it, and why were we not notified in time to voice our opinions and concerns?
Answer: The District apologizes for the short notice provided
regarding the community meeting
that was held on October 27, 2011. We could not send it out until we
completed our labor
negotiations process and which was on October 26, 2011. We wanted to get
as much
information out as quickly as possible, so we sent the letter with the
facts and an overview of the
situation, and the notice of the community meeting.
Since the service delivery option was part of the collective bargaining process, it could not be discussed without creating a liability risk to the District of an unfair labor practice.
The Fire Chief and the Board of Directors have been discussing the need to consider alternative service delivery options for over three years. In fact, two years ago Engine 15 at our Headquarters Station on Via Orange Way in Spring Valley was eliminated. The Board of Directors regularly discusses the issues and concerns related to District business at their Board meetings. The meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 5:30 p.m. to approximately 7:30 p.m. A second meeting might be scheduled on the 4th Wednesday of each month if there is additional pressing business. You can find the date of upcoming meetings on our website. If you would like to be included on the email distribution list for Board meetings and receive the associated Staff Reports, please contact Nancy Roos at nroos@smgfire.org and she will add you to the list.
5. How much does the District save by taking the action to reduce
staffing at
Station 23?
Answer: Savings for the remainder of this fiscal year (November 1,
2011 through June 30, 2012)
is $224,000. The annual savings amount is $336,000.
6. How do the changes at Station 23 directly effect public safety
related to my
response times and my insurance costs?
Answer: Response times for fires will be longer. We may see anywhere from a 2 minute to 8 minute increase in response times depending on where the call for service comes in, how busy the system is, and where the next closest available engine or truck company is coming from. This means that you could see a response time of anywhere from 8 minutes to 14 minutes based the factors we previously mentioned.
In relation to medical aid responses and other non-fire related calls, you will continue to see the same response times as you currently receive. Our District average and objective is to have the first-in fire company on scene in 8 minutes or less 90% of the time Districtwide. We have met with our Automatic Aid partners who are the closest responders (El Cajon and Sycuan) to insure we have their support with covering as quickly as possible should their units be selected for responses into Station 23’s area.
We have recently completed our insurance rating survey (ISO) so your insurance rates should be good for nearly 2 years.
7. What does the immediate future of the Fire District look like?
Will we be facing
other service reductions next year?
Answer: Next year we are forecasting another $1.1 million deficit. This is primarily caused by the continued soft real estate market and the potential for a zero or negative property tax growth in our area, coupled with increased costs for our durable and non-durable goods and services. There are also contractual increases to employee costs that must be covered by the District.
The reason the District made the decision to change the service delivery model at Fire Station 23, and 2 years ago to close Engine 15, and also to reduce employee benefits, is because the District can no longer afford to do business as it has in the past.
The Board of Directors is reviewing the data and is looking to identify all options that may help mitigate any additional service delivery reductions; however, this cannot be totally discounted as a option. Our most significant challenge is that we are solely dependent on property taxes in all areas of the District with the exception of Crest and Bostonia, where residents pay over $350 per parcel annually to insure maintenance of their service delivery.
8. What does the average Firefighter make in pay? The District needs
to pay them
what they are worth for risking their lives for us.
Answer: The District agrees that our Firefighters are worth their pay and more. However, as stated in another answer, the District cannot afford the previous level of benefits and additional pay elements that it has in the past. Firefighter base pay has not been affected by the recent changes to our labor contracts.
Listed below is the average salaries and overtime of our firefighters by rank. This does not include retirement, dental, and other benefits. Also, there are 16 personnel who were part of the former East County Fire Protection District consolidation with San Miguel who are paid less at this time but receive automatic 5% pay increases compounded for 7 years until they catch up with the rest of the firefighters:
Captain Base Pay $91,500 Overtime $18,350
Engineer Base Pay $75,948 Overtime $18,728
Firefighter/Paramedic Base Pay $73,044 Overtime $23,720
Overtime pay is based on the FY 2010/2011 actual average. A number of
our employees made
between $30,000 and $46,000 in overtime during that year.
9. Will there be other community meetings with sufficient advance notice?
Answer: Yes there will be another community meeting. We have several Dehesa area residents who have volunteered to assist the District in developing a community grass roots committee to help us find short term new funding to bring Station 23 back to full staffing. We are currently trying to get that initial group together to identify the date, time and location of the next commnity meeting. Once that is done, the District will send out, with at least 2-3 weeks advance notice, the meeting announcement. If you would like to volunteer to be on this committee, please contact Leonard Villarreal via email at lvillarreal@smgfire.org and we will include you in the committee notices.
10. What has the District done to trim the budget to try to avoid these types of service reductions?
Answer: Over the past 4 years, the Board of Directors and the Fire Chief have implemented a number of cost reduction measures that include give backs from our employees. Those items are:
- Elimination of Training Captain Position
- Elimination of Two Part-time Fire Inspectors
- Elimination of a Part-time Clerical Assistant
- Reduction of Non-Personnel Expenditures
- Closed Engine 15
- Open Battalion Chief Position due to Training Division Chief
- Employees Paying Retirement Contribution
- Eliminated 27th Paycheck
- FY 2011/2012 $1.1 Million in Reductions to Expenses and Employee Benefits
Total Cost Reductions: $2,989,000
11. Why are you building a new training facility when you are cutting
our services
and where is the money for building the training facility coming from?
Are any
District funds being spent on it?
Answer: The Heartland Training Facility Authority (HTFA) is building a second training facility as part of the HTFA, which has a Joint Powers Agreement with nine partner agencies. This is needed to meet the demand for expanded classroom and drill space as we have outgrown the original facility. Additionally, since the new facility is in the San Miguel Fire District, it will reduce travel and out-of-service time when our fire companies require centralized training.
The funds are coming from several sources including Indian Gaming Grants, the County of San Diego, SDG&E, and others. To date, HTFA has $2,754,000 in donations and grants toward the construction efforts. Again, no dollars are coming from existing partner agencies, including the San Miguel Fire District.
News Release:
Letter to Residents
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