Comments for LAFCo staff urges denial of Bonny Doon Fire Plan at http://pressbanner.com , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://pressbanner.com Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:18:08 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://pressbanner.com/content/view/1815/42/#comment-1599 I am a resident of Bonny Doon and I oppose the proposal as it stands now. The proposal promises to improve response times. To do that, it proposes to charge residents a lot more than they pay now in taxes (and we'll assume that 2/3rds of them go along with that with the economy the way it is and given that there wasn't even a 50% majority for the County Fire tax increase proposal). That then goes into a $660k/year budget that is clearly insufficient to do what is promised. There's a half-time chief and two firefighters, all paid way below market and with minimal benefits. The chief would spend almost all their time outside the community representing the district on the various county committees and the rest on complying with OSHA and NFPA and other training, maintenance and equipment requirements, and the two firefighters would be there during the day, when less than 40% of the calls come in (but, true, there are fewer volunteers available during that time period, so it does make some sense). There's no budget for a mechanic, instead it is assumed that someone will just volunteer to do that. And that's just a quick summary of why $660k isn't enough. Then there's the part where response time also gets better because Netcom (the 911 center) does the dispatching instead of Cal Fire. A great idea (San Mateo County switched from Cal Fire for the same reason a few years back), but it should be done for all the county departments, not just Bonny Doon. If Bonny Doon forms a district and then pays on its own, that cost is far more than the budgeted amount (since the existing Netcom radio systems don't cover the coast side of Empire Grade, and there's upcoming costs for FCC-imposed "narrowbanding"). Again, insufficient budget at the proposed numbers. So basically, you pay double (or more, if there's a realistic budget), and for that you get a whole bunch of duplicated administrative and training and maintenance overhead, and a little bit of paid staff to respond on calls during the day, assuming there's firefighters who want to work for that little money and benefits. ON TOP OF ALL THAT, the issue of what happens to the rest of County Fire IS NOT "someone else's problem." If an independent district is formed, Davenport and the north coast become an "island" with no fire/emergency medical protection at all and Loma Prieta, South Skyline and Corralitos all lose funds for their paid stations and their volunteers. That means that if you live in Bonny Doon and drive over 9, or along 35, or along 1, or over 17, you'd be voting for better protection at home during the day when you're off at work, in exchange for nobody to come help you when you crash on your way to or from that job, or when you're out playing on the north coast beaches on the weekend. I like to call this "thinking locally, acting globally." Fortunately, LAFCO is required to ensure that there is as little duplication of administrative overhead and possible, and that new district formations don't happen if there's significant adverse impacts to others. Read the staff report to see their well-researched conclusion as to how STATE LAW governs this proposal. I like the idea of local control, where one's tax money is directed locally to community services. But this proposal is for an independent district with duplication of administrative overhead, was put together with no thought to the possible effects (or mitigation of those effects) on other areas of the county in which others live and Bonny Doon residents visit and drive through, explicitly islanding off Davenport and the north coast in particular, and comes with a proposed budget which is clearly insufficient to make the amazing improvements in service that have been promised. It could have been a proposal that did consider such things, and did have a reasonable budget, and was put together while working with the people and areas that might be affected. If it had been, I'd be supporting it, and LAFCO would be too. - Matthew Kaufman Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:45:13 +0100 http://pressbanner.com/content/view/1815/42/#comment-1581 Tom Scully is quite right: the report is not adequate and it holds the citizens of Bonny Doon accountable for the fire protection needs of the rest of the county. By this illogical logic, all the current fire districts should not exist. Bonny Doon should be allowed to have an election to establish a district and set a tax rate. It is the American thing to do: local democracy in action. The LAFCO report fails to address that there is a groundswell of support for an election. - Rickey Tave Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:35:34 +0100